The Cincinnati Reds will look for their second win of their series with the Atlanta Braves this afternoon after splitting the first two games. First pitch is scheduled for 4:10pm ET.
Starting Lineups
Atlanta Braves
|
Cincinnati Reds
|
| Ronald Acuña Jr. – RF | Jonathan India– 2B |
| Freddie Freeman – 1B | Jesse Winker – LF |
| Ozzie Albies – 2B | Nick Castellanos – RF |
| Austin Riley – 3B | Joey Votto – 1B |
| Dansby Swanson – SS | Tyler Naquin – CF |
| Guillermo Heredia – LF | Eugenio Suárez – 3B |
| William Contreras – C | Tucker Barnhart – C |
| Ender Inciarte – CF | Kyle Farmer – SS |
| Ian Anderson – SP | Luis Castillo – SP |
Starting Pitchers
Luis Castillo
It’s been a tough season for Luis Castillo, but he’s been pitching well for the last five weeks. Dating back to May 18th he’s made seven starts and posted a 3.63 ERA in 39.2 innings with just three home runs allowed and he’s struck out 45 batters.
In that stretch he’s held right-handed hitters to a .211/.291/.324 line in 79 plate appearances, walking six and striking out 19. Lefties haven’t hit as well, posting a .183/.326/.268 line in 89 plate appearances against him – but they have walked 15 times with 26 strikeouts.
Pitch usage from 2021
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Change | Curve | |
| Velo | 96.8 | 96.9 | 87.7 | 85.4 |
| Usage | 30.7% | 20.3% | 31.6% | 17.4% |
Ian Anderson
It’s been another strong season for Ian Anderson. After getting his feet wet in the big leagues in 2020, making six starts with a 1.95 ERA, he’s now made 14 starts this season and has a 3.33 ERA in 75.2 innings with 79 strikeouts. He has been a bit inconsistent in the last month, allowed four earned runs in three different starts that didn’t see him record an out in the 5th inning in two of them and only one out in the 5th inning of another, but also having two starts where he hasn’t allowed a single run.
Anderson has been good against both lefties and righties this season, but there are some small reverse splits happening this season. Left-handed hitters have a .195/.269/.297 line against him. Right-handed hitters have a .239/.311/.362 line against him.
Pitch usage from 2021
| 4-Seam | Change | Curve | |
| Velo | 94.8 | 88.0 | 80.5 |
| Usage | 47.8% | 32.2% | 20.0% |
When and Where
- Game time: 4:10pm ET
- Where: Great American Ball Park
- Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 85°, cloudy, 3% chance of rain.
News and Notes
Tejay Antone placed on the 10-day injured list
Just prior to the game this afternoon the Reds placed Tejay Antone on the injured list with a forearm strain and called up Cionel Pérez. We’ve got more details here if you are interested.
Louisville Bats manager Pat Kelly ejected during a wardrobe malfunction
I’ve been covering minor league baseball for 16 years now. Last night I saw something I have never seen before and probably will never see again: Pat Kelly was ejected from the game after the home plate umpire had a wardrobe malfunction and was putting on a new belt during the game. There’s some video and a bit more of an explanation of the situation here if you’re interested in the theatrics.
NL Central Standings
Playoff odds via Fangraphs
| Team | W | L | GB | Playoff % |
| Brewers | 43 | 33 | 0 | 68.3% |
| Cubs | 42 | 34 | 1.0 | 30.9% |
| Reds | 27 | 37 | 5.0 | 11.1% |
| Cardinals | 26 | 40 | 7.0 | 3.0% |
| Pirates | 28 | 46 | 14.0 | 0.0% |
Scrolling through past pieces I came upon “Regleg Nation Predictions For The 2021 Reds Season” posted in late March.
Six members of the Redleg Nation staff projected their win-loss numbers which averaged 83 wins and 79 losses. If the Reds win the next two games against the Braves, they will be squarely on target (although we can hope for better numbers going forward).
Speaking of being on target: There was another piece titled “Is Nick Castellanos Poised To Have A Big Season For The Reds” by Ashley Davis. Me thinks it’s time to remove the “Is” and the “?.”
Reds need to go to a six man rotation when Gray gets back, have the starters try to go as long as possible. This bullpen has one reliable arm left, Brach. Others need to step up to avoid this team cratering right before All-Star break
I see TA is back on the IL. That could make for a very long couple of weeks. At least the Reds still have Doolittle. He’s going to regain his form any day now.
And what form would that be? Looking over his shoulder as the ball lands on the outfield bleachers?
Well, I can be hopeful. He was good once.
Injuries piling up. Not looking good. Wind is 14MPH 10 mins to game time, Coming in from right again. Mother nature must be a braves fan
Deflating news leads to blowout loss. Seems I’ve seen this movie before.
Castillo looked strong
Pounding the zone
WINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There are hits that are bombs, that was a nuke
You bet. And through a cross-wind.
We should not know the name Laz Diaz but we all do
Winker 109 mph and 435 feet
Base-running much better.
Braves have alot of guys that could’ve let Suarez throw to Votto and then score from 3rd, but luckily Riley isn’t one of them. Nice rally by Luis!
Farmer has to be loving this year. He pretty much plays every game, every AB no matter what. Talk about job security.
Farmer would not be on the roster of any other MLB team except maybe the AAA Pirates!
I would like him as a backup catcher and an emergency replacement other places. Only problem with that is we know David Bell would not use him that way. So as long as DB is the manager I’d rather him not be on the roster.
That’s not true. He is an average shortstop, adequate on defense and a bit below par on offense. He would make a lot of other teams.
He’s our more reliable SS we have available, however.
Unfortunately correct!
We’re way too much afraid of the DFA thing. The name of the game is to try to win. We’re not using all of our assets to do that.
Farmer is just wearing down.He never has been an every day player.Reds knew that and have gone that way after Senzel and Moose went down.Help is available.Just got to bring up a guy that is a legit short stop and let him platoon or take over.
Castillo struck out acuna with high inside FB
Ump didnt call it
See above
It’s why we known his name
It’s on a short list with some others
Ok that was some crazy wind on the flyball there
Strange. I’ve never seen the wind do much at gabp for some reason. Interesting. Luis pitching to contact and its loud contact, but zeroes are zeroes
Keep in mind later in the game: Riley has 109 and 112 exit velo off Castillo in two at-bats.
Steal 2nd base!! He throws alot of offspeed and Nick will handle the fb.
LC is dodging more bullets than Neo in The Matrix!
India+Winker+Nick C. = runs (usually, in some combination).
Good deal!
+2 as in runs so far
Votto now 15 RBI in last 16 games.
The rumors of his demise are greatly exaggerated
Absolutely!
SAFE!
Reds 3-0
This is what I like to see….
Larkin talking about fun inning and different approach hitting this year
Hit the ball hard on a line and make productive outs.
Absolutely.
A real baseball game with lots of fans has broken out at GABP
That’s more like it Votto!
Suarez, Barnhart & Farmer all striking out in the bottom of the 4th? C’mon guys! Put the bat on the ball and put it in play! Something good may happen!
Got Acuna on a change up.Rare when a righty throws one to a righty.No need to mess with Freddie and he didn’t but he gets Albies.Luis has been good for awhile now.
Reds are playing defense today!
Nailed at the plate!
Some good defense (by both teams) this series.
That was a nice, heads up play
Goodness, Jonathon India can play the game of baseball.
Should be leading off and playing second base for a few years.
Nick is playing some fine D. Held him to a single then a near perfect throw to the relay. Fun to watch.
What are these rumors that Winker has left the ballpark?
and why was Winker taken out of the game??? I had to look to see if it was a double-switch when I realized LC was still in the game.
Glad we got 3 off of Anderson before he kicked it in gear.Ten straight after Joey’s single.Guess he is gone now and thats a good thing.
He worked around some issues, but great start by Castillo. It feels like he is just “this” close to getting things figured out
Felt he was in control all day.
Castillo still at 98 in the 7th.Guess is he is done at 106 pitches.He was really good today.
Place without sound, if anyone has Winker update would appreciate it.
Thx all and have great weekend.
Twitter so far says: he entered the dugout after his groundout, Bell told him something, he grabbed gear and exited.
Also some are noting that he made a dive for a ball in the fourth, so perhaps it’s an injury and Bell told him he’s out until it’s looked at
All speculation.
It would be so Reds FO if he’s been traded for Archie Bradley, Jr or Raisel Iglesias rofl
Thx for update really appreciate it!
+100
Right hip contusion — according to radio booth
That’s what i heard too
Maybe taken out as a precaution (that’s my two cents)
A couple more runs would be nice before Bell has to play Reliever Roulette!
Very, very interesting move in the top of the eighth by Bell. First two batters are Freeman and Albies, lefthanded. But Bell brings in righthander Brach. Does Bell consider Brach the best he has at the moment? Perhaps.
I can’t read it another way.
Indians rained out so actually getting to watch game. Yay…
We will see but normally he is about match ups.
Larkin needs to watch his mouth about getting Antone and Sims back by the deadline being all the bullpen needs lol.
All they need?
Interesting take there
He said getting them back is like making a trade. I’m not.. or we could you know.. get a few more arms, too?
Winker with right hip contusion
Right hip contusion for Winker
Walks are just so bad but especially late in games.Just have to make the other team hit their way on.
Just can’t get out of our own way.Man you would think it couldn’t get any worse.
It can always get worse.
Again, batter walked by Brach scores!
It always feels less painful if the opponents scores by earning their way on base
TySteve gets that run back!!!!
The Rookie
These rookies …
Stephenson is a future All Star.
Stephenson- like winker- has no power
Love it when the young guys come through.Gives me hope in a couple of years we may really be a contender.
And when Mark Cuban buys the team!
+billions
Can you imagine him setting behind the dugout hollering at players?
The question now is…
Who will it be for the 9th?
I vote Art Warren
AG
Should we Clete now? Lol just kidding
Sort of
Brach is the 8th inning guy or he was today so who closes?
Here is the chance AG has been looking for …
Reds win! Nice performance by Castillo — and Garrett, and several others.
Miracle 🙂
AG is the man!
It would be great if he keeps it together right now with Antone and Sims injured
That will do AG.Great job.
Last slider was broke about eight feet. P
Yup but then he hung 2 sliders at the top of the zone to earlier batters, one of which was hit for the single. Hence AG’s struggle with consistency. If he could throw them all like that last one, he’d be good most of the time.
It’s nice to see Castillo and Garrett on the way back. This version of the Reds is a fun team to watch.
Just saw the replay of the slider to Freddie and it was nasty.He has to protect and it looked good but boy as DaveCT said that had some break on it.
But he hung 2 sliders before that, one hit for single, the other taken.
They won the game
Freddie was disarmed and despatched
Kudos to AG. He beat the best the Braves have to offer. Has anybody noticed that he has dropped his ERA by 2+ runs over the past week or two while the naysayers have continued to denigrate him?
Brach gave up a run. Oh my, he is terrible. Good relievers never give up any runs. The sky is falling; watch out, Brad!
The key to a better bullpen is better starting pitching going deeper into games. Case in point today.
You hit the nail on the head my friend! Quality starts by the SP staff inherently makes your BP infinitely better!