Luis Castillo gave the Reds six very strong innings in Toronto, but it was not enough on this night. The Reds offense had a lot of action all night on the basepaths, but outside of a Matt Reynolds RBI single in the 7th inning, just could not find another big hit to drop.
| Final | R | H | E |
| Toronto Blue Jays (21-18) | 2 | 9 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (11-27) | 1 | 8 | 1 |
| W: Ryu (1-0) L: Castillo (0-2) S: Romano (13) | |||
| FanGraphs Win Probability | Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Biggest Play of the Game
According to Fangraphs WPA statistic (winning percentage added), the biggest play of the game for either team was Matt Reynolds RBI single with 2 outs in the 7th inning, cutting the Blue Jays lead to 2-1 (runners on 1st and 2nd). That play increased the Reds probability of winning by 12.3% (from 18.0% to 30.4%).
Positives
Luis Castillo was absolutely dominant outside the 5th inning where he allowed 3 straight hits. Castillo got his first quality start of the season against one of the best lineups in baseball. His final line: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 5 K.
Joey Votto returned to the Reds lineup for the first time since May 1st. Votto doubled in his return – his first extra base hit since April 14th, and just his second extra base hit of the entire season.
Matt Reynolds had 3 hits in the leadoff spot – including a double and a RBI single in the 7th inning to get the Reds on the board.
Kyle Farmer had a pair of doubles, and his hardest hit ball of the night was a 102.6 EV lineout off Ryu in the 6th inning.
Negatives
The Reds offense could not find the big hit most of the night. They certainly did not have great luck on their side against Ryu. The Reds had a total off 11 hard hit balls of Ryu and a .352 xBA against him. To the credit of Ryu, he did not walk a batter all night.
Not so random thoughts…………..
It is going to be really fun that starting next year, the Reds will play every team in baseball each season. It’s cool to get to see different teams more often, especially teams like the Blue Jays.
Up Next:
Reds at Blue Jays
Saturday, 3:07 PM
TV: Bally Sports Ohio
Hunter Greene (6.21 ERA/4.38 xFIP) vs Alex Manoah (1.71 ERA/3.71 xFIP)
Frustrating loss. Sporadic hitting with a LOT of doubles. But a loss is a loss …
Just too many soft spots in the lineup. Even 1 more consistently reliable hitter may have made the difference.
Also, they lost almost certainly 1 and perhaps 2 triples on balls turned into ground rule doubles when they bounced over the CF wall.
Nick, I applaud your ability to always find a positive spin on the Reds mediocrity. The Reds really need to offer you a full time job in their PR department. Keep up the optimism. Someone needs to be.
Barrero 0-4 with 3 Ks and a double-play and Minor got smashed as well. B
By the time the Reds are good again, I hope they let me out of the nursing home to go to a game. Of course I’ll have to take out a loan for the $18/gallon gas
Oh come on. Barerro is basically on week one in spring training. If you are putting literally any stock in his stats right now you are doing it wrong.
Career batting avg in the .190s impressive stuff
A commenter on another post said that Votto hadn’t been doing poorly this year before he got sent down, or put on the COVID list… The box score today showed this…
J. Votto1B 4 0 1 0 0 0 .128 .277 .154
That’s Batting average, On base percentage and Slugging… All the lowest on the team.
Votto has been known to turn a slow start around, and I’m sure he’ll get the opportunity to do just that.
Votto seems to turn it around after the Reds are out of it.
I’m sure he’ll get the opportunity. I’m less certain that he turns it around this year. Maybe he will. A safer bet than Senzel playing 100 games, Barrero bumping Farmer, or Bell getting canned, but I’ll save my money.
i think it is actually scary that we play every team next year. the mlb is turning into the nba and that is bad for a team like the reds. you are going to see teams with 20-40 wins per season as you have teams in the nba with 10-20 wins. And I am afraid the reds will be one of the chronically sick teams. And the problem is that in the nba you have a meaningful draft where lottery players do contribute relatively quickly. the mlb draft really is a crap shoot so a team can be really bad for a long long time
Interesting theory .. You may be right about how this will go . Either way I am NOT a fan of playing every team every year . It is not an attraction for me. I believe its just a gimmick to increase attendance short term .. So we see Toronto at least three times each year, but less of the Cubs , Cardinals , Pirates and Brewers . As a lifetime huge fan who buys 20 tickets a year and drives 100 miles to see each game, Toronto becomes almost just a exhibition game to me
The demographics of who is watching what on MLBTV probably suggest playing every team every year is a winning marketing proposition.
Also, with tickets being purchased online, they know how many folks are traveling to games out of their home market to see their home team on the road or teams they have an interest in as a result of seeing them play via national telecasts or streaming.
The bottom line is the data likely indicates virtually all teams will experience a net gain in home attendance with this scheduling switch
Just another brick in the wall for the “small market” excuses of out of step ownerships.
Close game, Stephenson did not come big when most needed in a 0-4 night. With such a weak lineup it’ll be a tough weekend.
It look to me like Stephenson is trting to pull the ball these last few games. It’s probably a subconscious result of his hot streak a week or so back and the fact that he might feel the need to do all the offense himself. Hopefully he settles back into his approach soon.
Yes, he has been one of the few bright spots this year.
Feel bad for the pitchers. Reds now 0-5 when both teams only score 3 runs or less. Shades of ‘82 when Reds loss a lot of 3–2, 2-1 games.
Agreed .. This team reminds me a lot of 1982 .. which in my mind was the worst Reds team of my life time as a fan (since 1961) . This team seems to have a better future on paper , but only on paper .
https://www.yahoo.com/news/cincinnati-reds-pitching-prospect-connor-075525981.html