The Cincinnati Reds will look to bounce back from a devastating loss last night that saw the Minnesota Twins hit a 3-run go-ahead homer in the top of the 9th inning. First pitch is set for 12:35pm.
Starting Lineups
Minnesota Twins
|
Cincinnati Reds
|
| Max Kepler – CF | Jonathan India – 2B |
| Brent Rooker – LF | Jesse Winker – LF |
| Jorge Polanco – SS | Kyle Farmer – SS |
| Luis Arraez – 3B | Joey Votto – 1B |
| Miguel Sano – 1B | Tyler Stephenson – C |
| Trevor Larnach – RF | Eugenio Suarez – 3B |
| Nick Gordon – 2B | Aristides Aquino – RF |
| Ryan Jeffers – C | Shogo Akiyama – CF |
| Charlie Barnes – SP | Luis Castillo – SP |
Starting Pitchers
Luis Castillo
Over the last two months you could argue that Luis Castillo is the best pitcher in baseball. Since the start of June he’s posted a 1.95 ERA in 11 starts and held opponents to a .553 OPS in 69.1 innings pitched.
Castillo’s been a bit better against right-handed hitters this season than left-handed hitters. Righties have a .253/.306/.397 line against him, while lefties are hitting .253/.365/.360 against him. He’s also been better at home than on the road, posting a 3.94 ERA at home (4.50 on the road).
Pitch usage from 2021
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 96.9 | 97.1 | 85.9 | 87.9 |
| Usage | 29% | 23% | 19% | 30% |
Charlie Barnes
There’s not a ton to write about Charlie Barnes from a big league perspective. The 25-year-old has made one appearance in the majors and it came three weeks ago when he allowed a run on four hits with a walk and a strikeout in 4.2 innings against the Tigers.
In Triple-A this season he posted a 4.24 ERA in 63.2 innings with 23 walks and 54 strikeouts. The left-handed starter showed reverse splits this year in the minors as he found far more success against righties than lefties. Right-handed hitters hit just .244/.313/.363 against him. Lefites hit .286/.375/.486 against him.
Take the pitch usage data below with a grain of salt because it’s accounting for just one game of information.
Pitch usage from 2021
| 2-Seam | Change | Slider | Curve | |
| Velo | 89.5 | 78.8 | 82.9 | 72.6 |
| Usage | 46% | 40% | 6% | 9% |
When and Where
- Game time: 12:35pm ET
- Where: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati
- Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv,
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 77°, sunny, 1% chance of rain
News and Notes
Nick Castellanos is close to returning
David Bell said Nick Castellanos will take BP on the field again today. "We might be a day away from seeing him back." #Reds
— Bobby Nightengale (@nightengalejr) August 4, 2021
Nick Lodolo promoted to Triple-A
The Cincinnati Reds have promoted their #2 prospect Nick Lodolo to Triple-A. The left-handed pitcher had a 1.84 ERA in 10 starts with Double-A Chattanooga this season.
NL Central Standings
Playoff odds via Fangraphs
| Team | W | L | GB | Playoff % |
| Brewers | 64 | 44 | 0 | 95.8% |
| Reds | 56 | 51 | 7.5 | 18.6% |
| Cardinals | 53 | 53 | 10.0 | 2.8% |
| Cubs | 51 | 57 | 13.0 | 0.0% |
| Pirates | 41 | 66 | 22.5 | 0.0% |
Just Isolate the loss last night…. the new winning streak starts tonight
this afternoon- correction
It’s not that complicated. It’s not rocket science. If you put in a reliever and he pitches a good inning (as in 3 up, 3 down), then you send him back out for a second inning. If he can’t throw a strike (whether he’s afraid to, or just can’t find the zone), then let him pitch to his three mandatory batters, and get him out of there!!!! That’s common sense. If you have a lead, pitch your better relievers. If you are down 6 runs and have to, then pitch the broke arms. It’s called common sense. Anything above and beyond that is over thinking. Bell has not figured any of that out yet. If you pitch 4 relievers in 4 different innings, at least one will be having a horrible night, and he will lose the game for you. The more pitchers you use, the more chance one of more will just not have it. That increases your chances to blow saves. My high school basketball coach taught me a long time ago. He’d say,..”Boys, if you’ve got a good horse,…ride it!!!!” Course that was back when people had common sense. That was before brainiacs like Bell were managers. The Reds simply have plenty enough talent to win their division and compete for a title, but not with Bell managing. He constantly makes bonehead moves that loses us games. We’ve had the lead going into the 9th the last two times he brought Hembree in. He immediately starts walking batters. And we’ve lost both of those games because of it. Bell should have stayed with any of the other relievers that preceded Hembree last night, and allowed them to pitch more than one inning. But Bell will NEVER figure that one out. And obviously, neither will the GM and owner. We’re stuck with a manager than can’t win. Oh well. It is what it is.
+1,000
You really should study the actual pitch usage counts sometimes to see what kind of jigsaw puzzle torture chamber Bell has to work with … the starters rarely ever go past 7 innings and an inning a game helps keep them under 6o pitches for any 5 day span … that’s about maximum for a reliever if you want to keep them healthy and reasonably avaiable all season
https://www.rotowire.com/baseball/bullpen-usage.php?team=CIN
2 inning stints are never really gonna be much of a feature. Check out Milwaukee’s usage chart sometime or compare some other team’s patterns
I’ve watched baseball my whole life. Relief pitchers used to pitch more than one inning, with no problem at all. They still can. I pitched baseball all through Babe Ruth and High School, and some semi-pro. If you can pitch one inning, you can pitch two. You might not be able to pitch the next night if you throw too many one night, but that’s not a problem. Someone else pitches the next night. But you nail down a win when you can. You don’t take out a pitcher that’s retiring them 1,2,3 and replace him with a broke arm pitcher who can’t throw a strike,..and lose a game you had basically won!!! That kind of thinking is what has cost us 15 or 20 wins this year. Supposedly, this guy can only pitch 16 pitches,..and this one can only pitch 11 pitches. That’s why we are not in first place! But I guess you are entitled to your opinion,..even if it’s wrong. What I want to know is why Bell never ever would pitch a starter more than 90 pitches or so (no matter how good they were pitching),..until he recently has started letting a good starter so 100 or 1006 pitches? You know why??? Because they could have always gone that many pitches,..but he never would let them before!!! Then when the fans demanded he not take them out so fast and turn it over to a lousy bullpen, he quit doing that. Most (note I say most) of the fans understand that. Bell doesn’t,..but “most” of the fans do. Several of the Reds pitchers have been throwing much more pitches just because of that. They always could have. Just like the good relievers can go more than one inning. It’s his “choice” to limit them to that. I understand limiting their pitches early on when the season is just starting,..but Bell has always done that (even late in the season),..up until lately. And only after the fans basically demanded he leave the starter in for more innings. We had to lose several games before he finally learned that. Jmo.
Need it type of Win today.
The baby and I Will be tuned in.
Go Reds.
Hope comment on good news later on.
Good grab by Rooker. I hope this is not one of those days when the Twins all look like gold-glovers.
Second game in a row Farmer hit into first inning double play to end the inning, he had a nice July but he is not a 3rd place hitter. That shows where this team is at right now. By the time everybody gets back it might not matter.
Farmer is starting to cool off a bit. It was inevitable.
Still, I think he might be in the right spot, at least for now.
We all know who is going to be the Number 3 hitter when he is healthy. Not faulting David Bell for riding the hot hand. When Nick returns Farmer will go down in the order
I loved Farmer’s July, but if he regresses to the back of his ball card on this homestand, it’s time to call up Barrero.
well farmer has proved he is not dead yet
Happy to give him credit!
I’d like to see lorenzen moved to closer. He looks to me that he’d like to make up for lost time
42 pitches for Luis C. after 2 innings, hopefully this rate changes
Castillo in pace for 5 IP 95 pitches… Twins are fouling the ball a lot…
Luis C. doing his best Tyler Mahle impression today.
Thanks to a 11-pitch fifth inning Castillo has a chance to go to the 6th, at least…
Don’t look now but that is a 6 game hitting streak for Suarez
Only 51 more to go for immortality.
Is the game blacked out in Cleveland on ESPN+? Keep getting video won’t load, please try again later message
Yep. I’m all the way up in the Northwest corner of Ohio and it’s blacked out here. Anywhere Bally Sports Ohio is available from some local cable provider, everyone else gets blacked out. Sucks because where I live I can’t even get cable, but they still black it out.
What is so frustrating is that they are not even showing the game on Bally Sports in Cleveland. Just a rerun of the Indians game. I get (sort of) if there is an actual conflict, but this is ridiculous.
Yeah Bally Sports has 3 channels where I am. The Cleveland one that used to be Sportstime Ohio is likely the one you are talking about. They play Indians games. Then we have what used to be Fox Sports Ohio, which shows Reds games. Then I also get what used to be Fox Sports Detroit in my area that shows Tigers games. Unfortunately since I live in an area that gets all 3 of those Bally’s channels, all of them are blacked out for me since I can’t get cable.
Big RBI single for Farmer. I’ll now get off his back. 🙂
Joey Votto delivers
Reds facing another Cy Young candidate today!
Guess it was a little early to reach that conclusion.
Dennis like many others here has never found anything too early to be negative about on this board.
It’s my way of jinxing the opposition!
It usually happens when the Reds face rookie pitchers.
This team always seems to step up after a crushing defeat, but the idea is to quit suffering crushing defeats.
Here’s hoping David Bell will help out.
I hope Farmer continues to prove me wrong about batting 3rd, big hit by Votto, let’s keep it going.
Alright, a solid rally secures us the lead. Unfortunately I am going to be the victim of an afternoon exam and am going to have to step out here. Ya’all keep the reds on top today
Good to see the guys coming out here and getting to a pitcher that they should!
If Suarez can’t move any better than that , he needs to sit now . Can Bell not. see that either ???????
Just unbelievable
This is the slowest footed Reds team I have seen in my 60 years of being a Reds fan! Whether in the field or on the basepaths!
It really is, but speed isn’t everything. I remember catching a Cubs game about 3 years ago and they said they led the league in 1st to 3rd on singles and that Bryant was #1. They had very little speed at that time as well. Baez maybe slightly above average? Reading the ball off the bat and getting leads and being able to recognize good times to hit-n-run. The Reds aren’t good at any of that normally.
Reds are trying to “David Bell proof” this game …if that’s possible
Is that possible? Doolittle is lurking in the bullpen!
It’s not possible. Watch closely.
At least Milwaukee also lost last night. Keeping pace is better than getting buried.
August has usually been buried month and wait till next year.
FWIW… https://umpscorecards.com/site-data/umpires.html
good stuff
Reds have runners on first and second with no outs. Again.
They fail to score. Again.
But, hey, no problem. The Reds have a 5-1 lead.
Wait…I forgot about the Reds bullpen.
Well that ended with a whimper…
Suarez and Aquino strikeout machines and Bell stacks them back to back …
Nice move
Top of the order, third time through, 90+ pitches. Need to be real careful here…
Nice DP, needed that bad. However, the bullpen is going to have to get 9 outs and that will be tough. The starters need to go 6 or 7 not 5 or 6.
Same situation as last night, their 7-8-9 coming to bat the 7th … Cessa got them out 1-2-3
That’s probably asking too much. Mahle averages about 5.1, Miley exactly 6, Castillo under 6, Gray 5 innings per start.
India just continues to impress, offensively and defensively. Most important, he is an on-base machine. Really like this guy.
How is it that when I think of the Reds’ bullpen, I hear the opening music from “The Twilight Zone?”
? ?
? ? ? ?
? ?
Another man left in scoring position, with this bullpen you have to add on and your starters have to give innings, right now the Reds are doing neither. They also need relievers to go more than an inning. Lodolo might help that and Santillan as well.
Who do you pitch there? Cessa got the same 7-8-9 in the 7th last night leaving 1-2-3 for Lorenzen but now it’s 3-4-5 for who in the 8th needing 6 outs … Brach is in and he and Garrett did succeed in holding them scoreless… the same guys just can’t pitch every game
Huh?
Here we go
Anyone want to offer an explanation as to how Amir Garrett still has a job on a major league roster??
It’s just bad outing after bad outing. And yet – they keep running him out there. Almost like winning isn’t really the thing we are aiming for
At least this time, he was replaced before hurting.
Brach should start the next frame…. and be replaced only if he places 2 at base.
Need to win this as of this is the last chance of the season
I am not even played a manager in a school baseball team. But i have it clear what todo if Brach placed two at base.
Not a ton of lefties that throw 95-97 with a big sweeping slider. He was good last year and he’s not that old. I would keep working with him, but he doesn’t need to be in high leverage. 6-1 is ok
When i see Garret struggles for ever in this season and is not only the struggling but the way it is made … totally out of command and offerings outage…I don’t know but i would take my risks and released him …
He is a “set-up man.” He takes big leads, and converts them into save situations.
I agree..I really had hopes for him being the Red’s closer this year, but he has been consistently awful.
I suppose they could try to hang on to him and hope he can turn it around next season, but I wouldn’t use him in highly leverage situations until he can prove himself worthy of it.
Ok you now need 6 outs and 3-4-5 r/l/R are coming up. Brach is in do who are YOU gonna pitch the 8th? #4 Votto will bat for the Reds so assume you’re not pinch hitting for P
Now you’re confusing me bigtime. I don’t understand what you are trying to say.
Stephenson goes yard. That’s sweet.
India and Stephenson!! Wow….never seen any Reds rookies so polished! They both came up going the other way and comfortable with taking pitches and extending at-bats. Most rookies look like they’re in a hurry to get it over with.
I think the problem with most, not all, of the Reds relievers is they don’t have a put away pitch, thus the high walk rate. They can get 2 strikes but not the 3rd. Mean while big HR for Stephenson, nice to add on.
Everybody declare it now … who do YOU bring out vs 3-4-5 in the 8th needing 6 outs with a big cushion
If you are going to walk someone…and that seems mandatory with this bullpen…it might as well be Polanco.
And then, a second walk.
But of course Brach is going to stay in the game.
Bell playing games again, get Brach out of there now.
I have an idea! How about fines for each walk by a relief pitcher!
Go get him now! Don’t let them get close! Here comes atleast 6-3
Nothing has changed in the last 100+ years in baseball. When you have a lead DO NOT walk batters!
Yes!!!!! You are 100% correct!!!!! I don’t understand why the bullpen can’t or won’t throw strikes. They waste too many pitches. They’ll get two strikes and then start nibbling,..hoping someone will swing at a pitch a foot outside or over their head. Then after a couple or three of those, they HAVE to throw strikes. The batter will usually foul a couple, and then he’ll finally get a free pass. Then that very walk will be the one that loses a game we had won. That has happened over and over and over and over and over. It’s endless with this bullpen and this manager. The answer? When the count is in your favor and it’s 0 and 2, or even 1 and 2,….you go for the jugular! The batter is on the defensive, and you have the upper hand. You put them away THEN!!! You don’t nibble around until you walk the tying or winning run. You make them earn that run. You don’t give them anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Looks to me like someone in the organization would teach that. Lorenzen went at the batter those last two innings. He challenged them today. That’s the way you pitch. You can’t win if you are afraid to throw a strike. It seldom bothers me if a batter gets a hit, like the guy in the last inning before the DP. Even if we lose because of several hits. But it KILLS me when they start giving free passes in a game we have basically won. Oh well. It is what it is.
I know DJ is well thought and he only can work with with what he has but I am not so sure he should be getting a complete pass on the way the bullpen is being used. I know David Bell has the final say but I assume DJ has a lot of input on those decisions.
If he gets the credit for our starters he should get some of the blame for the bullpen
Not really when a guy walks the first 2 hitters in a 6-1 game. I’m sure all pitching coaches advise against that.
Remember the sign at Alabama for Forrest Gump that said “Stop Forrest” ????
We need one in our bullpen that says “Throw Strikes.”
So, how long is Bell gonna wait this time? Until the Twins have taken the lead?
They need to cut old man Brach loose. Call up Tony S.
Or Sims. Every day becomes an adventure or a nightmare
Hopefully, Sims and Santillan come up right away. After Givens, Lorenzen and maybe Cessa and Wilson, our bullpen is awful. We don’t have a closer.
Miguel Sano. I one time saw him hit a ball over the LF light tower in AA New Britain, CT. Great little ballpark, Beehive Stadium.
It is time to release Brach, enough is enough, he can take a few others with him. Santillan looked good bring him back.
I’ve never seen a relief corps so adverse to throwing strikes in my 40=years of watching baseball. It really is sickening.
40+
Brach still had to face the 2 he walked once he was established pitching the 8th having faced only the one batter in the 7th, right?
No. 3 batter minimum or close out the inning
Until proven otherwise, this has got to be one of the Red’s worse bullpens.
8th. inning. Here we go again.
I leave Brach in to at least start the inning. If he gets in trouble then you move to one of the new guys
See??? SEE???
That’s why you don’t let a reliever pitch in more than 1 inning.
Signed, The Management
(The sarcasm portion of the program is now over.)
Ob boy, here we go. Somebody has got to step up.
I’m about to bash my head into a table.
This is nuts. I don’t think Joey gets that one, but why is he so far off the line with an off-speed pitcher?
Just get us to the 9th with the lead please
Brach still had to face the 2 he walked once he was established pitching the 8th having faced only the one batter in the 7th, right?
No, if you finish a inning, you can be done.
Right
Bell stuck with Brach to long, he has no clue.
Not blaming Bell today. He had righty vs righty and Cessa didn’t have it either.
Go to Lorenzen right now!!! What Bell usually does is wait til we lose the lead then burn Lorenzen anyway
You got that right!!!!! That’s Bell’s modus operandi.
Already having nightmares of Hembree coming in to close again.
Sign clowns for the bullpen, expect a circus when the gate opens!
Psalm 13: “How long, O Lord!”
This is like a bad joke!! It doesn’t matter how big the lead is – these clowns will give it up. And in less time than it takes to make microwave popcorn.
This is plain old, down-home humiliating.
How Luis Castillo restrains himself from smacking someone is beyond me.
What a complete joke this bullpen is !Awful !!!!!!
Castillo had a 6-1 lead in KC after 7 and we blew that one too. Unbelievable
I think you said 16 times last night that the Reds had lost after leading through 6? This is the Bell way. Why do you keep expecting a different outcome?
If you can’t nurse a 5 run lead for 2 innings, at home, against a non-contending team, guess what??
You aren’t a contender.
True, sad to say.
Well the Twins can score runs, but yeah. Good teams win comfortably several times a week. Not 2-3 times a month
Oh great I was starting to worry Mike Freeman wouldn’t get into the game ?
Now he has to get 5 outs. We need a quick dp in the worst way because he needs to close it out! Givens has been used a ton. Might be a Doolittle sighting))))
5 to 1 for six innings. Now 6-5. Again on the edge of losing.
How did he not score?
Ball was hit 137 mph
Down and in to a lefty. We have to be better then this? Walks and doubles
https://mobile.twitter.com/Angels/status/1422237198947000348/photo/1
Iglesias was reliever of the month for July. Nice salary dump by ownership and front office
Unfortunately I think the majority on here were happy he was gone. As the saying goes, “be careful what you ask for, you might just get it”.
Whew!
Alright. Lets score 6 here and still probably lose.
Polanco and Sano in the 9th. Still not liking this. Givens has been worked hard. I doubt we see him? Lorenzen will be pushing 25 pitches….why not?
AA saved a big run in that inning.
Vs 3-4-5 in the 9th and Lorenzen’s thrown 13 pitches and now 2nd day in a row after an off day … who is YOUR choice now to pitch the 9th?
Rob Dibble…. at 50+ years old
Keep going with Lorenzen. He’s a horse
Yes! That’s a no brainer.
I get that Lorenzen is pitching with an almost Mahle-like efficiency…. But does Bell seriously think that horse isn’t strong enough to pitch 1 2/3 innings??
It’s almost an insult to Lorenzen to say, “OK son, you’ve gone 2/3. I am sure your gassed. Let’s find someone else.”
Lorenzen will finish – one way or another.
There you go. Thanks.
I think they need to bring up Santillan and Lodolo to pitch out of the bullpen they can’t wait for Sims and Antone, If today doesn’t prove that nothing does. Sure could use a run here.
Yes.
Brent Rooker is our hero until now… We should still wait for the 9th…
It’s really really unbelievable how those poor hitters suddenly becomes Ted Williams all of them …
Front office needs to hand out DFAs like Oprah does cars…you get a DFA!, you get a DFA!, you get a DFA!
Agreed.
But make sure there’s plenty of toner in the copy machine…. You got a bunch to prepare.
Sims can rehab with the Reds….whats the difference. Brach and all those scrubs rehab the other team every game. Rehab them from trailing
They do have Justin Wilson. He was really good in his prime of course so was Brach
Yes and Sano & Polanco both are less effective, less power against LH’ers
In the Bell world, a pitcher seldom comes back out for a second inning – unless you’re Brach or someone else over 30 and mediocre. If the Reds lose today, remember Bell broke pattern to keep Brach in. Sorry folks but no one is this incompetent. There’s another issue somewhere.
Brach only pitched to 1 guy in the previous inning. I’m sure you’ll have allies, but I can’t blame Bell today.
I know, you go back & forth on Bell. I get it. But by that logic several Reds relievers should have stayed in the game last night.
If he deserves blame then I’ll hammer him, but Brach and Cessa just failed today. He went to Lorenzen earlier then he wanted to, but atleast he didn’t wait til we were behind like last week
Lorenzen is really the only pitcher last night that you bing out for a second inning … and that means you likely wouldn’t have had him for today
Actually Cessa only had 11 pitches last night. He should’ve went 2 innings and set up Givens for the save
Cessa got the 7-8-9 leaving the 1-2-3 for Lorenzen in the 7th last night and you just saw how reliable he is today …
And Givens really struggled the 8th needing 23 pitches to escape the 4-5-6 hitter sequence with a fortunate DP hopper to 3rd … if he did his job (and i’ll agree Bell chose him for the higher leverage spot last night) then Hembree’s coming out to more easily mop up vs 7-8-9 o 8-9-1 instead of the 9-1-2 he completely botched … after 23 pitches and a skin of the teeth escape i don’t bring back Givens
Bob “We know how it is done” Castellini saved $15MM when he had Iglesias and Bradley jettisoned this past offseason. And, they were replaced with retreads.
If Bob C. goes cheap this offseason with Castillo and the other arb eligible players, fails to resign Lorenzen and trades Sonny Gray for nothing, then fans should revolt.
We have had 16 seasons of his meddling and bumbling decisions. Enough is enough.
Doolittle warming up, all is well.
Doolittle throwing 97 and 98 these dys the highest velocity in the bullpen … Larnach the first LH batter at #6
I am so glad I wasn’t aware of that
In order to kneejerk criticize Bell’s choices in hindsight one realistically should be knowing stuff like this lol
I can only watch the Gamecast, and I am scared to look even at that.
Looks like we have our closer.
I still like Givens better because Lorenzen can get 4-5-6 outs and get you to the 9th.
If you do that with your closer then he’ll wear out quick
Let’s be honest, he really wanted to go Doolittle there.
Changes have to be made right now or they will always struggle like this.
14 innings now between Lorenzen and the 3 new guys. Cessa allowed the first run in the 8th. If they get Sims and Tony in there tomorrow and Antone soon, then that could be a pretty good pen for the stretch drive.
Brach and Hoffman need to go
Yeah Sims and his 5+ ERA,can’t wait
What a concept. Let someone with a hot hand, pitch more than one inning of relief
The alternative was a gassed Givens or Hembree or who else …?
and now after only 2 games past an off day for all of them Bell’s working with a pretty gassed ‘elite’ part of his bullpen and his next game 6th or 7th inning choice looks like Garrett again or else likely suspects …
Say what?
I nearly had a heart attack as I watched this team self-destruct yet again due to an incompetent manager (using AG in the 7th inning)! Ridiculous! Needed 6 outs with 5 run lead. 2 walks (by Brach) to lead off the 8th inning and surprise, surprise, they both scored! Like watching the movie Groundhog Day!
Good news is that Mikey Biceps was able to pitch 2 innings (miracle or mistake?) and hang on for a much-needed win! Whew!
When is AG supposed to pitch if not with a 5 run lead? Thats exactly when he should be pitching from my perspective.
Then, or when we are behind by 6 runs. He is the one most guilty of free passes when we have a lead. Thankfully, oftentimes he has enough juice to get him out of the quagmire he put us in. But not always. Especially early in the year. Bell allowed Garrett to lose several games in a row that we had basically won,..had a big lead in late in the game. The fans went ballistic and he quit doing that after those losses. Bell is a slow learner.
Now Bell could start pulling these guys after a leadoff walk. Kind of a punishment and obviously if they walk the leadoff guy then they aren’t that sharp anyway.
Obviously everyone but Milw has to abide by the 3 batter minimum, but pull a guy with a leadoff walk if he can be pulled like today
if you mean Brach he only faced 1 batter (Rooker) in the 7th inning so i think he’s still required to face 2 in the 8th (which he walked both)? He could have been pulled at the end of the 7th … i’m sure consensus here was NOT to do that ..?