The Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals will wrap up their 4-game series this afternoon at Great American Ball Park. The Reds will be going for the series win while the Nationals are looking to split the 4-game set. . First pitch is set for 1:10pm.
Starting Lineups
Washington Nationals
|
Cincinnati Reds
|
| Lane Thomas – CF | Jonathan India – 2B |
| Alcides Escobar – SS | Tyler Stephenson – C |
| Juan Soto – RF | Nick Castellanos – RF |
| Josh Bell – 1B | Eugenio Suárez – 3B |
| Yadiel Hernandez – LF | Kyle Farmer – SS |
| Luis García – 2B | Asdrubal Cabrera |
| Riley Adams – C | Delino DeShields – LF |
| Carter Kieboom – 3B | Jose Barrero – CF |
| Josh Rogers – SP | Tyler Mahle – SP |
Starting Pitchers
Tyler Mahle
With Tyler Mahle you know the story by now – he’s a much worse pitcher at home than he is on the road. His ERA in Cincinnati this season is 6.10. On the road it’s just 1.85. Batters have hit .280/.354/.536 against him this season in 14 home starts.
His lefty/righty splits are just as drastic. Right-handed hitters are hitting .272/.345/.502 with 18 home runs against him while lefties are hitting just .190/.268/.291 against him with 6 home runs in just 30 fewer plate appearances.
Pitch usage from 2021
| 4-Seam | Slider | Splitter | |
| Velo | 94.1 | 86.9 | 86.4 |
| Usage | 52% | 33% | 15% |
Josh Rogers
Another left-handed pitcher….. Josh Rogers has made just four starts this season in the big leagues, but he’s been good in those four starts as he’s posted a 2.16 ERA in 25.0 innings. He has walked just 7 batters in that stretch, but he’s only struck out 16. In Triple-A this season he’s posted a 4.48 ERA.
With just four starts in the big leagues this season, we’re going to look at his splits between Triple-A and the big leagues this year. He’s held lefties to a .247/.306/.380 line this year with 9 walks and 23 strikeouts in 173 plate appearances. So lefties make plenty of contact but they don’t do much with it. Right-handed batters have hit .268/.322/.457 against him with 22 walks and 56 strikeouts in 318 plate appearances.
Pitch usage from 2021
| 4-Seam | Change | Slider | |
| Velo | 90.4 | 81.8 | 82.0 |
| Usage | 53% | 31% | 15% |
When and Where
- Game time: 1:10pm ET
- Where: Great American Ball Park
- Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 70°, sunny, 0% chance of rain
Notes Worth Noting
No Joey Votto again in today’s lineup
After being scratched from the lineup yesterday with a sore knee, Joey Votto is out of the lineup again today.
David Bell says Joey Votto tweaked his knee on the extra innings play on Friday where he sprinted to the base, and he landed awkwardly on the base.
Bell says there’s a good chance Votto will be back soon.
— Charlie Goldsmith (@CharlieG__) September 26, 2021
Tyler Mahle is all alone
Joel Luckhaupt originally noted earlier today that Tyler Mahle is the only pitcher since 1901 to make 30+ starts in a season and have a home ERA of at least 6.00 and a road ERA below 2.00. After some further digging it turns out Mahle is also the only guy with a home ERA over 5.00 and a road ERA below 2.00.
NL Central Standings
Playoff odds via Fangraphs
| Team | W | L | GB | Playoff % |
| Brewers | 93 | 62 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Cardinals | 86 | 69 | 7.0 | 99.9% |
| Reds | 80 | 75 | 13.0 | 0.1% |
| Cubs | 67 | 88 | 26.0 | 0.0% |
| Pirates | 57 | 97 | 35.5 | 0.0% |
Good line up. Speed at the bottom. Cabrera will have his first hit today in reds uniform
That’s hoping alot on Canberra, hoping I am wrong
The irony is that Billy Hamilton is closer to getting a playoff win then the reds
Good for Billy. I for one am still annoyed they didn’t sign re-sign him. I realize he didn’t hit much, however his speed and defense were excellent
80 wins sounds much better than 79, so I’m fine with it. I guess that out of the final 7 games they should be able to win at least two more, so a winning record is granted.
I really, REALLY hope their plan for Barrero isn’t to convert him to an outfielder to “open a spot” for soon-to-be 32 year old Kyle Farmer to play SS for a few more years. What’s not to like about an aging bench player with a career 80 OPS+ who plays solid but unspectacular defense, while your SS of the future has to learn a whole new position which could impact his offensive output since he will be out of his comfort zone? The Reds seem to think “fast = outfielder!”.
I swear, this Reds front office…..
Maybe he’s the center fielder of the future.
Hopefully not. Finding someone who can play competent CF is a lot easier than finding someone who can play amazing SS. Just because you’re fast doesn’t mean you have to be an outfielder.
Barrero has shown he plays average defense and can’t hit,I can see why some people have this weird crush on him
LOL @burtgummer01
If you seriously think Farmer plays better defense at SS than Barrero, then I don’t know what else to say to you.
@burtgummer01 You clearly don’t have an eye for baseball. Everyone in the know who’s seen Barrero disagrees with your assesment on both his offense and his defense. There’s a reason you are in a minority here.
Doug could tell us about the relative organizational strength at the two positions. They just used their first pick for a guy who might be a shortstop.
Farmer just turned 31 last month
That’s one strange pitching stance from Rogers: twist…twist…twist…pitch. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it.
On another note: Suarez, for some unknown reason, continues to hit.
Technically it’s a balk. I wish they would call that more often in MLB to put an end to all these ridiculous, twitchy motions some of these pitchers have. You can’t start a motion, the stop, then start again.
There is no doubt this team got tight for about 2 or 3 weeks and it really effected their play. With the Cardinals winning every day they put to much pressure on themselves. The funny thing is they didn’t have to match St. Louis, they just needed to play about .500 and they would still be within striking range.
Back home and in listen-only mode. It was good to watch some of the last few games as possible while up in that market. Nationals TV announcers were pretty easy to listen to.
Happy Cabrera finally got a hit as a Red. Hope somebody can use him next year.
With the cheap ownership he probably secured a long term deal with the Reds
Welcome to VA….Nats broadcast isn’t too bad
It was actually fun and refreshing to listen to them, especially as opposed to Sadak’s “normal” bloviating.
My wife is saying the assumed sleep deprivation for Farmer must be paying dividends at the plate.
Sleep is overrated…..Kyle Slambino
+5,000
Perhaps they are converting Barrero to CF and using Farmer as a place keeper for Matt McClain @ Short
Or perhaps they are just deferring to the aging vets/utility players. Like moving Schrock to LF, Barrero to CF, India to 2nd, etc. But this is what happens when Bell is the guy. He likes 30+ veterans, particularly those with less than stellar careers or whose previous highlights are in the past. At least with a win today, they will not have a losing record. That’s something. Sadly, they may make up for it next year.
That’s the kicker. Farmer was supposed to be the play-anywhere utility man, and now that they have brought up a pure shortstop, instead of using Farmer’s versatility, they are jerking around their young star prospect instead of moving Farmer.
It’s honestly infuriating.
++
And we were told all year that Suarez’s slump was due to adjusting to a new position. While Barrero can’t hit ML pitching. Veteran privilege.
I could see that, but before Barrero is given any position he is going to have to hit at the major league level and given a chance I think he will.
+1000
Now that season is winding down and elimination is near, when I look back on this season I hope to remember June, July and about 2/3 of August. That was a fun team that entertained you almost every game. I will try to forget those horrible 27 games where they went 9 and 18. Oh what could have been.
So true. A season of “what if we had …” and the possibilities. Injuries bit hard as well, including those induced by the other teams hitting our players.
Cowboy is ranking on Kieboom HARD!!
Not sure the “dislike” with Farmer. He is a solid baseball player. Burrero hasn’t shown anything. Reminded of the hype after Aquino had 1 good month. Farmer is proven, Burrero is not
Shhhh logic isn’t allowed here
You want logic? Farmer is a career 80 OPS+ utitlity guy with several years of evidence that he is not an everyday player. Yet you people want to latch onto a couple months of a multi year career to pretend like he’s “proven”. I don’t think you know what that word means. On the other hand you have a young budding star that every scout who sees him agrees he has what it takes. His defense is proven. His bat shows the signs that it will be once he gets a chance. You don’t want logic.
Farmer is 3rd in mlb in fielding percentage and is 10x better hitter but you and your other girlfriends here ignore that
Fact suck don’t they ?
@burt, you always take it personal and insulting…this is an opinion blog..
You and your other girlfriends?
Personal insults and misogyny for what reason?
Thats lame. Disagreeing over the playing time and roles of a given
catcher or shortstop or 3b or a young over old preference are reasonable takes.
Doesnt make them right or wrong Your intolerance for alternative opinions and insults is not.
Burt, fielding percentage means little in evaluating a player’s defensive prowess. You should know that before tossing insults. Not sure what limited stat you will toss out to prove Farmer is 10x the hitter Barerro is, but I’m sure it will be hilarious. I’ll wait.
Good for Barrero getting that double. Too bad he’s being forced to play CF in order to get at bats.
Forced??? He may be our starting cf next year. I’m also fairly certain he is probably happy to be in the lineup.
Next year’s team may look like this opening day.
India. 2b
Winked. LF
Hopefully Castilonos. RF
Votto. 1b
Stephenson c
Suarez. 3b
Farmer. SS
Barrera. Cf and if there is a DH Moose.
My fear is Nick C opts out if he does we will need Barrera in the outfield along with Naquin. Playing him there now is a good thing for experience. Nagiun is not under contract next year and neither is Nick C. I don’t believe Senzel will be back next year.
If some moves are made in the off season to improve our outfield then he can begin the spring competing with Farmer at SS but right now giving him a look out there is not a bad thing. As many have said we already know he is a very good SS.
Yes, forced. I am pretty sure he did not go to DB and ask to pay a position he has not played since travel ball, and has never played it at any minor league level..I would call that forced
Chris my humble opinion is he embraced the opportunity to get on the field. Hardly believe he went out there with a attitude
Nice play by Barrero
I will take Farmer on my team any time but not as my every day short stop.He is 31 years old and his numbers speak for themselves and he is a below average major league player.He is a utility guy that can play multiple positions and thats just exactly how he should be used.He can play 4 out 6 or 5 out of 7 days to spell guys that are tired or struggling.Now if we want to settle for him every day then thats just what it is settling.Haven’t we settled enough with Suarez or with Moose or even with Tucker knowing we have guys that are younger with more upside that just needs to play?I would not had a problem if he played left some and third some,two big holes with Suarez’s free fall and Wink being out but to just settle with him at short while Barrero moves to center just to get some at bats is and was insane.Barrero has 100 at bats now and had 2 hits today and was on base 3 times hitting in the 8 hole.
+500
The win feels good, especially the series win.
What I find interesting about this season. With everything from bullpen melt downs to offense going cold at wrong time. Reds have still won 81 games. That says something, and to think injures have played a part. Journeymen players. Senzel being hurt, Moose, Antone, not to mention a few others. Really this, while disappointing has been a good season.
Deshields to me is a good pick up who could be a 4th or 5th outfielder. Depending on shogoo, and Nick.. Senzel and Winker back healthy. Infield looks solid and McClain will be knocking at the door..
Good time to be a Reds Fan
McClain has played 31 games at Dayton, not sure he will be knocking on the door