The Cincinnati Reds will host the Philadelphia Phillies tonight in a make up of their previously postponed game from earlier this season. First pitch is set for 6:40pm and for those of you out of the Cincinnati and Philadelphia markets, the game will be available on MLB Network this evening.
Starting Lineups
Philadelphia Phillies
|
Cincinnati Reds
|
| Odúbel Herrera – CF | Jonathan India – 2B |
| Rhys Hoskins – 1B | Jesse Winker – LF |
| Andrew McCutchen – LF | Nick Castellanos – RF |
| Bryce Harper – RF | Joey Votto – 1B |
| Alec Bohm – 3B | Shogo Akiyama – CF |
| Luke Williams – 2B | Eugenio Suárez – 3B |
| Ronald Torreyes – SS | Tucker Barnhart – C |
| Andrew Knapp – C | Mike Freeman – SS |
| Spencer Howard – SP | Wade Miley – SP |
Starting Pitchers
Wade Miley
The lefty just keeps getting it done. Through 13 starts this season Wade Miley has a 2.85 ERA in 75.2 innings pitched. He faced Philadelphia four weeks ago in an 11-1 win where he allowed that one run in 6.0 innings pitched.
Teams don’t send too many lefties to the plate against Miley and for good reason – the ones deemed good enough to face him still don’t hit much. Left-handed hitters have a .148/.193/.148 line against him in 57 plate appearances with three walks and 13 strikeouts. Right-handed hitters are having far more success, but still not hitting much. Righties have a .227/.280/.369 line against Miley in 251 plate appearances this eason.
Pitch usage from 2021
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Cutter | Curve | Change | |
| Velo | 89.8 | 88.0 | 85.3 | 75.0 | 81.5 |
| Usage | 17.2% | 1.2% | 50.4% | 3.9% | 27.3% |
Spencer Howard
The Phillies top prospect, Spencer Howard hasn’t found much success this season in the big leagues. He’s made four starts and four relief appearances, covering 19.1 innings and posting a 5.59 ERA with 15 walks and 26 strikeouts. That’s not any better than the 5.92 ERA he posted last season in six starts that covered 24.1 innings.
He throws four pitches, but he’s very fastball dominant – throwing it 71% of the time. He last pitched in San Francisco on June 20th out of the bullpen, allowing two runs in 1.2 innings. Today’s outing will only be his second in the last two weeks. We’re dealing with a small sample size for his career, but lefties have hit .262/.364/.500 against him in his career and righties are hitting .253/.350/.425 against him. His ERA on the road for his career is 6.38 compared to 5.03 at home – but hitters have a 100 point OPS advantage against him when he’s in Philadelphia, too.
Pitch usage from 2021
| 4-Seam | Slider | Curve | Change | |
| Velo | 94.6 | 81.5 | 73.9 | 79.2 |
| Usage | 71.2% | 10.5% | 7.3% | 11.0% |
When and Where
- Game time: 6:40pm ET
- Where: Great American Ball Park
- Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv, MLB Network (out of market)
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 86°, partly cloudy, 2% chance of rain
News and Notes
Tyler Naquin scratched from the lineup
Outfielder Tyler Naquin was originally in the starting lineup and in center. He was scratched with a sore wrist and replaced in the lineup by Shogo Akiyama.
The Reds call up Alejo Lopez
In case you missed the news, the Reds called up infielder Alejo Lopez on Monday. He was hitting .360 this season between Double-A and Triple-A with 19 doubles, two home runs, 24 walks, and just 18 strikeouts in 49 games played.
Sonny Gray to rejoin the rotation on Friday
Before the game this evening Sonny Gray told the media that he would be rejoining the Cincinnati Reds rotation on Friday. Cincinnati opens up a 3-game series against the Chicago Cubs that night.
NL Central Standings
Playoff odds via Fangraphs
| Team | W | L | GB | Playoff % |
| Brewers | 45 | 33 | 0 | 76.4% |
| Cubs | 42 | 36 | 3.0 | 23.5% |
| Reds | 38 | 38 | 6.0 | 10.2% |
| Cardinals | 37 | 41 | 8.0 | 2.5% |
| Pirates | 29 | 47 | 15.0 | 0.0% |
This is not the best lineup the Reds have put out this year, by far. We have to hope that Miley is really on because I don’t see the Reds scoring a lot of runs, but you never know maybe Shogo has a big night.
Better starting lineup than yesterday that produced 0 runs and 2 hits!
When you score 0 you have no place to go but up. 🙂
Ok with Lopez PH tonight, first day up and all, should be starting to see him get starts soon. Remember, Tom Brady used to be a 7th Round pick out of Michigan. Be interesting to see how Akiyama does in what is traditionally a power role. Hopefully Naquins injuy is light.
Defense bailed Miley out in the 1st inning! Keep it up! Offense needs to show up BIG!
Cy Howard tonight gets us on 9 pitches.I will check back later. Grass to cut before it rains.
reports of a cy young candidate from Philli were….. premature
Suarez has his troubles at SS, but can make some pretty decent plays at 3B.
Suarez has his troubles at SS, but can make some pretty decent plays at 3B.
He’s actually capable of making gold glove plays at 3B occasionally. That’s where he should STAY.
Suarez with some quality defense first 2 innings.
Bell basically said in his pregame Lopez was a bench player but would try to get him some early starts to stay in rhythm. Sounds as if he is up for awhile but a role player.
They have obviously figured this guy out. Just an issue with the sun that is throwing them off. Expect the Reds to go off next time through the order.
Miley settling in well. Let’s see if he can help his own cause here and get things going. Crooked Number Time!!
Just like that, Wade … and you even gave away a strike.
Barnhart great play on bunt. Miley 8 pitch innings.
Defense and pitching from the Reds at GABP? Miley andBarnhart options need to be picked up in 2022
OK, but where do you play TySteve so he gets as many AB’s as possible? And I think it’s safe to say the universal DH will happen.
Catch 60 games
DH 40 games
1b 40 games
Gotta have 2 catchers. Someone will get injured along the way
OK. That probably keeps his legs fresh. It also means JV sits more than he’d like to (thinking he rarely if ever gets to play the field anymore and making some room for Moose). I’m thinking in that world, TySteve can be as durable as Buster Posey.
I would see if we could extend Barnhart for 3 more seasons. You got to pick up Miley’s option.
I’d go Barnhart 90 games / Stephenson 72 behind the plate. I’d give Stephenson 72 more games at 1B. Votto DH, and Mouse would get 90 at 1B, 30 at 3B, and 20 at DH.
Assuming Barrero is SS, and India is 2B, I’d let them play with only the occasional rest day.
Wade Miley is a master at his craft! Let’s his defense help him out and keeps the ball down in the strike zone! Again, he reminds me of Fred Norman!
Wade was ready to go … glad House stopped him
why did I have the image of the train that goes “i think I can, I think I can” when I saw Miley running
+500
Wait … we chased Howard already? Where’s the fun in that Mr. G.?
It is so interesting that apparently the Phillies know Howard loses velocity after a couple of innings. Seems like a guy born to be a reliever.
Brought in a lefty and I wonder why they did that.Got rained out.
Falter. Great name for a pitcher.
I hope he does.
Must have been afraid of Shogo.r
I may be in the minority, but I think a change of scenery is what Suarez needs. Yes, he’s had a decent glove back at 3B (like this game), but we have other options. He’s just still looking lost at the plate to me for the most part. Another squandered opportunity there by whiffing at one well above the strike zone while letting others more hittable go by.
$11/mil a year and strands the planet while hitting .180. I’m sure the phones are popping)) Like trying to sell snowblowers in Miami!
Yeah, I get that. But what is it costing us to keep running him out there to do just that?
They have snow in Miami, just not the kind that melts!
Dennis for the win!
In the clutch it takes 3 pitches to retire Geno. He strands more baserunners than anyone in MLB. And he strikes out more than anyone in MLB. They don’t even waste a pitch on him. He usually takes a couple strikes. And if there is anyone who needs all 3 swings, it’s Suarez. He’s awful!!! Nice guy, loves the Reds,..but he has a hole in his bat. His strike outs in clutch situations has killed us for years. We simply can not win with Suarez as a regular. I’d pay someone big bucks for them to take him off our hands. I’d pay his salary for another team if they’ll just take him.
Moose contract is even worse. He’s getting 18 mil I think? Horrible signing. Like Old School says….no more long term contracts carrying guys to their mid 30s or later.
I agree so we watch this because it doesn’t go away until 2024.
Guys like India or Stephenson, I’d buy out their arb years, plus 1, with mutual option for 1 more. That would give you 7 years with an option for an 8th. I would not do that on with pitchers, just too much risk for injuries. FA’s 2 to 3 year deals, preferably 3 year is an option year.
The Rockies have all but purged their awful contracts after 2021 x for 1 more year of Blackmon. They actually do have to field a team and sell tickets and market players so I could see Suarez as an affordable veteran with potential at DH and 3b as a bounce back candidate change of scenery guy and could hit a lot of HR at Coors. Suarez contract isnt prohibitive. Might be an off-season move and free up 3b and get younger.
When you make a non-athlete run then they wear out quickly and Miley runs like he’s 65. I like him, but I’d be bunting on him consistently if I was the other team. I saw Nolan Ryan at the end and it was his legs that went. It wasn’t his arm
Ok, I’m gonna put my wannabe scout glasses on again. I saw Art Warren pitch 1 inning and knew he was better then half the Reds opening day pen.
Freeman is a much better hitter then Farmer yesterday, today, and tomorrow. If he’s not Suarez bad at SS then he should be playing vs rhp. And should’ve been playing
KYP know your personnel. Small market teams have zero chance without this ability
agreed, I had totally forgotten Freeman was even on the roster until yesterday, if he knew short he should have been spelling farmer already.
Miley doesn’t have it today. Definitely not seeing 7. Maybe not 6. Maybe done after this inning
Seen enough but Miley has been good for us.Offense needs to pick him up.
Ugly, ugly, ugly … but we can recover from it.
Gotta believe!
Certainly want to, Dennis.
This is our Reds. They go on a 13-3 streak and you think “Here we go now”, but then you realize that some kind of similar losing streak will immediately follow. This would make a 3-8 losing streak if we don’t rally.
Schwarber 2 more HRs tonite so far. Dude just got into the $20-$25 mil/year club me thinks.
15 HRs in 17 games including tonite. Unreal
Not Miley’s best game but he may be able to get through the 6th before Bell has to select the first reliever in what will be a string of at least 3.
Reds can’t hit lefties.Joe G pulled a fast one and it worked.Reds have no answer on offense right now.
Word is going to get out quick to just throw lefties in there.
Tonite:
Winker degraded
Votto, Shogo, Tucker, and Freeman all practically helpless vs lhp. Naquin sits
He should run Stephenson and AA in there, but he won’t.
Yeah your right and any lefty will do.
That was a smart move. Don’t know why other managers don’t do that more often when opposing teams stack their lineups.
Too many strikeouts by Reds hitters tonight! Make contact Please!
I’m thinking the title of this year’s season novel is “Nibblers and Whiffers” … what do you think?
Four out of our next 5 hitters are lefties so their guy bats for himself leading of the 6th.He is rubbing it in our face and daring us to do something about it.Time to put on the big boy pants or run away and hide
OK, Wade gave you guys 6 … time to pick him up with some big crooked numbers.
Bell out smarted himself with all these lefties in the line up, he needs to make some changes this inning.
Bell just does what he always does.He rested Farmer and he needed it and Naquin was a late scratch so he went with Shogo.Reds just have too many holes to fill regardless.He only has so many right handed hitters and he played them yesterday and we got 2 hits.Roster is what it is.
Brew Crew will hammer Hendricks and we will be down 7 by the end of the day.Time to look ahead.
Negative Nancy, we haven’t lost yet.
Joey 10-56 (.179) .567 ops vs lefties coming in. Joey needs a platoon partner and old man gets rested too. No brainer???
Norm Charlton….yeah. Knew he reminded me of someone
I’d have Lorenzen work at 1B. You’re a middle reliever and platoon 1B plus defensive replacement OF/pinch-runner
I’d be happy if we can just get Lorenzen pitching effectively. Maybe is Lopez is legit, Suarez could spell Votto against lefties. Someone else thought of that idea, but I kinda like it.
That might work too. Joey just needs to sit. Sub .600 ops is unacceptable and he was horrible last year vs lhp too. Its not a fluke
Suarez doesn’t hit lefties either. Batting .131 with a .499 OPS against lefties this year.
Lol, Suarez doesn’t hit anyone this season. You got to work with what you got.
@LDS, I just looked at his numbers since 16. Suarez had been stronger against LHP in 16,17,18, and 19. 20, and 21 when his overall numbers began to fall off a cliff, the splits flipped. He now hits RHP better, I didn’t realize that. It’s got to mean something, but that’s out of my expertise, and apparently the hitting coaches as well.
Yeah MBS, I think it’s a head thing, 2019 ruined his game. Terrific season though not one he’s likely to repeat though he keeps trying.
I feel like the season is slipping away! Starting pitching has been average at best and the bullpen is the bullpen! During Reds winning streaks they were scoring runs, lots of them! Two games in a row where we have faced a bunch of bullpen pitchers and cannot string more than 2 hits together! Offense needs to show up soon and be consistent over the next 2 weeks or the 2nd half of the season won’t matter!
Shogo was a bust. I’ve never seen a guy hit the ball softer in my life. Stepped in the bucket there vs a lefty like a little leaguer. Nice try. Signing seems good at the time
I was just about to write that the season is on the brink. The offense has looked awful the last few games and with Cubs and Padres coming up things could get ugly in a hurry.
Season On The Brink
Bob Knight with the media before the NIT championship game
“Coach Knight, what is your favorite thing about this team?”
“My favorite thing about this team is that I won’t have to watch them play again after tonite”
Even better was when John McKay, the first head coach of the Tampa Bay Bucs NFL team, when asked about the execution of his team after their 26th straight loss, he said I’m all for it!
Love that one!
Bobby Knight had a hundred great ones, but Doug doesn’t appreciate some of the finer ways of expressing oneself))))
I hate it when we lose and want us to win badly but the very best thing that can happen is we get so far out of it that ownership looks toward the future.Just too many issues on this year’s team to deal with and none have been addressed.
I feel the same way. This team has played just well enough to stay relevant in a bad division and that may end very soon.
Yeah I never thought they’d get to .500 again after that SF 4 game beatdown at gabp. They played better and they have talent, but they’re not going anywhere. Probably 2023 with Greene and Lodolo in the rotation hopefully and develop these other young guys. Start to see the end of these stupid contracts. Shogo’s $7 mil is off the books.
need to find a new answer for left-handed pitching. Not ready to give up yet based on L/R pitcher ratio
need to find a new answer for left-handed pitching. Not ready to give up yet based on L/R pitcher ratio
With Castellanos, India, and Stephenson, you’d think we could hold our own, but we can’t. Maybe Lopez can be the needed extra bat, his splits were great in the minors.
Yeah and I thought they may put him at third and move Suarez back to short but I think Bell has already said he is a bench player.
I feel the same way. This team has played just well enough to stay relevant in a bad division and that may end very soon.
Do we have a single relief pitcher who can pitch his assigned one (1) inning without walking a batter?
Welcome to The Show, Alejo!
Mr Lopez, Welcome to the Show!
First-pitch hit for Lopez!
Lopez baby!! Always liked switch-hitters that don’t suck at it like Tucker
Or Billy
True. Have we had a good one since Pete? Can’t think of anyone off hand?
one pitch 1.000AVG
Bell is going all in right now but Joe G does to the righty
Bailey Falter has a total of 9 IP in MLB but manages to mow down the Reds for 4 innings. Do we even have anybody that David Bell would be willing to pitch 4 innings as a reliever? It takes another rookie, A. Lopez, in his first appearance 1 swing to chase him from the mound. A potential rally is in progress. Now, how about that!
Maybe we should play younger guys more often.Now where have I heard that before?
India is looking a bit off tonight.
India 0-4 two games in a row, start lopez tomorow at 2B to give him a day
LHP Snell starts for SD tomorrow … Geno needs the day off, prolly already scheduled lol
Wink hasn’t had one of those oppo gabp specials in a while. This would be a good time!
Nick C!!!
GRAND SLAMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Couldn’t come at a better time.
Nick has driven in all six of the Reds’ runs.
What would we do without him?
Unfortunately we’ll find out next year when he opts out.
Blast off!!!!!!!
Nick is a machine ! Wow !
If the Reds don’t hurry to lock up Nick, Jesse, and Mahle before they do something really outstanding, they are nuts!
Tattooed that one!
Wow. How dumb was that? Just pitch around him. Worse case scenario you bring in a lefty for Votto at 4-3.
We’ll take it!! Reds are on fumes to stay in this thing
Could it be Joe G out smarted himself?Bet we all thought our guy was the only one that did things like that.
Ought oh.Casty with the granny.
CASTIIII
Votto wakes up, wants part of the action!
Feliz might want to consider going back into retirement.
Good things happen when you get on base … and tee it up for a Blastellanos!
Lopez’s hit got that rally/explosion going. Our rookies are injecting life into this team…..
now are they leaving Lopez in the field? they took Freeman out, you have to assume the pitcher is taking Akyiamas spot with AA taking over in center and Stephenson catching. With Naaquin hurt that only leaves farmer on the bench
No Lopez.
Farmer at SS, Stephenson at C. Aquino goes to CF.
but now no bench. Hope this doesn’t come back to bite
Brach then Garrett?
Hendrix, uff.
1,2,3 with a little help from his friends.
Now the bullpen MUST hold….
Guess that’s all we get to see of Lopez tonight. He’s not on the field with a glove.
How is it that he is such a bad defensive SS but a GG looking 3B
Different skills – different mind set.
Suarez is playing some D, ladies and gentlemen. Wonder where the heck this came from and where it has been?
It is remarkable.
Every Monday night I go to the Bats homepage looking for the box score, then I remember, oh that’s right no MILB tonight.
Don’t score more then 1 please. So Brach can get the save for my fantasy teams)))
Not tonight….but it might still come into play in the 9th.
2 gimme runs!
Farmer displaying his RBI Bunt power.
This is working for me … really working.
Reds blowing this thing open now, 9-4
I think Stephenson is too good of a hitting prospect to be a catcher. Plus he’s so big/tall which is a handicap for a catcher. I don’t know how they get around it though with Votto, Moose, and Suarez all locked into big $$
If they deal Nick C away, they must force the other team to take Moose or Suarez.
The 22 season should have the DH, and it can open up playing time at 1B.
I was playing with the numbers earlier in the night.
“I’d go Barnhart 90 games / Stephenson 72 behind the plate. I’d give Stephenson 72 more games at 1B. Votto DH, and Mouse would get 90 at 1B, 30 at 3B, and 20 at DH.“
Catch 60 games
Play 1b 40 games Dh 40 games
Rest 20
#bringbacktucker
Catching is brutal. Save the legs and preserve the hit tool
after the first two games, these teams played I have no idea what I was doing taking the under. This is exactly the type of tune-up game we need with the padres coming in tomorrow
Phillies are horrible defensively . Almost the whole team is negative DRS
Mention of 11(!) rooks for the reds this year… who am I missing: India, Ty Steve, Gutts, Santillan, Hendrix, Lopez, Cionel
Perez (?), Heineman (?) – that’s 8?
India, Stephenson, Gutt, Santillan, Hendrix, Lopez, Warren, Schrock, Bailey, Payton, Goudeau
To the anti bunt people… a good bunt in a pressure situation forcing relievers who arent there because of their spring training pfp prowess… its a good strategy.
Joe girardi and the Phils not looking so good in baseball execution over 9 innings.
I was just thinking it’s time for one of Nick’s patented doubles so India can score.
Castellanos is having a game and a year. The Reds really need to close that opt-out option.
Yankees have one of the worst producing OFs in mlb. I can see them going $30-$35 mil/year for 4-5 years. So theres that? Reds might be able to scrape up $25 mil, but I kind of doubt that.
Article on ESPN last week? On who was the front runners in the NL for MVP. Castellanos wasnt even mentioned. They had 6 guys and no Nick.
Nice slide by India. Reds 10-4. Castellanos with another RBI.
Where was this offense the last several games?
I really think Lopez sparked something. Others like Stephenson, India charging things up, too. Nick C. doing what he does, but those rookies make a difference!
Reds Kryptonite = LHP
Lefty Snell on the hill tomorrow for SD
They’re just letting De Los Santos absorb the beating here to preserve the rest of the staff. He didn’t have nothin’ tonight
Let’s play tomorrow anyway, just for giggles.
Snell hasn’t been himself this year so far.
He’s been rocked all month. 4 hits 3 walks in 5 shutout innings his last time out was the highlight. But as we saw tonight, Reds vs any LHP is not a good matchup for the Reds
I’m hoping Saurez’s .131 vs LHP gets the night off for Lopez to start at 3rd bat 2nd … albeit normally you’d stack righties against a LHP
I’d like to see Lopez start myself. Saurez can take a day off and provide some RH power off the bench — though I must say, he’s been playing some pretty good D at third lately!
How many different ways can you score once you’re on third?
13
Nick C grilling 7 ribeyes for the post game meal
Has everyone learned our lessons that giving up on the season during the 4th inning of a game in June is not a realistic assessment of the season?
Where have you been. This has gone on since early May.
Lets see how we do with the 7 straight vs Milw? I give the Reds 10-15% chance maybe
Milw is starting to hit and they’re far more likely to acquire help then the Reds are. Picking up WIlly Adames has already won them atleast 3-4 more games.
With the Phillies wearing the Red tops you would think it was our bullpen giving up 8 runs in the last 2 innings.
A 4 spot in the 7th and a 4 spot in the 8th will work
Go Reds
And a Joey Bomb to top it all off!
oh and Votto says enough of your heathen disbelieving
Holy moly. Votto hits one out. Reds 12-4. What is going on?
Save some for tomorrow, guys …..
Did Philly borrow the Reds bullpen? We usually see this from the other side.
Vottos AB was the best of the year. Also best inning of the year
Wait, other teams can pitch position players against us?
No way but we have been on the other side of this thing.Seems like the last time we saw them it was 17-3 in their favor.They owed us one and once the lefty said bye bye we put our big boy pants on and got with it.Great answer.
Joey just smoked 95 a long long way.Righties are our kind of throwers.
De Los Santos taking one for the team.
Santillan … might as well.
That was one of those Bell moves that just seems wasteful. Hendrix threw 7 pitches. Let him bat with an 8 run lead and pull him next inning if things go south. Burning a reliever on the handedness thing unnecessarily.
Nope, Hendrix will be available tomorrow and PH with a pitcher is a mercy killing ‘unwritten rule’ concession. I bet Osich closing out the 9th was the plan all along
Any RLN volunteers for the Phillies fans’ bullpen sucks support group?
Meeting Tuesday 7 am.
+100
I’ll be up at 7
Ill hit starbucks at 630 for the dark roast big carafe
I get it . They are hurting. Been there.
What an evening! Really needed to pound these Phillies on their stop over visit. Time to buck up and take it to the Friars next.
Osich has an ERA of 0.00! He clearly is an oddity in the current Reds bullpen!
A very pleasant and enjoyable surprise, keep it going tomorrow.
Need the Cubbies to rally and beat the Brewers!