Tonight the Cincinnati Reds will host the Los Angeles Angels at 8pm ET. The game will be available on national television via MLB Network. Cincinnati is sending top prospect Hunter Greene to the mound to start the game. The game is a scheduled 8-inning contest.
Cincinnati Reds (0-2) Starting Lineup
- Kyle Holder – SS
- Joey Votto – 1B
- Eugenio Suárez – 3B
- Mike Moustakas – 2B
- Tucker Barnhart – C
- Kyle Farmer – DH
- Tyler Naquin – CF
- Dwight Smith – LF
- TJ Friedl – RF
- Hunter Greene – SP
Reserve players on today’s roster:
Pitchers
Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
Los Angeles Angels (1-0-1) Starting Lineup
- David Fletcher – 2B
- Jon Jay – RF
- José Iglesias – SS
- Jared Walsh – 1B
- Phil Gosselin – 3B
- Juan Lagares – CF
- Taylor Ward – LF
- Scott Schebler – DH
- Anthony Bemboom – C
- Andrew Heaney – SP
Where to watch/listen/follow the game
The game will be live on the Reds on Radio Network. In the greater Cincinnati area the game will be available on 700 WLW AM. The game will also be available to watch on MLB Network as well as MLB.tv if you have a subscription.
Reds links and news
Nick Castellanos scratched from the lineup
Outfielder Nick Castellanos was originally in the lineup and in right field, but he was scratched with an sore right middle finger and replaced in the lineup by prospect TJ Friedl.
Triple-A season delayed, alternate sites coming back
When the day began, Triple-A was set to begin their season the first week of April That’s no longer the case and the start of the season has been pushed back to at least the first week of May. Alternate training sites are coming back this year, at least to begin the season according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.
David Bell on Hunter Greene (pre-game)
David Bell on looking forward to seeing Hunter Greene on the mound tonight for the Cincinnati #Reds pic.twitter.com/VSmhBqLylU
— Doug Gray (@dougdirt24) March 2, 2021
Streaming Reds Radio Broadcasts
You can now stream the Cincinnati Reds radio broadcasts on your phone, tablet, or other smart devices if you are in the greater Cincinnati area. In the past this was blocked by Major League Baseball, who wanted you to buy their “radio” package for the MLB At-Bat app. You’ll still need to do that if you are outside of the greater Cincinnati coverage area – but those in market can now bust out their internet connected devices and stream the game.
Fox Sports Ohio unveiled their TV broadcast schedule for the spring
There was a lot happening yesterday, so perhaps you missed it, but Fox Sports Ohio released their spring training broadcast schedule and it only includes four Cincinnati Reds games. There are additional games on MLB Network, tonight and tomorrow at the very least – but there could be more added later. You can see the full schedule here.
Final: Cincinnati 7 – LA Angels 5
The Reds picked up their first win of the spring by beating the Angels 7-5 in a come from behind victory on national television.
The Highlights
Hunter Greene hit 103 MPH and threw 16 pitches between 100 and 103. The right-hander didn’t have the best feel for his breaking ball on the night, though, and struggled to throw it for strikes, and one that he did was up and over the middle and Jose Iglesias hit it for a 3-run homer.
The Angels were up 5-1, but Cincinnati battled back with some help from the relievers. The bullpen did a lot of good work, with Nick Lodolo, Riley O’Brien, Edgar Garcia, and Lyon Richardson all throwing hitless innings, while Jesse Biddle and Reiver Sanmartin tossed shutout innings of their own.
Kyle Farmer, Tyler Naquin, Scott Heineman, and Max Schrock (who went 2-2) all had an RBI double. In the 7th inning Deivy Grullón and Mark Payton had RBI singles, with Payton’s breaking a 5-5 tie by plating two runs to put the Reds up 7-5. Reiver Sanmartin stranded two runners on the bases to end the top of the 8th inning, which ended the game in a sense. But in a weird spring training, the two teams returned to the field for the bottom of the 8th so the Angels pitchers could all get their work in. The Angels rolled the bottom of the inning with two Reds still on the bases, officially ending the game in a 7-5 victory for the Reds.
You can see the entire box score for the game here.
Tomorrow’s Game
Another night game for Wednesday and against the other team that claims Los Angeles as their home – but the Dodgers aren’t liars and actually play in Los Angeles. The game will be on MLB Network at 8:00pm ET as well as on the radio in the greater Cincinnati area on 700 WLW.
YIKES!! Already talking about yanking him at 20 pitches and ending the inning. Definitely a rough start.
Greene’s first three pitches:
101
102
103
Iglesias hit a hanging slider that was right down the middle. The other 2 hits were ground ball single and line drive single.
Greene was wild both in and outside of the zone.
“Throw the next one at the Bull …”
+100
Straight cut n paste from FanGraphs … summary on Greene from his stats page:
“Prospects TLDR: Greene can touch 102, but is still an unrefined hurler who will need to make up for lost time after missing the last two seasons due to Tommy John surgery and a global pandemic.”
To quote Columbus Blue Jackets Head Coach John Tortorella after a bad outing (there’s been a few this season) …. “Burn the Tape.”
Triple-A season delayed, alternate sites coming back…………..
Why not start the AAA season in Arizona/Florida? Just stay down there and start the season.
There would be too many people at the facility in that scenario. Right now the “Triple-A” guys are either in big league camp or in “early minor league camp”. The original plan was for Double-A, High-A, and Low-A to then begin their spring training once those other two groups left in order to keep groups a bit more limited in how many people were all around the facility at one time. So, in theory at least, that’s why they don’t go that route. Plus, there’s the whole “teams want easy travel for quick call ups from ‘Triple-A’ if and when they need them” and Florida/Arizona doesn’t fit that criteria for like 25 teams in baseball.
That’s a somewhat logical explanation….thanks.
I still disagree though. AA and lower could pretty much start their training/season anytime. They could mingle on the back fields while AAA played real games on the big fields.
The AAA shuttle to MLB makes the most sense for a Prasco setup, like you said.
It’s more about lockerroom/clubhouse space than it is about field space. There simply isn’t enough room for everyone to be there at once and follow protocol.
Just keep intoning the mantra: “It’s spring training. It’s still early. The Reds will win the division.” Pay no attention to their performance on the field.
Has a manager ever been fired for his team’s performance in spring training?
No. Nor should they. The goal isn’t to win the spring training game, it’s to get ready for the games that you do try to win when the regular season begins.
Exactly!!! This is the one time of year I really pay attention to individual performances. It’s not about the team winning games it’s about players getting ready to play for real.
So don’t worry about the starters not getting hits at the moment. If it’s the end of spring training and the starting hitters are still not hitting then I get a little nervous.
This will be a very unusual spring training. Not having minor leaguers in camp simultaneously makes it a whole level more challenging. How to evaluate 75 players and still get starters ready with only major league ST games. I will just be watching and enjoying it. Won’t get to see this again in my remaining lifetime, more than likely.
Greene was probably a little too excited. I doubt he plans on throwing 100+ all game long. Hopefully they do have a real minor league season, I was hoping to follow Greene and others this season.
He definitely looked a little nervous, and that’s understandable. Good velocity, just hope he comes up with some kind of change up. When he threw that slider to what should have been our starting shortstop, you could see something slower coming, at least it looked like that to me. But, he does have promise, that’s for sure.
Can he play shortstop?