The first place Cincinnati Reds will host the Pittsburgh Pirates for game two of their three game series this week. After coming from behind to win on Monday, the Reds turn to Wade Miley to shut down the Pittsburgh offense and try to remain on top of the National League Central.
Starting Lineups
Pittsburgh Pirates
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Cincinnati Reds
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| Adam Frazier – 2B | Tyler Naquin – LF |
| Kevin Newman – SS | Nick Castellanos – RF |
| Bryan Reynolds – LF | Joey Votto – 1B |
| Colin Moran – 1B | Eugenio Suárez – SS |
| Evan Phillips – RF | Mike Moustakas – 3B |
| Jacob Stallings – C | Nick Senzel – CF |
| Erik González – 3B | Jonathan India – 2B |
| Anthony Alford – CF | Tucker Barnhart – C |
| Trevor Cahill – SP | Wade Miley – SP |
Starting Pitchers
Stats are from 2020.
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB% | K% |
| Wade Miley | 14.1 | 5.65 | 1.67 | 13.4% | 17.9% |
| Trevor Cahill | 25.0 | 3.24 | 1.20 | 8.6% | 29.2% |
| Links: Wade Miley’s Stats | Trevor Cahill’s Stats |
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Wade Miley
The 2020 season for Wade Miley was all of 14.1 innings, and some of those innings happened while he was injured. It doesn’t make much sense to put anything into the stats that he put up during the year because of that.
Here’s what his pitch breakdown looked like in the 2019 season when he was last healthy.
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Change | Slider | Curve | Cutter | |
| Velo | 91.1 | 89.7 | 81.4 | 81.8 | 75.8 | 87.5 |
| Usage | 16.2% | 6.0% | 20.4% | 1.0% | 9.4% | 47.0% |
Trevor Cahill
Much like Wade Miley, there wasn’t a lot of innings to look at in 2020 from Trevor Cahill. He threw just 25.0 innings on the season. He started in his first six appearances last season, but then made five relief appearances to end the season. Only once did he pitch into the 5th inning, and only two other times did he reach the 4th as a starter and he only finished the 4th in one of those starts.
Pitch Usage in 2020
| 4-Seam | Sinker | Change | Slider | Curve | |
| Velo | 91.2 | 91.0 | 82.9 | 85.4 | 78.7 |
| Usage | 8.8% | 26.7% | 29.1% | 12.4% | 22.9% |
When and Where
- Game time: 6:40pm ET
- Where: Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati.
- Watch: Bally Sports Ohio (formerly Fox Sports Ohio), MLB.tv
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 76°, sunny, 1% chance of rain
News and Notes
Still no Jesse Winker in the lineup
Yesterday prior to the game we heard Reds manager David Bell speak about Jesse Winker and how he had been dealing with flu-like symptoms that were not COVID related and that he hoped he’d be back soon. He’s not in the starting lineup today, but he is back with the team after recovering from what was called a “stomach bug”.
Sonny Gray felt good about his rehab start
Last night while the Reds were beating the Pirates in Cincinnati, Sonny Gray was in Louisville making a start at the alternate site against the Kansas City Royals alternate site team. He threw 60 pitches and 4.2 innings with six strikeouts, giving up a home run and two earned runs on the night. If you missed our full article on it this morning, you can read what the Reds ace (or at least one of them) had to say about the outing.
MLB announces that the Colorado Rockies will host the HR Debry
Ok, sure, the Rockies also get to host the All-Star game this year, but let’s be honest here: We all want to see the home run derby in that elevated ballpark more than we want to see it anywhere else. And if they put the home run derby baseballs into the humidor there should be a storming of the field by all of the fans in attendance. Sorry guys, those are the rules.
The Jim Day Podcast with Tyler Stephenson
The guest on this weeks episode of The Jim Day Podcast is rookie catcher Tyler Stephenson. The two talk about his first at-bat home run, his walk-off home run later in the season, his relationship with other catchers on the team and more. You can listen to it here, or find it on your podcast app of choice.
Rule 5 pick Mac Sceroler debuts with the Orioles
While the Cincinnati Reds sent Kyle Holder back to the New York Yankees because he didn’t make the team out of spring training, Baltimore kept their Rule 5 draft pick that they swiped from the Reds farm system. On Monday night Mac Sceroler threw 2.2 hitless innings with two walks and four strikeouts against the Yankees for Baltimore in his Major League debut.
NL Central Standings
Playoff odds via Fangraphs
| Team | Wins | Losses | GB | Playoff Odds |
| Reds | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 29.3% |
| Cubs | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 26.0% |
| Cardinals | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 21.6% |
| Brewers | 1 | 3 | 2.0 | 38.3% |
| Pirates | 1 | 3 | 2.0 | 0.3% |
Suarez – 2 for 14
Votto – 3 for 18 (0 BBs … that’s a bad sign early)
Naquin – 2 for 10
Get Da Wink healthy, bench Naquin, get Votto and Suarez right over these next 2 games, before hitting the road.
It has been said in previous years, but this year’s Pirates team truly stinks.
Great time to fatten up the Reds record.
Agree with this. Also need Senzel to get started.
Votto and Senzel have OPS+’s of – 7. Votto does seem to be hitting the ball hard when he connects.
Yes, a negative 7. They need to get batting tips from Jose Garcia …
Meanwhile, Castellanos has an OPS+ of 416.
Very small sample sizes.
Send Naquin to the bench? Thank God you arent the coach. Lol just messin with ya Sliotar.
Stephenson, one start, 3 hits. Barnhart, 3 starts, 2 hits. Votto still batting 3rd? Aquino delivered last night when it counted. Naquin starts anyway. Being 3-1 is nice but it sort f feels like luck more than good management or perhaps despite not so good management.
Its Bells lefty ,righty thing. Pitcher is right handed then lefties play. Poor Stephenson. The Reds only go against 1 lefty in the next 11 days. Get use to Barnhart every day.
Lol, how can you POSSIBLY question Naquin starting?
Well based on this game, I guess I’d better retract my Naquin comment.
Reds 3-1 and starting Tyler over AA has resulted in 2 HR’s and 5 RBI’s to this point.
Got a GG at SS
Tyler Naquin doing his Adam Dunn impersonation.
Naquin…454 feet…rocket
Jesse Pipp?
TYLER!!!
Tough decisions when Shogo returns.
Naquin with the big Bomb. 2 HRS and 6 rbis.
Rasiel Iglesias is in fine form. 2 run bomb to lose the game. 2nd home run in 4 appearances.
Last night I listened on iheart radio to the Reds game driving home to South Bend IN from Cleveland without any issues. Today I can’t listen to it? What is going on?
Where you began your broadcast last night probably was in the coverage area. Where you are tonight probably isn’t.
Ha that makes sense and is a good point. I wonder how MLB decided who to black out where??
That’s a good question. It’s also one that I don’t have an answer for.
Ty should get the start tomorrow….12:30 day game
NaPom BOMB
Nice!!
1/2 way to Scooterville!
Legend in the making.
Does Krall get the credit for not getting a SS, therefore allowing India to start?
Krall should get credit with an assist from Big Bob.
So far the start of this season is so much better than the previous 3-4. I am in a much better mood too. I like it!
Jay Bruce goes yard for the Yanks.
Correa went yard on Iggy in the 9th to stick him with the L. Happy he’s gone!
He threw a ball away throwing to 3rd a few nights ago too…allowing the tying run to score.
Naquin is on fire! Looking at his stats he had more power previously in his career then I thought. I don’t know how you sit him vs rhp right now?
Votto 93 and 95 mph on batted balls tonight.
Patience guys…results will come if he keeps hitting it hard.
I’m more worried about Geno’s hitting
Yep, any unbiased fan should be more worried about Geno. Dude should be in his prime and he hasn’t hit since 2019.
Using the term ‘hitting’ loosely.
Da Whom?
Senzel’s hustle = another run scored.
Fun to watch again tonight.
We’re not even a week into the season, but thus far (outside of the first inning of Opening Day), I like what I’ve seen. The Reds are beating up the Pirates like they’re supposed to. The hitters are looking dangerous up and down the lineup, even the bench pieces (Aquino, Naquin). The bullpen is shutting down the opposition each day. Even the number three through five starters have been fantastic. Oh, and Castellanos owns the Cards.
Does Akiyama have options? Because right now he might be the fifth or sixth best OF on the team. Castellanos, Senzel, Winker, and Naquin are all better hitters it seems, with Aquino having more power as a bench option.
Ball in play…sac fly
Ball in play…rbi groundout
Love when they pick up runners from 3rd less than 2 outs.
Nick C. is a bum … 3 AB’s and no hits, no RBI’s, no dingers. Send him down … 🙂
Remember when nobody picked up our hot hitters on an off night? Yeah … I do as well. Totally different feel 5 games in.
Nice to see Senzel joining the party! Also nice to see Suarez looking like he belongs at SS. Let’s Go!
He’s looking better. I think he’ll settle in. Won’t win a GG, but if he’s passable and starts to hit, that’s all good. Plus him at SS is why India is at 2B. I’ll take that trade-off so far.
Nice work by Miley. 5 innings, under 70 pitches. Confidence to go a 6th and margin to support him.
Still some ball to play, but I’m feeling optimistic. This is what good teams do to lousy teams.
I’m truly loving this kid. Goes with the pitch against the shift for a hit and RBI. He belongs in the Show.
Reds fans—
Jonathan India is in the zone!
They are going to learn not to shift on him soon, He can take a little off and send it the other way. Nice control
Good- then he can swing away and increase the slugging percentage!
Who are these guys wearing our favorite uniforms?
Gotta say: Tucker ending up sliding into 2nd on a fairly shallow ball shows some crazy heart and aggressiveness. Me like.
It’s infectious, up and down the lineup
Castellanos staves off being sent down by chipping in a double
+500
Now that’s funny right there!
Miley’s got the Sauce!
That “zero” in the 3rd inning is looking a little strange at this point.
And how about that India?
Solid outting by Wade. Had good command over all his pitches.
India continues to impress. Senzy with a few knocks. Little worried about Geno, but he’s walking a fair amount.
Awesome start 5 games in. Hopefully Castillo can lock up the first sweep of the season tmr afternoon.
Can the Reds sign Derek Johnson to a 25-year contract extension?
+50,000
Derek Johnson might be my favorite current Red
And hey Deb. Hope you and yours had a healthy and happy off season.
Best post of the night.Don’t think for a second other teams aren’t noticing what he is doing with guys that teams gave up on.Pay the man whatever he wants.
And an additional +10,000
The Golden Sombrero!
Not his first
Or his last
Found the negative in a great game! ?
No, not a big deal, just an observation.
Eugenio was up 5 times and made contact 3 times and all were foul balls.Guy is way way out of sorts.May just need a day to regroup.We need him.
Debbie doesn’t care given the outcome 🙂
Biggest Pie-Rat beatdown in 25+ years … and another complete team effort.
It’s been a great week of Reds baseball.
You can’t stop the Reds, you can only hope to slow them down!
Debbie says you can’t slow down Senzel or India let alone stop them.
Deb knows best
Reds are clearly hurting by not having signed a big name expensive rental SS. They would be scoring 20 runs a game. FO just doesn’t have a clue.
At least that is what we had to read day after day all winter.
Despite the errors, so far he’s serviceable and hasn’t cost us a game. If his hitting comes back around, he’s still a major asset. Perhaps I should say “when” not “if”.
You have to admit this is fun. And we’ve still got a couple “stars” to add back into the mix.