The Cincinnati Reds will look to pick up a series win over the Chicago Cubs tonight after winning in a blowout on Monday night in the opener of their 3-game series at Great American Ball Park. First pitch is set for 7:10pm.
Starting Lineups
Chicago Cubs
|
Cincinnati Reds
|
| Rafael Ortega – CF | Jonathan India – 2B |
| Frank Schwindel – 1B | Joey Votto – 1B |
| Ian Happ – LF | Nick Castellanos – RF |
| Patrick Wisdom – 3B | Tyler Stephenson – C |
| Jason Heyward – RF | Mike Moustakas – 3B |
| David Bote – 2B | Kyle Farmer – SS |
| Austin Romine – C | Tyler Naquin – LF |
| Andrew Romine – SS | Shogo Akiyama – CF |
| Kyle Hendricks – SP | Vladimir Gutierrez – SP |
Starting Pitchers
Vladimir Gutierrez
The Reds have had some good rookie performances this year, and Vladimir Gutierrez is one of them. The 25-year-old has started 14 games and posted a 3.95 ERA this season. He has walked quite the tight rope, though, as he’s had plenty of walks and very few strikeouts while also allowing plenty of home runs this season. In August, though, the walks have been low, as have the homers, while the strikeouts have been up.
The Cubs have faced Gutierrez twice this season – in his Major League debut on May 28th and then again on July 27th. He gave up three total runs in 11.1 innings between those two games. Both were in Chicago and against vastly different lineups than the one he will see tonight. He’s found more success against lefties this season, holding them to a .218/.306/.430 line – but that’s been with 18 walks and 22 strikeouts. Righties have hit .268/.339/.452 against him this year. The big split for Gutierrez, though, is at home versus the road. In Cincinnati he has a 5.93 ERA in 27.1 innings while giving up eight home runs. On the road his ERA has been .292 and he’s allowed just five homers in 52.1 innings. His home OPS against is 329 points higher than it is on the road.
Pitch usage from 2021
| 4-Seam | Curve | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 93.2 | 77.3 | 82.9 | 81.0 |
| Usage | 47% | 20% | 22% | 11% |
Kyle Hendricks
One of the most underrated pitchers in baseball over the last half-decade plus, Kyle Hendricks is having a down year. After posting an ERA of 3.00 in the previous five seasons, Hendricks has a 4.15 ERA this season but is also leading the league in both wins and hits allowed.
Twice in July the Reds faced Kyle Hendricks. On the 4th they scored just one run in 6.0 innings, but on the 26th they touched him up for five runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings. Lefties have crushed Hendricks this year, hitting .295/.361/.536 against him this season. Righties have found some success, too, but not nearly as much, posting a .270/.296/.440 line against him. Right-handed hitters have just seven walks in 333 plate appearances against him this season (LHH have 23 in 266 PA). He’s been much better on the road than at home, with a 3.13 ERA away from Chicago this season (5.17 at home).
Pitch usage from 2021
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Change | Curve | |
| Velo | 87.2 | 87.1 | 79.8 | 73.1 |
| Usage | 18% | 41% | 27% | 13% |
When and Where
- Game time: 7:10pm ET
- Where: Great American Ball Park
- Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv,
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 78°, cloudy, 12% chance of rain
News and Notes
Reds call up Santillan, DFA Hembree
Cincinnati announced this afternoon that they had designated Heath Hembree for assignment and recalled Tony Santillan from Triple-A Louisville.
NL Central Standings
Playoff odds via Fangraphs
| Team | W | L | GB | Playoff % |
| Brewers | 72 | 47 | 0 | 98.6% |
| Reds | 65 | 55 | 7.5 | 42.8% |
| Cardinals | 61 | 56 | 10.0 | 6.2% |
| Cubs | 52 | 69 | 21.0 | 0.0% |
| Pirates | 42 | 77 | 30.0 | 0.0% |
Brewers and Cardinals tonight in StLouis. Something good is guaranteed to happen for the Reds if they take care of their own business vs Cubbies.
I’m hoping for a cardinals sweep.
We need the exact opposite!!
We can not catch the Brewers, but the Cardinals are only a game behind us in the loss column.
+3
So if the Cards sweep and the Reds win the next 3 against cubs and Marlins, the Reds are 4 1/2 out. Yeah the Reds cant catch the Brewers. Smh
that’s +3 for the Cards sweeping the Brewers right now and then spanking the crap out of them however many of the other 1o times they match up the rest of the way. The Cards are streaking on the backs of weak sisters lately and i look for them to run out of gas any minute . It’s highly unlikely for them to make a 13-o run on Milwaukee but 1o-3 run would make a Reds’ run to the division lead a definite reality. Pull up the Cards’ schedule and look how much more comparatively difficult it is vs the Reds’. No reason to run scared of the Cardinals, being 2. 5 games up on them at this point. If the Reds can’t keep pace over them (3 more of Reds v Cards, 1o vs Brewers, 4 vs Dodgers, 3 vs SD, 3 vs Mets, 2 vs Tigers) then the Reds don’t belong in the playoffs anyway … the Cards are like a long distance runner starting to wobble in their finishing kick. Just how long will they last before they just simply fall out?
Me too – Cards sweep
Glad Santi is back. He should help.
I’ve given this some thought. It is unlikely the Reds catch the Brewers and the Reds need to get the Cards off their heels. However, the Reds still have a chance to catch the Brewers. So, in this one series, I’m not rooting for one versus the other. Let the cards (pun unintended) fall where they may, then reassess the standings and schedules later. Right now, the Reds have to take care of their business and stack wins. Go Reds!
Like the lineup tonight. Let’s go.
Alrighty waiting for another crime scene tonight. Did not realize how bad that the Cubs had gotten. Pirates may actually catch them
That’s probably what the Cubs FO is hoping for. Once you sell off like they did, the next goal is a high draft pick.
I dont like the Senzel situation or Lack of accountability for Suarez or bullpen face plants but Reds are getting deeper and deeper in talent.
Exactly this team will get better and better but we can’t have next year what we lived with this year.Best players play,add some pieces,cut some pieces and lets play with the big boys.
Blog Red Machine has some interesting content …
https://blogredmachine.com/2021/08/16/reds-divorce-nick-senzel-imminent/
That was the article I referenced on a different thread. Some great commentary over there noting this was highly speculative and unlikely to happen. I tend to agree with that perspective (the one on RLN).
Would love to hear what Doug or others have to say.
The Race is heating up with a lot of teams in striking distance of the Wild Card. The Reds must take advantage of this easier part of the schedule, and hopefully the rest will take care of itself. Regardless of how it all ends, this has been the most exciting season in almost a decade. Going to have a beer and a cigar and enjoy the game tonite
Brings back memories of summer on the front porch and Red’s baseball on the radio.
+1000
I’m old enough to remember Waite Hoyt Too young back then for a cigar and a beer, but old enough to cement my love for the Reds
Senzel not playing and Hunter Greene giving up 3 homers. He is not ready for the bigs in my opinion.
pulled after 2.2…. definatly not Major league ready
He’s nearing the end of his season. They’ll keep a close eye on his winter routine.
Or injured
His start was delayed a week because of an “AC strain”
no… turns out he got the thumb for throwing behind a batter
Greene hasn’t pitched much as a pro. I don’t like the idea of him pitching out of the pen for the Reds this year. Let him and Lodolo learn in AAA where their workload can be managed better.
Joey Votto has ended 2 arguments in 2021.
He’s an unquestioned Hall of Famer- I already agreed with that.
His contract was worth it. I disagreed with that, until a few weeks ago.
Hendricks is a good pitcher and we will have to beat him and more then likely unless he has to he will not pitch to Joey.Joey in the 2 hole for a reason in that he hits Hendricks well and so what happens he walks and Casty hits in to a DP.Always the game within the game.
Great at bat by the rookie.
The Kid2 is pretty good.
Moose’s swing looks just weak. He looks like he is in pain when he swings.
Can the Reds option Moose to fantasy camp in Goodyear?
He looks like a 46 year old portly ex player 10 years removed.
+500
He’s ready to play but Senzel isnt?
Hey BoR … hows about I score us a couple of those Hawaiian jerseys and we take a quick road trip to Miami Valley Gaming. I could swing by and pick you up … 🙂
and thats gonna be a hard no lol. And not an awsome idea
+1,000 🙂
Guti not fooling anybody and the walk scores.Watch him close Bell,need this win tonight.
The guy is a fighter. He gets into trouble but he minimizes the damage. He will be ok. The bats need to get going.
When I said crime scene I didn’t mean for us to be the victems here…. Lets lock it down and start hitting
Right. So far it’s looking like a light mugging in the park without it even being dark yet.
Need a clean, quick inning and some crooked numbers.
I hope one of our best prospects wasn’t called up to be a pinch hitter.
Of course he was.
The pitch to Happ was too good of a pitch to hit on an 0-2 count. He hit it for a seeing eye single to left.
Bad 0-2 pitch to Happ there. Its a fine line. We crack on Mahle for not putting guys away, but lately I’ve seen alot of bad 0-2s both for/against us.
Nice dp….we needed that
Living on the edge is dangerous.Cubs are loose and hacking they know what the deal is so we need to score and put them away.
Reckless abandon with nothing to loose is a dangerous opponent
Nothing to LOSE … I hate when I do that!!!
upon the earlier comments on Hunter Greenes poor start, he has reached a new milestone. His first AAA Ejection. How about those milestones.
Good for him. That at least explains the untimely exit. And we must remember he’s still 15, so …
The kid has a fire in him.
Nice track and catch, Shogo!
Gutierrez games are my favorites! Vlad is good, already ahead of Mahle.
There’s another answer to the “DFA Shogo!!” crowd.
To paraphrase Sadek, all of the highlight clips of great catches from the Reds OF this season are of Shogo. (That’s not entirely accurate – Aquino has made some nice plays as well).
Simply stated – Shogo saves runs with his glove in the OF. He needs to play.
Good bounce back inning be the rookie.Lets get him some runs.No hits yet so lets get a bunch this inning.
Announce the game boys. Bats are silent tonight, this game was a big concern.
Switching to the Cubs broadcast….that’ll wake the bats up!!
Whatever it takes Indy.
Hey Hendricks has a no-hitter going! (Maybe that will help 😉
Maybe it worked — Naquin with a hit!
It did just that. Now to crack this nut wide open.
Hendricks is tough. I’m not sure if the Reds should wait him out and make him work a bit (like Votto did with his first at bat) or swing at the first strike, which is usually a pitch in a tough location.
Hendricks was on the bases this inning. Let’s see if it has any effect.
Let’s start with a hit! Anybody!
There you go.
If they don’t sit Farmer tomorrow then I’m taking a week off. The guy is swinging at EVERYTHING. He couldn’t outhit Geno with his approach right now
He needs a mental/physical break
6 for last 33 with no walks
He’s not a an every day major leaguer.
Let alone an every day SS
He does hit lefties well on a team that cant get hit lefties.
Lol, 0% there’s any truth to that post.
A week off, with how much fun the Reds are right now? Nah!!
I can always fish til 8:30. It just annoys me to have another guy obviously struggling and yet they do nothing about it. Like OS said….he’s never been a starter and never been a good hitter
Patience at the plate is needed with Hendricks! Sooner or later he will make a mistake!
Moose walked on 5 pitches, Farmer swung at ball 2 and Naquin swung at ball 4 but got a hit. Shogo swung at and fouled off ball 4. Hendricks is losing his command. Reds hitters need to not help him.
Read my comment above!
Wasted opportunity there. The one Shogo let go was the one to slap down the line.
Dernit. Now that the ice has been broken, maybe the top of the order can take care of business next inning.
Now they’ll have to do just that.
OK, the No-Hitter is off the board! Time to unload with a crooked number next inning!
Short leash for Vlad even though his pitch count is low! Cannot afford to let this game get away!
I agree just 7 or 8 innings for Vlad
Definitely no more than 9
Stink.Fish.Pot.
Cement mixer
How many times has that happened this year. Ump misses the obvious 3rd strike and next pitch gone.
Officially? One more than before that time …
Yeah it’s pretty infuriating. Ball 1 (aka strike 3) was at the bottom of the zone for sure, but the pitch hit all of it.
Doesn’t look this is our night. He’s not centering anything and we’re not squaring up anything. Maybe the 8th or 9th?
Or I could be wrong))) Have to go the other way with Hendricks
Castellanos! There we go — let’s get some more and get into that Cubs bullpen!
Lol I joined Indy and flipped the channel. It worked.
Hendricks there Moose 5 balls and 1 strike and hes out
OK, got one back. Hold them down and let the murderous innings (for us) begin.
Moose or Suarez??
Lately, it doesn’t seem to matter. Results are about the same either way.
Farmer at 3B and Barrero at SS. Better option from where I’m sitting.
Totally agree.
Moose is 1 for his last 16 ABs.
That’s like Suarez in a slump.
Now that the Cubs are terrible again, GABP isnt a sea of blue anymore. Cub fans are history.
Here’s where it could keep tricky because Wilson hasn’t pitched in a week? 9 man bullpen when you have decent-good starters is stupid because guys don’t get enough work to stay sharp
Exactly correct. There is no justification for a 9 man bullpen if your starters are frequently going 6 innings or more.
Even Bell’s “1 inning only” rule doesn’t necessitate 9 bodies in the pen. Take 2 of those spots and get Senzel and Lopez or Inciarte up here.
Moose makes a good pic. The Rockies take an early lead. Time to start the comeback
Moose with a nice pick and the throw to first was a pretty nice sinker.
Hopefully this Cubs pitcher Wick is more like Bob than John.
If he is like John, then BoR is going to see his steady stream of death
+100
That’s a good start
That’s even better
Maybe time to see if Shogo can bunt??
Larkin wishes he would
Not a pretty at bat at all
That’s what I was thinking too. Not a David Bell strategy.
Love Naquin in August! He’s keeping his hands in and not rolling over. It might look like a dead quail, but thats hitting it where they ain’t on purpose
Did a great job going with that pitch for an inside-out hit
I think Naquin has finally learned that sometimes, a little bloop into LF is just fine. It puts you on base and advances other runners. Don’t need a HR cut every plate appearance.
Some hitters go their entire career and never figure that out. See, e.g. Bruce, Jay.
That was a terrible AB. He needed to put the ball on the ground and pressure the defense.
Has bunting been outlawed? Perfect spot for Shogo to bunt there.
Yes. I’m sure it has. For anyone wearing a Cincinnati Reds uniform. Completely banned except for a Sac attempt by a pitcher.
My only thought is that the defense might have been playing in on the corners to take the bunt away. Bunt or not, we needed Shogo to put that ball in play or have a better eye at the plate. His pitch selection was not good and he got himself out.
Thanks for taking that for the team, Tucker
Come on RoY!!!
Nope. Great pitch.
Just froze the Kid
Alright, All we need is for a Joey Votto hit and alot of Inherited runners to score.
Time for some Joey action
Maybe India is a guess hitter? I was thinking curve since his first pitch was a nice breaker for a strike.
There’s no way Shogo Akiyama and Aquino and Moose and Suarez help this team more than Senzel.
Shogo is simply putrid. He is a worse hitter than Billy Hamilton and Jose Peraza
Moose is slow and not ready and hitting .090 against lefties.
Suarez is having one of the worst seasons in MLB history the last 30 years.
Yet Senzel isnt ready and Barrero can watch.
Strike 3 to Shogo that he swung at was in the batters box. He jumped out of the way and swung. I’ve never seen that before. Thank God we have one more year of him. I may get to see some more firsts.
Just burned the Cubs best hitter… played a no-score max pressure inning. Cubs bullpen just feels like its going to fall apart. Bell needs to play this as if we are winning and use that pitching combination. If i see AG on the mound to start this inning….
I don’t like Happ either. And Farmer had no business trying for that ball.
Naquin needs to call him off.
The whole time, I thought Shogo was going to catch it.
Kyle farmer little league
Can we just start the best 8 and play the best 26 players? Is that too hard to ask Krall?
Need a DP in the worst way here
The K will work in the meantime
There you go …
actually perfered the Heyward K, that way a double play will end the inning instead of having a cub on third.
just like I called it.
You ask-you receive
Or in the best way?…we got it! 6-4-3
Akiyama…take charge!!…Half a dozen times he yields.
He yields too much. With his ability to cover ground he needs to take control more than he does.
Happens all the time. Start screaming Banzai and they’ll get out of your way)) He’s too nice
Nice work Cessa, and a lightning pivot by India on the DP
Ok, I logged on for a late game comeback.
Glad to have you with us. Two innings left to turn on the magic. I’d prefer to see it all done in the 8th.
Thanks, but that was one quick half inning. I’ll settle for the Reds getting it done period. Not looking great.
When does Barerro get in this game?
Same question from me
Running out of chances here….
I like Moose, but something isn’t right. Looks like he’s phoning it in.
I don’t think he’s right physically. You can see – he just can’t move. Or swing a bat.
I agree. Glad we all agree….Geno for 40 straight it is)))
Just great…this guy Heuer looks like Hendricks.
I’m tired of the 2 headed monster at 3rd.
Could be worse. The Cubs have a lousy 2 headed Romine
Just a stinker tonight.Can’t have too many of those the rest of the way.
I agree that there has to be room for Senzel he has to be a better hitter than Shogo and Moose because they are both awful.
Geesh whole time seems they swing at the first pitch at times. I’m happy hembree is DFA finally long over do. I hope the offense does a walk off tonight hope with ?
It’s going to take a walk-off now.
Don’t walk the first batter, Tony … please.
NUTS!!
This is not the spot where I would suddenly throw in a rookie? Hope it works out, but 1 inning from Lorenzen seems safer
Santillan just dispatches a batter with a K in about 40 seconds. or about the same time it took Hembre to throw 1 pitch.
He can not let Shogo bat in the 9th, I would rather see Suarez.
Got to pinch-hit for Shogo with Aquino and then Barrero if you get that far
Oh look – a manager trying to win a game allows his best reliever to pitch TWO whole innings to close out the game.
Such things are not permitted in Redsland!!!!
This loss will really hurt tonight. Hope we can change that.
They pitched good. Good pitching beats good hitting. Have to bounce back fast!! Can’t lose a series to this gang of scrubs
Yep. Tough loss. Good night all.
That first called strike to Farmer was the same location (or a bit worse) than then the pitch that was called a ball for Gutierrez prior to the HR.
Bad loss to an absolute suck team
If there’s any team to end a 12-game losing streak of a gutted basically AAAA team, it would be the Reds.
Just like the Reds cannot win out. The cubs wernt going to lose out either. Time to start them on their way to another 13 game losing streak tomorow. Rockies leading and it looks like the Brewers will hold off the Dirty Birds
+500
Terrible offense get Kyle good pitcher but come on we left to many men on base whole game. Good pitching by reds but offense better than this last night shown that. Ugh good luck tomorrow mahle
Terrible loss to a terrible team.
It happens. SD just lost of 5 of 6 to Miami, Arizona, and Colorado
You just knew the Cubs were going to win sooner or later. I was just hoping that it would be later.
How does Bell not pinch hit for Akiyama there? He had both Aquino and Barerro available. Both capable of going deep. Akiyama hasn’t hit a HR all year.
He hasn’t hit a home run ever in the MLB.
Not good.
Don’t quite understand the decision not to use some of those bench players as PHs in the 9th. I might have considered Barrero for Farmer, let Naquin hit, Aquino for Shogo, then Suarez for the P spot if it had gotten that far. Not an inspired ending. Bats just didn’t have it tonight.
The worst team in baseball wins at least 30% of its games, and all those wins, in the end, are against teams who are better, based on records. This was one of those games. Hendricks is the Cubs’ Miley and the winningest pitcher in the league is hardly a scrub; the Reds were beaten by a good pitcher tonight.
Sure
But Reds not starting best 8 or rostering best 26
Anyone convinced Moose is healthy and ready ? Hes slow and overweight yet rushed through AAA rehab while Senzel who is 8 years younger who says im ready…. Told not ready
Shogo and Suarez stats worst in the league
Bullpen games all year with AAAA pitchers
Play the best 26 all I am asking and see what happens
Not disagreeing but he only pitched 6 innings. The Reds had a big opportunity in the 7th inning, but with the bases loaded, India struck out and Votto grounded out.
Don’t seem to be any bite in this dog, seems about as lifeless as their manager. 14 runs last night, 1 meager run tonight. Bell needs to instill a sense of urgency in this team.
They were mourning the loss of Hembree? Mainly, this is a game where Winker probably propels them offensively. A thinking hitter who makes adjustments and rakes. Moose’s big gaping #5 hole in the lineup didn’t help. Healing from plantar fasciitis takes mostly rest and not overloading your foot and that leads to core weakness and balance issues
Don’t seem to be any bite in this dog, seems about as lifeless as their manager. 14 runs last night, 1 meager run tonight. Bell didn’t use all his weapons tonight. Bell needs to instill a sense of urgency in this team. Gotta win against teams like this.
We are not going to win every night, regardless how bad our opponent. If this team has shown anything, it is their ability to bounce back from a tough loss. So let’s brush it off and get them tomorrow
The thing that does concern though is David Bell’s line-ups. A line that features Farmer, Naquin and Shogo really puts a lot of pressure on the remaining position players to produce.
I know Farmer has had a good season but only when compared to himself. With an obp barely over .300 and slugging barely over .400 his offense contributions have been limited.
You could bat Farmer 8th and sacrifice some offense for his stellar defense IF you didn’t already have two other 8th place hitters in your line up.
I realize they are short a bat because Winker is on the IL. But you will always have injuries. Good teams have competent players on the bench who can produce when they are called upon.
The Reds have invested a lot of money in their starting eight and have decided to cut corners when it comes to their reserve players. That is a terrible strategy, as we have witnessed all season.
+1
Rookie RH hitters in Barrero and free swinging Aquino who’s not a good junk breaking ball hitter probably weren’t better starting options. Naquin got 2 hits. Farmer got a hit. Akiyama likely might have saved a run with that catch against the wall in CF. An excellent junkball starter on his game can certainly make a team look sluggish and sick like that. Law of averages caught up to India and Votto at the top of the lineup
Bell has failed to play with any sense of urgency and that reflects on the team. They play the way he manages, no sense of urgency and very up and down.
Actually, any baseball player has it drilled in them that *not* getting too high or too low is the key to winning against the grind of The Big 162 in baseball. They all say that all the time. It’s what allows for the ability to roll with a punch like this to come back the next day and give maximum *controlled* effort … and also the ability to not be overhyped at the plate and help a pitcher get the best of you by swinging overanxious. The players *react* emotionally when and after good things happen, but a hyped up *approach* to the playing the game and particularly at the plate is a recipe for bad singular outcomes and defeat
That manager also doesn’t have to worry much about winning tomorrow. He’s lost 12 in a row and going nowhere, so he’s 1oo% invested at all costs in winning this one game he suddenly can win *right now* … that closer probably won’t be available tomorrow or if he is, not at his best … their manager doesn’t care in the face of 12 straight losses and no postseason aspirations