Two straight winning series for the Cincinnati Reds and now they’ll hit the road to take on the Pittsburgh Pirates. There will be a rematch from last week when Connor Overton matches up against JT Brubaker – Cincinnati won that one 5-2 in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday. Tonight’s 1st pitch is set for 6:35pm ET.
Starting Lineups
Here are the lineups for this evening’s NL Central contest:
Cincinnati Reds
|
Pittsburgh Pirates
|
| TJ Friedl – CF | Ben Gamel – LF |
| Brandon Drury – 3B | Ke’Bryan Hayes – 3B |
| Tommy Pham – LF | Bryan Reynolds – CF |
| Mike Moustakas – DH | Daniel Vogelbach – DH |
| Tyler Stephenson – C | Yoshi Tsutsugo – 1B |
| Colin Moran – 1B | Jack Suwinski – RF |
| Tyler Naquin – RF | Josh VanMeter – 2B |
| Kyle Farmer – SS | Michael Perez – C |
| Matt Reynolds – 2B | Rodolfo Castro – SS |
| Connor Overton – SP | JT Brubaker – SP |
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB | K |
| JT Brubaker | 25.1 | 5.68 | 1.42 | 14 | 30 |
| Connor Overton | 10.2 | 2.53 | 1.03 | 2 | 7 |
| Links: Connor Overton’s Stats | JT Brubaker’s Stats |
|||||
Connor Overton
It’s been a good season for Connor Overton, though it’s been split between Triple-A Louisville and Cincinnati. He posted a 2.84 ERA in 19.0 innings with the Bats before getting called up to join the Reds where he’s pitched well and allowed just three earned runs in his two starts so far.
To this point, and we should note it’s just two starts, Overton has dominated lefties, holding them to a .557 OPS. If we also include his splits from his time in Triple-A this season things are a bit more even. Righties have a .593 OPS against him, while lefties have a .600 OPS against him. But a fun note here is that righties have just 1 walk and 19 strikeouts against him this season (if we include AAA/MLB time together).
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 21 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .300 | .333 | .350 |
| LHH | 18 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .177 | .222 | .235 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Slider | Change | Change | |
| Velo | 91.4 | 90.8 | 82.3 | 85.1 | 79.9 |
| Usage | 28.3% | 21.1% | 24.4% | 14.5% | 11.8% |
JT Brubaker
In his last start, JT Brubaker probably had his best outing of the season against Cincinnati as he allowed two runs on three hits, walked two, and he struck out nine over 5.0 innings.
Left-handed hitters have found a lot more success against Brubaker this season, posting a slightly better walk rate and on-base percentage, but their power output has been a lot better than right-handed hitters. There hasn’t been much success early on this year from righties against Brubaker, who have a .627 OPS against him.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 61 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 17 | .222 | .312 | .315 |
| LHH | 54 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 13 | .217 | .333 | .435 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Slider | Change | Curve | |
| Velo | 92.8 | 93.2 | 87.0 | 87.5 | 80.2 |
| Usage | 11.0% | 33.6% | 31.4% | 9.6% | 14.4% |
When and Where
- Game time: 6:35pm ET
- Where: PNC Park
- Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 79°, sunny, 0% chance of rain
News and Notes
Roster moves and more roster moves
This afternoon Cincinnati placed Lucas Sims on the injured list with back spasms, optioned Dauri Moreta to Triple-A, and called up Jared Solomon and Robert Dugger.
What would it take for the Reds to be the worst team ever?
David Schoenfield asked that very question over at ESPN+. You’ll need a subscription to read the whole piece. But if you want the good news: It’s very unlikely that the Reds wind up the worst team in history. The bad news: They are still likely to be very, very bad.
Joey Votto in the cage
Joey Votto posted a video on his instagram page of him taking swings in the batting cage. “Reds making their rehab players wear pink socks now… meh, I’m cool with it.”
It would appear that he’s feeling a bit better and that he may also be going on a rehab assignment after missing more than a week while on the COVID injury list.
A win tonight would really feel good, even if it is the Pie-Rats.
Here’s to Overton having a solid outing.
Go, go, go Overton!
Glad to hear Votto is back in the cage. Hopefully he is back soon!! Senzel and India too!!
Any word on India or Senzel?
Senzel:
https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/mlb/reds/2022/05/12/cincinnati-reds-tyler-naquin-role-lineup-change-batting-order/9731321002/#:~:text=COVID%2Drelated%20injured%20list%3AJoey%20Votto%2C%20Nick%20Senzel%20may%20not%20rejoin%20Cincinnati%20Reds%20on%20upcoming%209%2Dgame%20road%20trip
Saw tweets over the last several days that India was doing some baseball drills but not running (and I believe also not hitting).
Also saw tweets that indicated Senzel was either just slightly ahead of or slightly behind Votto (sorry I don’t recall which) and would likely also do rehab. Believe neither is currently with the team on this road trip which runs through May 22.
Thus begins game two on our 20 game winning streak. A sweep of the pirates would get us out of last place in the MLB
Why do they even have Lopez up here? Send him back to AAA and let him get some at bats. Got to play Reynolds. The guy is 31 and Bell loves his journeymen.
Lopez is king of weak contact. Terrible defensive player as well.
No matter who the manager starts. Someone is always calling for the bench flavor of the week. This is not just a Reds thing. Fans of every team does it.
From what I have saw from Lopez. My eyes tell me he is not MLB caliber player. No matter his age he shouldn’t be starting.
Apparently, as a switch hitter, Lopez’s role is mostly as a decoy to influence the opposing team’s bullpen moves. But how is he supposed to be a threat to hit if he gets the call when he never gets game reps?
Haha just saw fitch’s article, i bet that thread caused a “heck”storm round these parts.
And the 31 year old journeyman is starting caliber? The guy with a career 222 average? Nice! But from what you saw Lopez isn’t a starter because after 49 career at bats you know he isn’t a big leaguer! How aren’t you a scout?
Reynolds is hitting .308 with a .438 OBP and .823 OPS. I’m glad Bell is playing people who are producing.
Yes me to. And that play we just saw Reynolds make for the force out IMO Lopez doesn’t make it.
Bingo
Reynolds isn’t a MLB caliber starter either. Neither will be here much longer. Reynolds makes harder contact than Lopez does and plays much better defense.
Got to throw strikes if you’re going to give yourself a chance.
I bet Vogelbach gives great hugs
+100
My late Dad once cracked a guys ribs giving him a bear hug. Way back in the day in the church softball league. Snuck up behind the guy. Didn’t learn until years later he’d injured him.
Overton is all over the place.
He needs a map, both hands, and a flashlight to find the zone at this point.
He’s flying open occasionally, missing up and away to lefties.
Productive out for Tommy Boy.
Without the shift, that’s a DP, isn’t it?
Here is a major problem, a lot of people are looking to 2024 and in toady’s starting line up on May 12th 2022 only 1 player will definitely be a part of that 2024 team. That would be Stephenson, of course, and I don’t think he will be catching.
I tend to agree. And I do hope they “Buster Posey” him so he avoids the wear and tear that comes with catching these days.
I really want him to move to first base permanently after Votto’s contact is up. He looks like the real deal as a possible star-level bat. No reason to have him take a pounding behind the plate for years and risk the full development of that asset.
Yeah I dont get it, especially since his defense has looked pretty good so far this year. We have a potential plus bat at a very difficult position to find that and people want to move him off of it. Obviously have him DH sometimes, but I’m very confused why you’d move him to a typically defenseless position when he is able to be at least an average defensively at the hardest position on the field.
Why would we move our best catcher off of the position? I dont get it.
No damage and under 20 pitches. That’s a positive.
Yep, got out of a problem. That didn’t happen for Reds pitchers much the first three weeks or so.
No, it didn’t. We saw Greene escape but it cost him 30 pitches.
Moose and TySteve look good. Naquin looks a bit lost.
Moose great swing but that ball is 10 rows deep at Gabp instead of a double.
Why cant the Reds just take 3 rows of seats out in RF and erect a 15 foot wall?
Stephenson is the Reds best player with India out. Stat today said only catcher since 2020 with .285 BA. The guy has a hit tool
Move him to first base and find a catcher and give him 650 AB and keep him healthy. Harper was a catcher but hit tool too valuable.
I’m not sure the Reds FO can afford that, especially if it takes away seats.
And that is a TOOLBAN
Lucked out on that play
Wow, terrible baserunning saves Naquin
Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. I’d rather we’d be both, though.
Top of the order. Let’s get TJ on base … maybe a bunt single?
Can we agree TySteve needs to be moved up in the order.Guy needs all the at bats he can get each and every game.
I’d actually put India 1 and Stephenson 3 every day.Those are the 2 best hitters. Dont have a complete lefty hitter for the 2 hole. maybe Castillo at the trade deadline gets a 25 yo lefty OF plus more
I agree with both of you. Could be Votto #2. Best hitters with the most at bats at the top of the order generally score the most runs. When Moose is the DH and still hitting he can bat #4. Pham can bat #5. Naquin #6. Drury #7. Barrero #8. Senzel #9. Righty/Lefty through first seven.
1. India 2B
2. Votto 1B
3. Stephenson C
4. Moustakas DH
5. Pham LF
6. Naquin RF
7. Drury 3B
8. Barrero SS
9. Senzel CF
That might be a pretty decent lineup if we can get them all playing together REGULARLY.
Baserunning this year? Absolutely horrible across the board. Earlier today I saw Juan Soto and Josh Bell both get thrown out on the bases needlessly on the same play.
what is pham doi….oh it is a balk
Pham sorta called out teammates today in an article.
Said Reds have more data available to players and more coaches than any team he’s played with and he’s going to use them. Said he learned as a Cardinal you don’t make fundamental mistakes or there is accountability. Larussa sent a player down to AAA for missing a cutoff. He learned from that.
I read that and had the same reaction. Seems “The Cardinal Way” includes consequences.
Seems harsh.
Coach them up , maybe have them sit a day or two , but don’t ship them out unless that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
I like Bell as our manager. I think he relates to the players and is overtly competitive.
I like simply because the Cardinals generally win and the Reds don’t. Bottom line.
That Balk rattled him a bit
Then he fooled him into the whiff
Ok so honest question to anyone here:
How would you go about asking Stephenson to move to 1B? If you were him, how might you expect him to react to that?
I think he’s a ballplayer at heart. I think he’d take on the challenge and make the move, understanding it’s better for his longevity.
Moving to 1B is a challenge? If I was a young player that just spent most of his adult life learning a harder position just to be moved off of it, I’d be terribly confused. I bet he wants to catch.
You don’t have to ask him. You tell him. It will greatly improve his chances for a fantastic and memorable career as a hitter.
I’m not sure why thats true, there’s plenty of HOF catchers that would laugh at the notion.
Perhaps, but the foul tips (and slides that cause concussions) take their toll over time.
He just mashed a homer as I was typing this. I want him as a first baseman or DH, and have the Reds find a decent catcher (not easy to find).
We have a decent catcher…..he may even be one of the best in the league.
Should Sparky have moved Johnny Bench to first base to save him? Would the Big Red Machine have been as good if he had? Point being it’s pretty easy to find a good hitting 1B. It’s very hard to find a good hitting catcher. The chances for a powerful good hitting lineup down the road decreases dramatically if TS is move to 1B. Somewhere down the line we’ll have another player who can hit well but only play 1B and wish TS was a catcher again to get them both in the lineup. Besides the DH helps in both cases.
I haven’t seen him catch enough games to grade his catching abilities.
Is he going to be or is an above average MLB catcher?
Hes looked a lot better this year than I saw last year. He’s not winning a GG, but even if he’s just average his bat makes him very special.
India at 2b and Stephenson at first base till 2030? Sign me up.
Phillips and Votto were ridiculously good for about 5-6 years. Move on to other positions.
I’m not against moving him. But then that would mean they wasted extra years in the minors to development at the tough position.
You don’t have to move Stephenson to 1B now that the DH is universal. Play Tyler 50 / 50 C to DH, it will be easy on his legs. If you are worried about having a C at DH for injury reasons, It’s probably a 1 to 3 times a year scenario. I’d rather have the extra use of Stephenson than protecting against that rare possibility.
Also if you move him to 1B, you’d lose the advantage of having such a valuable bat at a position that doesn’t usually have + bats.
Best Reds catcher all around since Johnny Bench and people want to move him out before he’s got a full season as starter under his belt. Makes no sense. Yadira Molina had a pretty good career catching most of the games. Ditto Bench. Ditto many others. If Stephenson can handle the staff and if they have confidence in him, why mess that up. He’s only got 6 years until FA, use him to catch those 6 years, and rest him as DH when he is not catching.
Makes sense to me.
Good teams are strong up the middle.
I think you build around that.
Such an important position.
Yadier darn near caught EVERY game.
Sure he got squeezed, but he still looks like he’s doing his Mahle impression … nibbling a bit.
Yes, much more so than either of his previous starts.
Nice turn on that one!!
OK, so tonight I have Richmond at Harrisburg on another screen. One of the between innings stunts was guys trying to toss little stress squishies into an open toilet (on a cart). The squishies were shaped like … wait for it … little white toilets!!!
Got to love the minor leagues.
Nice to get some quality defense at first base for a change.
Thigh-high and GONE!!!
OK, maybe a little lower. Tyler read it all the way, though.
TySteve doing Tysteve things
Ty might be their All Star representative
Good chance.
This just in.
Tyler Stephenson can hit …..both lefties and righties.
He hits to all fields and has plate discipline.
Buy stock in the guy and keep him healthy.
I won’t even suggest moving him up in the order.
I’d have him 3rd or 4th, but 5th is fine. I dont generally care how the lineup is contructed as long as you have high OBP guys higher and your best hitters clumped at the top.
This just in.
Tyler Stephenson can hit …..both lefties and righties.
He hits to all fields and has plate discipline.
Buy stock in the guy and keep him healthy.
He’s mashing everything. I’m curious if it’s just a hot streak or something that can stay consistent.
I think he is a .300 hitter with 20+ HR, if he starts 145 games.
PROBABLY should bat higher than 5th….especially on this team. 🙂
+5,000
One way or another he needs to play most every day.
Who had Connect Overton as the Reds best pitcher this year? Raise your hand and take a bow.
Conner
Doug..you need an edit function for old fat fingered guys and autocorrects.
Not me! But I am in favor of keeping him in the rotation as long as he keeps other teams from scoring. I thought before tonight’s game started this might be a big game for Overton, because someone will have to go when Lodolo is ready.
Just helps make your point.We don’t know Connect or Conner Overton.
Overton is pitching exactly how someone without overpowering stuff beats someone with overpowering stuff in the rotation
+1000
He’s a pitcher, not a thrower. Nobody slobbers over his speed, but they sure notice his results in getting guys out.
Love how TySteve was jawing at the ump a bit. He’s earned the right from what I’m seeing. It was a close one.
Overton is our 2022 Dan Straily he is enjoyable yo watch
+500
The true HR cycle is all 4 HRs in the same game.
Yep he has but they brought in the lefty for Moose and Moran and if that is called a ball so be it from where the Bucs set.Great example of why you need a soft tossing lefty in the pen.
6 innings and 78 pitches … is that even allowed???
Let’s play some add-on, please!
STOP THE PRESSES…. A red has thrown a quality start
+1,000
and … AWESOME!!!
lol, Overton dealing. He might go 7.
I think they’ll leave him in until someone reaches base.
agreed
+1000
Let’s see the Hembree we all came to know and … uh … love
I did not like Thom B…..but the old saying you don’t know what you got til it’s gone……After 1 year Sadak still hurts my ears it makes me yearn for George Grande…….I think he my be worst play by play guy in baseball.
I havent liked all three of them. Sadak’s a dork, but I’ve heard worse for sure.
With Grande we would be hearing “Buccos” tonight to the point of nausea.
+1,000
I get its the Pirates and Reds but spin rates and 99 mph arent the story of this game. It’s pitching and mixing speeds and keeping hitters off balance and soft contact for outs….Hunter Greene …er…Derek Johnson…take notice
And control
You put him and Larkin together it’s painful, and Barry was one of my favorites, but he is such a company man it’s so obvious he is trying out for another seat within the organization. I miss Welsh and Grande, but would love the Cowboy and Jim Gray
What to do after the 1 out walk.Pull him or let him pitch?
Overton gave everything he had.
Bell made the right decision after 91 pitches. Build on this and make the bullpen do their job.
I agree Old-school regardless of how it turns out
Now Lucas Sims is injured again, yet another injury for the Reds. Reds players are either injured or ill or sick or something. Wonder if they drive their own cars around town and too the ballpark? They may be too injured to do that. Have to have someone else drive them around town and too the ballpark. We need to change their name from the Cincinnati Reds to the Cincinnati Injured!
OK, good move by DTBell to pull Overton. Apparently 90 was the number and he’d done a great job through 6.1.
Nice pick-up by the rest of the team to hold them back. So this is what a quality start looks like … nice.
Presuming the opportunity presents itself, I’d like to see Diaz get a chance for a save. Let’s see if he can close.
Why not Diaz?Good idea Tom.Overton does his thing and Diaz closes it out.Go figure but hey its all about seeing what guys can do this year and next or at least it should be from where I set
With Grande we would be hearing “Buccos” tonight to the point of nausea.
Sorry, double-post.
It was fitting at least
Good baseball game. Reds won 2 series in a row and ready to start strong. Bullpen needs to do their job. This isnt on David bell
It’s on the offense to play add-on and the bullpen to finish.
Lets give Ty Steve a chance with men on.
I would take the Buccos references any day over the Star Trek and Simpson references or anytime Miami Valley Gambling commercials come on he talks about dancing which is owned by Ballys which is pretty convenient
But Sadak probably works cheap, in which case, get used to him 🙂
Still better than Thom, but I kinda feel bad for Thom
Add-on it is.
Yep who called it.
Boy that 5th run would have been great but up 4-0 may be enough.Farmer continues to struggle at the plate.May need a day or two off.
David Bell brings back Cessa for the 8th and more than 1 inning.
Hes getting better as a manager.
I think he let Cessa go more than 1 in the opening series.
One of the biggest gripes about Bell is that he pulls effective pitchers after perfect innings. Tonight is more the exception than the rule.
Dont you worry though, I guarantee you someone still says on here how upset they are Bell doesnt ever leave relievers in for more than an inning down the line.
I dont care. Like the Bengals won more playoff games in 3 weeks than they did in 30 years. reds about to win more games in 6 days than they did in 6 weeks.
I also think Bell I getting better as a manager.
He’s still new to it, so I’d expect as much. I dont think hes the best manager they could maybe have, but I also dont think it really matters.
3-hit combined shut-out through 8. It feels great … in a completely WEIRD way
Anyone but Hayes is out on that play
For the people not wanting to move Tyler to 1B. You realize if he keeps getting concussions his career could end very soon.
They say well Bench didn’t move. No way of knowing how many concussions Bench had though. Chances are he was never tested for one.
I am Johnny Bench’s age. I don’t recall hearing or reading any comments about his mental deterioration, but then I don’t live in Cincy. He seems to be pretty active and gives a cogent interview. Wouldn’t appear his bell was rung too many times.
+5,000
Different game; different standards. He likely racked up plenty of them and played through. Not a good thing.
Get him some time there yet this year, use the DH role at times, and lets have him healthy and productive for a long time in a Redleg uniform.
Okay, I dont see why that matters. Until the concussions pile up I dont see why you’d make that move. The Reds have one of the best catchers in the league, everyone should just grab your popcorn and enjoy the ride. He’s potentially a very special player. IF the Reds tried to move them theyd be the laughing stock of the league, more than they already are anyway.
Joey Votto was a catcher.
Bryce Harper was a catcher.
It’s injuries but its also dead legs effecting your hitting and time committed to the pitchers. How much easier would it be for Ty to focus on 2 things…hitting and first base.
I’m in the make him a back up. Catcher 30 games a year and a first baseman 120 games a year. Every team need 2 catchers.
I dunno, I’m flabbergasted. We have potentially one of the rarest commodities in baseball and people want to just move him to a lesser and easier to fill role. I dont get it, why are we handling him like hes a delicate flower?
Johnny stated he had between 7-10 concussions in his career.
And no ones even mentioned this was when catchers were tackled literally every play at the plate.
Agree. Catchers aren’t getting bulldozed like in the past and I believe Johnny stated 2 or 3 of those concussions were hit by pitch in the head.
We have to remember catchers getting in collisions was supposed to be a thing of the past. What happened recently is a fluke hopefully. He only has one concussion. Let’s not jump off of the deep end. If they keep coming then we can change things around. I agree with Mr. 2020. Having a good hitting catcher is a rarity. Sit back and enjoy it while you can.
If anyone tried to do a “Pet Rose” on a catcher he probably would be suspended for half a season or more. Remember Norm Charleton in 1990 taking out Scocia? LOL Same thing. Norm was very fortunate he didn’t have two dislocated shoulders out of that. Scocia was a ROCK. Man that was cool though. 🙂 hahaha One more thing catchers have to be careful about their positioning on a play and be smart about it. I remember when Posey was seriously injured hearing Johnny Bench say he was out of position.
Double up the Dough-Boy like they do it in the text book.
A road win to snap that streak. Another monkey off our backs.
You and your monkeys! Will be glad when they are all gone!
We accumulated a LOT of them. May not be able to offload them all. But each one counts.
Bring on the Dodgers!
Best complete win of the year.
Granted the Pirates- but the reds will pass them in the standings this year.
plus 1000
well I havent dialed in very often this year as I’ve been paying more attention to my other team, but looks like I picked a good one to watch
Scary McGarry hit his 10th bomb tonight for Dayton. He know has 24 runs batted in and a 1.128 ops on the season. When is he going to get some ink?
Great post-game interview with TySteve (again). The kid just has that magnetism. Seems like a truly humble guy.
Victorious recap article posted! https://www.redlegnation.com/2022/05/12/reds-win-for-fifth-time-in-seven-tries-4-0-over-pittsburgh/