The Cincinnati Reds (71-59) try to make it three wins in a row and five straight wins against the Miami Marlins (53-76) Saturday night at loanDepot Park. Tonight’s pitching match-up will be a rematch of last Sunday’s game at Great American Ball Park when Vladimir Gutierrez won a pitching duel with Sandy Alcantara.
Details:
- Time: 6:10 pm ET
- Place: loanDepot Park, Miami, Florida
- TV: Bally Sports Ohio
- Radio: 700 WLW
Starting Pitchers
| Name | IP | ERA | xERA | FIP | xFIP | WHIP | K% | BB% |
| Vladimir Gutierrez | 93.0 | 3.68 | 4.00 | 4.78 | 5.07 | 1.29 | 18.7% | 9.0% |
| Sandy Alcantara | 158.1 | 3.35 | 3.47 | 3.72 | 3.74 | 1.12 | 22.5% | 7.1% |
REDS
The rookie right-hander Gutierrez has been good in the Reds rotation and one reason why they currently sit in a playoff spot. In 93.0 innings with the big league team, he’s allowed 38 runs while striking out 73 batters and walking 35. Earlier in the season, he was on a bit of a roller coaster ride with some not-so-good outings, but in the month of August, Gutierrez has a 1.67 ERA in 32.1 innings, allowing only six runs and seven walks while striking out 31 batters.
Opposing batters have yet to figure out Gutierrez’s slider, as he has a 39.0% whiff rate with it. He has only used that pitch 23% of the time, however, as he does rely mostly on his fastball.
In his last start against the Marlins at GABP, he allowed only one run on three hits with eight strikeouts in seven innings. That was at home, where he has a 4.65 ERA. He has pitched better on the road, owning a 2.92 ERA in 52.1 innings. The biggest reason for that is because he has allowed nine home runs at GABP, as opposed to only five in away ballparks.
MARLINS
The Reds will face right-handed pitcher Alcantara for the second time in a week, this time at his home ballpark. In his fifth season and fourth with the Marlins, he’s pitched to a 3.35 ERA in 26 starts. With only a 7.1% walk rate, he doesn’t walk a lot of batters. He doesn’t strike out a lot of batters (his strikeout rate is only in the 42nd percentile in MLB), but he is one of the best at getting batters to chase pitches. His chase rate is in 91st percentile in the league, according to Baseball Savant. With a four-seam fastball velocity averaging 98 mph and a sinker velocity averaging 97.5 mph, it’s no wonder his chase rate is one of the best.
Against the Reds on Sunday, Alcantara pitched seven innings and gave up two runs on four hits and two walks, but did strike out 11. Mike Moustakas and Tyler Naquin were the main threats against him on Sunday, with a solo home run each.
Lineups
Cincinnati Reds
|
Miami Marlins |
| 2B Jonathan India | SS Miguel Rojas |
| CF Tyler Naquin | 2B Jazz Chisholm Jr |
| RF Nick Castellanos | 1B Jesus Aguilar |
| 1B Joey Votto | LF Jorge Alfaro |
| 3B Mike Moustakas | 3B Brian Anderson |
| SS Kyle Farmer | RF Jesus Sanchez |
| C Tucker Barnhart | CF Bryan De La Cruz |
| LF Max Schrock | C Alex Jackson |
| P Vladimir Gutierrez | P Sandy Alcantara |
News and Notes
Jose Barrero optioned to Triple-A/Asdrúbal Cabrera activated
Just after 4pm this afternoon the Reds activated new pick up Asdrúbal Cabrera and optioned Jose Barrero to Triple-A. Barrero, though, will remain with the team on the taxi squad for the series in Miami. Doug Gray wrote about what this could mean for everyone involved, including the third base situation moving forward.
Art Warren is close to beginning a rehab assignment
Art Warren is going on a rehab assignment next week. With expanded rosters coming, I’m sure Warren will be back with the big league team at some point in September, if all goes well with his rehab.
David Bell said Art Warren is expected to report to Triple-A Louisville to begin a rehab assignment next week. #Reds
— Bobby Nightengale (@nightengalejr) August 28, 2021
Finally, this news is not Reds related, but it is related to a baseball team in the Cincinnati area. The West Side Little League team from Hamilton, Ohio, won the Tom Seaver bracket in the Little League World Series and will play for the Little League championship tomorrow afternoon at 3 pm on ABC.
Ohio wins the Tom Seaver Championship! #LLWS pic.twitter.com/cmlltbPH2z
— Little League (@LittleLeague) August 28, 2021
I get the lefty/righty thing, but I’d personally prefer to see TySteve out there today.
Here’s hoping Alcantara has a short, ineffective outing and we can manage Squish the Fish Part VI.
I pulled the trigger on my trip to see the games on 23rd and 24th. Air and hotel all booked. I’ll hold off a bit on the tickets just to see how the weather is playing out, but I’m really excited to get back up to GABP.
Mark, let me know which night you are going to GABP. I am planning on going Thursday Sept. 23rd to see Reds versus Nationals.
Dennis – I’m planning on both the 23rd and 24th. Thursday is a “Senior Day” which means good seats at 1/2 price.
I sent you a message on LinkedIn.
Got to say the ending of that Hamilton Little League game was really something.
In the bottom of the last inning with the bases loaded, 2 outs, and the runner at 1B representing the tying run, the Hamilton 3B made a diving stop on the foul line behind 3B then calmly got to his feet and stepped on 3B to end the game.
I could not help but think of the times I’ve seen an MLB 3B make a great pick like that then blow the play with a wild throw across the diamond instead of taking the step for the inning or game ending out. This kid not only had the pick down solid, he knew his play too with the game on the line!
well lets get him in the lineup for the reds then
Attending my one game per year in sunny Miami
Let’s do it
Is the roof open for the sun and humidity?
Incomplete reporting by Jim Day, there are two other teams we are interested in, doesn’t matter that the dodgers are 10 games ahead
Hit every inning good through 1. Is it too early to start counting… lol
Never too early
This guy may punch out 15.Sliders at 90 and fastballs at 99mph is not fair?
His stuff is absolutely filthy. Have to wonder when the Fish trade him.
Can we get Jesus to hit into another GDIP??
Not starting out well at all.Can’t get down early to this guy.
Another E-2 on Barny because Jesus won’t stand in the batter’s box and the umpire won’t enforce it.
Not a good start to the evening against a pitcher who throws like a bat-out-of-####!!
We need to reverse this and do it now.
STINK.FISH.POT!!!!
Hope the tag on Jesus stands.
This 2-0 deficit might already be too much against Alcantara. He is lights-out.
Make that 5-0.
well i hoped that, but it turns out there will be not a series sweep of the fish. VLad needs to buckle down and not allow the bullpen to get overworked
Too late cause he may not get out of the first inning.Game is over but your right we can’t use the whole pen in a lot cause.
Feel bad for Gutierrez. Singles on silly defensive shifts and Moose’s range of about 6 inches. A catchers error…again and the weakest single of the 20th century.
That’s baseball
Not a good start! Hold ’em at 2 and scratch out some runs, one at a time!
Gutierrez has been good at not giving up HRs – until that blast.
I’m thinking I’ll need to find something else to watch tonight. Vlad doesn’t have it and that’s way too much ground for the BP to cover tonight. Plus I’m thinking runs will be pretty scarce against Alcantara.
It happens. Focus on the bigger picture. This too shall pass. At least we can come from behind. We’ll get ’em tomorrow.
I think I’ll watch the Braves/Giants instead.
Well, not Vlad’s night! Might as well get Doolittle up! Oops! He’s gone! Guess it’s AG to the rescue!
Perfect game to let AG pitch about 3-4 innings …
OK, he’s either throwing meatballs tonight, or the Fish have replaced their entire line-up with All-Star hitters.
When things started going south for Gutierrez, he should have gone with the fastball and tried to spot it. Work on getting control of that pitch first.
I’m already sick of this stupid trumpet.
Eight guys in a row reach base to start the game.I don’t know if I have ever seen that.Fish may have rolled over last night but not tonight.
Moustakas is no more a MLB third baseman than John Sadak is.
Next year’s DH.
Having a .200 hitter being the DH would probably be even more embarassing.
True.
Alright, Finally we are through the inning….lets get this comeback started
Welp. Need baserunners. Can’t aim for solo jacks.
Yikes! A 35 pitch 1st inning fir Vlad! Time to go clean the cat’s litter box!
Well we won’t have to worry about who pitches the 9th for the Reds?
Most of our lefties would get a automatic hit with a bunt. This is the type of game it needs to be done.
Well, BoR … at least you don’t have to wait to find out if your hit every inning bet pays off tonight.
no…. the Hit every inning is game wide… does not matter if it is MIA or CIN
OK, got it. Given that very clean 2nd by Vlad, it’s over now anyway.
Would love to think we could come back but when your swinging on 2-0 down 5 well it won’t happen against this guy.
Did they put Asdrubal at 3rd? Did I just see that correctly?
Yepper they did
Cabrerra for Moose already?
I don’t watch but from what I hear others say,Moose is just hobbling around and seems to be out of shape.I don’t know but if this is true no need to keep him in there.
Plantar facetious is hard to recover from in short order. The pain is pretty bad from moving and exercising. And the cure is to exercise it. It’s a Catch-22 deal for most people, including professional athletes.
All hope is not quite lost … very quick inning for Vlad.
Yeah and we need 3 more just like that.He is at 50 pitches and if he get us thru the 5th its good enough.Guy has been money and he was due a stinker.
Hard to admit, but that’s what I’m thinking. Everybody “poops” sooner or later.
Yep for sure.
Self-defense bunt … but it worked.
OK, RoY … time to get one back.
Time for a little Naquin magic now
Ask and you shall receive.
So I did, so we got.
See below … I asked again.
Alright, come back 20 percent complete
+100
All we need from Nick C. is some green or a sac fly … a Blastellanos would be a huge bonus.
Or a wild swing on a very low and very away (sad panda face)
It almost feels as if he’s got a better chance of driving in a runner from first than from third. He can hit two run homers, but a sacrifice fly seems to be nearly impossible.
Time to put up or shut up Asdrubal 🙂
Nope
Shame Moose never healthy for us.
All getting banged up Like India for example.
Need Players to step up moving forward.
Plenty Game left.
Lets Go Reds.
This is almost haiku.
+500
At some point the coaches are going to have to address this issue of opposing baserunners getting big jumps off first for stolen bases.
HUGE jumps at that
I agree. Neither of our catchers throw that well but the jumps the runners are getting on the pitchers needs to be addressed.
Corky Miller still in playing shape.
Stephenson in to pinch hit with 2 on base top of the 4th.
Interesting choice to PH TySteve this early in the game. I get he’s a more productive player than other options, but now if something should happen to Barhart, we’re pretty much screwed.
I like the move strategically. Two guys on base, use your best pinch-hitter in a high-leverage situation.
I get that. It’s a gamble. It didn’t pay off, but then again facing Alcantara cold is a really tall order.
I’m beginning to ease off the Kyle Farmer bandwagon. My thought for keeping him in the lineup is that he was playing above average defense and hitting well. The eye test tells me that Barrero’s defense is better, but his career MLB batting average is .190. If Farmer is going to revert to his career batting norm, then there is no point in keeping him in the lineup at the expense of Barrero. Farmer’s August OPS is below Suarez’s.
Problem now is he’s down. We’d need an injury to get him back (Mr. Moose didn’t look good). But would Tinker actually play him?
Tom, I kind of agree but I would attempt to fix the disaster at 3B before removing Farmer from the lineup. I would move him to 3B for the near term with Barreo at SS.
I’m thinking RoY is still a little keyed up. I know he’s a professional baseball player – and a really good one. But he’s still a rookie playing in front of some hometown family and friends. Plus Alcantara is absolutely filthy tonight. Tough combination to watch aside from the hit the last time.
Note to India: Snap the bat back on a check swing. Do NOT hold it there.
Brandon Phillips was a master at this.
That would be a very good lesson to learn. I remember now how Phillips did that. Seems to me it worked often enough to give it a shot.
So Santillan is not looking to first base at all. I’m waiting for Chisholm to take off.
Well, he made a soft toss to first. 🙂
I agree that Farmer seems to be running out of gas and it doesn’t help that Votto has cooled off and Winker is out. Sometimes I think they are hanging by a thread, but I have felt that for a long time. I hope they win Sunday and that would be .500 road trip, 2 – 4 isn’t going to cut it.
The movement Santillan gets on his pitches is impressive. If he could just throw more strikes.
Hail of bullets dodged. Not sure we can get to Alcantara enough to mount a comeback. Need to chip away until we can chase him.
Not down on any of the hitters today, this Marlins Pitcher if he was on a good team would be in the Cy young conversation.
+250
Absolutely he would be.
I like Tony Santillan and think he has great stuff. But I think he really needs to adjust his approach if he’s going to be successful at the MLB level. He seems to be over-reliant on his slider down and away, and that also seems to be his out pitch. Maybe in AAA he could be successful making hitters chase it, but MLB hitters don’t seem to go for it most of the time. It seems like Santillan doesn’t trust his fastball and changeup much, but he really needs to in order to set up the slider.
Right now, he’s too predictable. He needs to switch things up to keep hitters off-balance. He absolutely has the stuff to be successful, he just needs to learn how to use it against MLB hitters. What worked in AAA doesn’t seem to work so well in MLB.
I think he’s a valuable piece for 2022 and beyond.
I agree. Just needs to make some adjustments. He absolutely has the stuff to be a mid-to-top of the rotation pitcher.
Moose with a tight right hip. That could go either way.
AG is in the perfect spot to relax and pitch tonight. No pressure to hold a lead. Time to show he can be the lefty he was. Otherwise, I have to think he’s a non-tender candidate over the off season.
Garrett and Suarez were counted on to be major contributors this year and both have failed miserably. After this season it’s time to cut bait with both of them.
Moose is out of shape and a defensive liability because of his lack of range. Unfortunately for Gutierrez I feel it cost him a couple runs.
My school had a once in a millennium moment and is on ESPN tonight. First time in a while i am prioritizing another game over the reds. They need to turn it around
Watching Castellanos “play” that ball illustrates why all of the defensive highlights from the Reds outfielders this season are of Shogo Akiyama.
Nick’s a great hitter. As a right fielder ….. he’s a great hitter.
Garrett ain’t fooling anyone.
He hasn’t fooled anyone since 2020.
I’m so over Garrett. Bell has limited his use considerably, and I can’t imagine this outing does anything but continue that downward usage trend.
Well, I think I’ve had enough for tonight. Back at it tomorrow.
Have a great evening, y’all.
Garrett is not a major league pitcher . He should be DFAed immediately. Don’t need any more mop up duty guys . I think he checked out a while back anyway – can’t help this team one bit .
How about recalling Barrero and sending Garrett packing?
They have given up tonight, pick it up tomorrow. On a side note, man is Shogo an awful hitter.
Shogo can’t hit it in the ocean – what a well spent 7 million this has been
Reds can’t seriously think about bringing Shogo back next year….he’s an automatic out
Reds on this trip have faced 3 really good pitchers but thats exactly what you see if they make the playoffs.Reds beat up on bad pitchers but for the most part its swing hard and often.They don’t steal,they don’t hit and run,they rarely hit the ball the other way so it is what it is.I am excited for our season but we beat up on our own division and no reason not to think we won’t the rest of the way but we are at best 5th or 6th in our league.Long way to go but we will get there I am positive.Lets enjoy the rest of the season and see what happens.
You are correct and that is why they are not a team ready for a playoff run, no poor pitchers there.
His contract may be the worst of all time, the man simply can not hit. Most teams would have released him a long time ago, what a sad. I hope I never see him bat again , he is a pretty good center fielder but it doesn’t come close to evening out. I think we all hate to beat this dead horse but it speaks so badly for the entire organization. End of my rant. Looks like a bad night all around.
I enjoy when the cowboy does the color on the tv broadcast because he has really insightful comments & adds a lot to the broadcast especially about pitching & pitchers….he also isn’t afraid to tell the truth about some guys….almost makes it tolerable to have to listen to Sadek
Almost
Just a note on Barrero.Reds made a big mistake not putting him at short when he came up and letting him play.None of our left side is a league average hitter or defender and yet we couldn’t find a place for him.Now it won’t matter cause we play some bad teams the rest of the way so we will win our share but he along with Ty Steve belong in this lineup every day and with them along with Wink when he gets back makes this lineup deep.Throw Shrock in at third and lets play.
It would have been really nice to know how he performed in the pressure of a playoff race. Especially with the year he had this year in A ball. They didn’t give him a chance. Would have been perfect! He couldn’t have possibly been any worse than the guys that are getting all of the playing time over on that side of the field.
I also can’t see Suarez back next year….in that last AB ….93 fastball right down the middle of the plate & all he could do is foul it off….he used to kill a pitch like that
Hitters 4-5-6 went 0 for 11 with 1 walk.
15 Punchouts and 0 walks with 8 hits and 1 run and Suarez does what he does to end the game.Cabrera is not the answer,Suarez is not the answer,Moose has been playing hurt and I admire that but Shrock is now the next man up at third.
OOPS Joey did walk in the third.
What is asdrubal Cabrera doing on this team?