Today the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates will play two games as a part of a day-night doubleheader. Game one will begin at 2:10pm and feature a match up of starting pitchers Mike Minor for the Reds and Roansy Contreras for the Pirates.
Starting Lineups
Here are the lineups for this afternoon’s game:
Pittsburgh Pirates
|
Cincinnati Reds
|
| Ke’Bryan Hayes – 3B | Jonathan India – 2B |
| Bryan Reynolds – DH | Brandon Drury – 3B |
| Michael Chavis – 2B | Tommy Pham – LF |
| Yoshi Tsutsugo – 1B | Tyler Naquin – RF |
| Diego Castillo – SS | Kyle Farmer – SS |
| Jack Suwinski – CF | Mike Moustakas – 1B |
| Bligh Madris – LF | Donovan Solano – DH |
| Ben Gamel – RF | Albert Almora Jr. – CF |
| Jason Delay – C | Aramis Garcia – C |
| Roansy Contreras – SP | Mike Minor – SP |
Joey Votto is out of the lineup again today. He’s still dealing with a sore back.
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB | K |
| Mike Minor | 31.2 | 6.82 | 1.48 | 10 | 24 |
| Roansy Contreras | 44.0 | 4.09 | 1.46 | 21 | 43 |
| Links: Mike Minor’s Stats | Roansy Contreras’ Stats |
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Mike Minor
The left-handed starter is coming off of easily the best start of his season and he’ll look to build on that against a team that is only slightly better than the Reds are. This season has been a tough one for Minor, much like the previous two seasons he’s had. Righties are crushing the ball against him, posting a 1.020 OPS through his six starts. Lefties aren’t getting on base much, and they get a lot less playing time, but when they do get hits they are also crushing the ball – slugging .539 against him.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 102 | 27 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 17 | .307 | .373 | .648 |
| LHH | 41 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 7 | .256 | .293 | .539 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | Slider | Change | Curve | |
| Velo | 90.4 | 84.2 | 84.3 | 79.3 |
| Usage | 45.9% | 24.4% | 21.6% | 8.1% |
Roansey Contreras
He’s coming off of his worst start of the year. Milwaukee scored seven runs against him in 1.2 innings and he gave up three home runs. The splits are pretty big for Contreras this season. Right-handed hitters have a .917 OPS against him, while lefties are 205 points lower. His reverse splits have led to a pretty even distribution of his facing lefties and righties this season.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 100 | 23 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 23 | .267 | .370 | .547 |
| LHH | 95 | 20 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 20 | .233 | .305 | .407 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | Slider | Change | Curve | |
| Velo | 96.3 | 85.1 | 89.9 | 79.6 |
| Usage | 51.1% | 27.5% | 3.8% | 17.6% |
When and Where
- Game time: 2:10pm ET
- Where: Great American Ball Park
- Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 84°, partly cloudy, 3% chance of rain
News and Notes
Vladimir Gutierrez to the 60-day IL
Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer reported earlier today that Vladimir Gutierrez would move to the 60-day injured list after he had a setback on his recent bullpen session. He has been on the injured list since June 5th with an elbow strain.
The move isn’t official yet, but it sounds like it’s going to come. And it almost has to because the Reds will need to add a starting pitcher to the 40-man roster to start the second game today. That player is still TBA.
Jared Solomon added as today’s 27th player
In doubleheaders teams are allowed to add a 27th player if they choose. The Reds chose to do so and are bringing up reliever Jared Solomon from Triple-A Louisville. Every healthy pitcher on the 40-man roster is now currently on the active roster, just in case you were curious as to how the injured list looked for the Reds.
Sad to see re the Reds.. ” the Pirates, a team slightly better than they are..”
Missing this one due to class will be at The nightcap
Someone on RLN called it a while back that Gutierrez was headed for TJ surgery. Starting to suspect that might be the case. Abbott, Williamson, Petty, and the rest of the pitching prospects need to advance quickly, or Schrock will wind up a starter. Greene, Lodolo, Ashcraft, Minor, and Castillo (for a couple of more weeks) is getting kind of thin. Lots of opportunities, not a lot of options. Even sadder, a sweep by the Reds and they’ll still be in last place.
I just looked it up – 8 pitchers on the 60-day, with Mahle and Warren waiting in the wings to join them. The young guys really have an opening and need to grab it. Now if the old guys who aren’t pitchers would free up some space – like Moustakas, who really has been a disappointment. I remember him talking about finally having the security of a multi-year deal and what it meant for his family. I guess he didn’t feel the need to live up to his part of the deal.
People making gazillions laughably referencing “security of a long-term deal”
Reds over paid in money and years and he jumped at it.Don’t blame Moose at all for taking the deal.Disappointed in how he has performed but maybe more so in how He looks physically.
Yep, once he got the deal, forget about staying in shape. Maybe the Reds learned something. Or maybe not.
I said earlier in the week if I were in the minors as a pitcher I would walk to Cincy for a tryout.No need to hold anybody back at any level from auditioning.
Good to see Garcia today and Farmer is back after a night game.Interesting to see how Minor does today.Good first inning.Go Reds
But Senzel isn’t? Too tough for the hottest hitter on the team to play following a night game? Or at 27, is he physically unable to play a double header?
Senzel has had a lot of injuries. Makes no sense to risk playing both ends of a double header. Twins are being similarly careful with Byron Buxton.
Angel Hernandez behind the plate for game 1…
If it looks like a strike take it and if looks like a ball swing.This is the anti Angel formula for success at the plate.If the game becomes a blow out then just swing at everything cause he is already in the hotel room.
Wonder if we actually score today?I mean Pham just tried to steal so well you know.
Barrero heading down to AA?
Really good at bat by Moose right there.
Really good at bat by Solano as well.
Going to see the Lookouts tonight. I believe Andrew Abbott is scheduled to pitch.
This truly looks like a game between 2 very very bad major league teams.I don’t recognize any of the Bucs except Reynolds.Minor and their starter just ain’t that good
You’re probably right that the Pittsburgh starter isn’t very good. But then the Reds haven’t scored on him either. That probably says more about the Reds than it does the pitcher.
Reds just going through the motions as a major league team.Sad they have fallen to this level and I am not even sure what level it is.
How about those first four innings by Randy Johnso … oh, wait … Mike Minor? 😉
Trade value?Nope this is the Bucs.Nobody on either side wants to be here.
What a great game so far.
The Reds are 4-3 against Pittsburgh so far this year. If you can’t beat the Pirates, you deserve to be in last place. And at this point, it looks like they can’t beat the Pirates.
Pirates went 5-1 against the Dodgers. Does this mean the Dodgers aren’t good?
No, but it still means the Reds aren’t very good. And despite the Dodgers having a payroll just short of $300M, I’m not sure I’d bet on them winning the WS this year either.
Oops the shortstop hitting under 200 just went yard.Now we wouldn’t even consider playing a rookie at short hitting under 200 now would we.Of course not we wouldn’t even think of that as a option on this great Reds team.If only we weren’t so good.Lets just trade Barrero.
Solano!
Forgot Castillo’s OPS is 610.Of course he is 24 and the Bucs probably just want to see how he does.He has 200 at bats and well probably will end up with 400.Bucs have a plan
Cruz is their shortstop of the future. He isn’t playing in the first game.
Plus Reds have a ss who is a solid player at ss
OPS+ at 103, Marginally above average this year, About, a month away from being 32. His errors are up, and his range is down. The Reds are better off, given the trajectory of the season, playing Barrero the rest of the year, even if he’s unable to hit .200. He just turned 24. May not be the answer for the future but it’s time to find out. Playing dinosaurs, cast offs, and utility journeymen is not a strategy. Play the young guys and let the chips fall where they will.
Yeah you may be right.Looked him up and he has 60 at bats which aren’t many with a punch out rate of 34% and a OPS of ..639.Works for me that they both get to play.
It’s obvious ‘playing the young guys’ is not going to happen in the second half with the management team of Krall/Bell.
And Castillo has hit in the minors this year, while Barrero has certainly not. Why throw Barrero in the deep end of the pool when he currently can’t handle AAA pitching?
Agree. He no more deserves an opportunity than me. Both he and the team are better served with him taking abs at Louisville. Not ready to give up on him as he has been injured. At some point soon, he better hit though as other SS players are also waiting their opportunity.
AND we have a tie game!
FWIW, who else would’ve been happy with one ER in 5 IP from Minor before the game started?
very much so
Almora continues to slump at the plate.
Maybe leveling to what he is
And Stuart Fairchild continues to make a lot of positive noise at AAA. But Almora is out of options and has the service time to decline outright assignment in favor of free agency.
So, let him take his chances in FA. He was doing well earlier but he’s not a long termer. So, who cares.
2nd year slump for India. He stayed after game looking at film and working on swing. He will be fine as all players go through it.
Looks like batting practice has begun.
3 terrible at bats. Almora and Garcia struck out on balls in the dirt and India k’d on a pitch a foot outside
Yep like I said earlier Reds are just going through the motions.Quicker they can get out sooner they can set down,No leadership to say wait a minute there are only so many of these job available so how about doing your job.
@Roger I don’t think it is a lack of effort. This was a bad team on opening day and it’s a bad team now.
Roger, I agree. Total lack of effort. And the “manager” doesn’t have any idea how to manage. He’s like a parent that wants to be friends with the kids. And while he may know baseball, he doesn’t have the slightest idea about managing. When a manager doesn’t differentiate between good performers and bad performers and rewards them equally, you wind up with a lot of bad performers.
Lot of terrible at bats lately making a lot of these pitchers look good. Sadek talks about all the strikes these pitchers are throwing. Problem is we have a bunch of guys swinging at pitches a foot outside and in the dirt. Would make any pitcher look good. Contreas has never pitched more than 6 innings in his career but he has a chance today against the swinging Reds.
Well Minor now has a quality start but, seriously he hasn’t been bad. However, with the Reds offense you must be better. They need to trade for major league ready bats or all that pitching they have coming will be wasted.
I have to believe that trading Castillo (now that Mahle is sidelined) will bring a legit bat in return (and some), probably in the OF.
I’d be shocked if Castillo isn’t moved.
Quality starts are a very, very low bar. And ultimately meaningless.
Quality starts are a player agent marketing tool, and that’s about all they are worth. When you can throw 6 innings with an ERA of 4.50, it might be a league average start but it sure as heck is not a quality start. You certainly are not going to be considered an ace with a 4.50 ERA.
Quality start should be six or more innings, two or fewer runs allowed, if you are going to have such a statistic. At least the ERA for the start would be 3.0 or under.
I like Michael Chavis. Made me some nice $ with a HR off the Cubs not too long ago.
Don’t know if they traded for him, but he came over from Boston. He might not be a regular, but .870 ops vs lefties coming in isn’t bad at all and he takes a big ole cut!
Pirates front office just outworking the Reds, but we knew that already
1 run in 24 innings against the Pirates that seems almost impossible. Oh well, how bad can things get. This team is going to lose 100 and finish last. They need to to bring up as many young guys as possible they are just going through the motions.
Bucs have a plan and will still lose 95+.Reds have no plan,no leadership,no accountability on or off the field and are just playing out the season with over 80 games to go.
Keep banging that drum, but it doesn’t make it so.
Nice rare fielding gem from an infielder by Drury.
It was pretty sweet
Every team has a journeyman her and there. However, rarely are they in the starting lineup on a daily basis. For the Reds this is a norm, starting eight and BP. The first think that Krall and Bell do every morning, is check the waiver wire and see who they can pickup The Reds DFA a guy and he knows where he is destined, Louisville. The other 29 teams DFA a guy and he knows where he is destined, Cincinnati.
The Reds are trying, but they just don’t have much hitting right now. India is struggling and now limping as well. Moose and Garcia are poor hitters. Almora is a decent hitter, but nothing special overall. Def not a corner OF bat whatsoever. The Reds suck more then the Pirates suck.
Bell did mail this one in though….Minor’s heater was 88 last inning. Obv he was gassed but Bell leaves him in
Bell had to leave him in — can’t afford to dip into the bullpen too deeply in this game when the second game looks everything like a bullpen game.
Good observation Tom.
Don’t they have 13 and now 14 pitchers for this DH? Cessa was coming in anyway? Why not 3-1 instead of 4-1?
So, Bell will leave Minor in the game until the game is completely out of hand?
Well, yeah. That is Bell’s usual pattern. Look at last night against the Mets.
That’s pretty much the game.
Chief Arsonist now pitching.
I think the bigger question is why Cessa is having the worst year of his career. DJ anyone?
Good question. Cessa had been a quality reliever the past few years.
Oh! That’s an upgrade! Bringing in Cessa to hold the fort! Unfurl the white flag!
Maybe Doug Gray knows if this is possible, with the MLB databases that exist: What percentage of the players who have been on the Reds active roster this year have spent time on the disabled list? I would be very curious to know if there is a way to find out what other team in MLB history had the highest percentage of active roster players on the injured list in a given year.
Not exactly what you asked, but according to Man Games Lost MLB, thru 7/3 these are the teams most afflicted with injuries:
MLB top 5, games missed by injured players and IL
TBR 919
CIN 879
WSN 860
CHC 811
DET 697
Of course, the injury news for the Reds has continued to be bad recently.
Thanks. I figured the Reds would be near the top this year’s list. I am just wondering if Cincy is approaching some sort of all-time record for injuries afflicting a percentage of the roster.
And now maybe add Cessa? jeez
So you jinxed the Reds. Another injury. There was a stat on last nights game about how many games lost due to injury – the Reds were way in the lead. I know some of the games lost were due to COVID (Votto). But I really have come to question the Reds training staff and methods of training. Just seems to me that not just the pitching staff but position players are out way longer than they should be to injuries. I raised a question yesterday if the spin rate push has lead to more injuries by the pitching staff.
You must have read some of my prior posts re training staff!
Still a few front office/Bell defenders? I’ll defend Bell to the extent that every potential would lose 90+ with this mess, but the front office? Really?
Let Sonny 2.47 era Gray go just to pay washed up Minor to the same $? If you know you’re going to move Castillo then why not sign Gray for 2 more years just to help the youngsters if nothing else. Gray might be a 4-5 inning guy now, but who does more with less?
Indy, I’d take you as GM tomorrow, heck, TODAY!! Seriously. It has been my experience that no one knows sports better than “betters”. Krall gets paid regardless.
Well I would’ve shipped Senzel out 2 years ago, but you have a point. Vegas isn’t wrong very often so you follow their trends
Same applies to medicine. If you want to know the risks involved with a particular test result or condition, consult life insurance company tables. Life insurers are the bettors and they bet on actual data.
That would be true on many teams. But remember Bell bragged about moving his office and having input on personnel decisions. He’s definitely culpable for the state of the team in more ways than one.
I don’t consider myself a Bell defender but like others we understand the real issue
Which is? Don’t say roster. When most of the team is underperforming their career averages, it’s not the roster.
Aren’t the guys who are under-performing the people who are the roster? It’s the roster, both in construction and in performance.
Can’t wait to see this guy! Another guy that picked his apartment by whatever was closest to the Golden Corral.
Wait! Now we’re denigrating Golden Corral! Great place for us senior citizens!
it could be The Moose.
Its not even a fair fight with the Bucs.Just an awful display by this team.How on earth does anybody keep a job?
We’d like an answer from native son and principal owner, Bob Castellini.
Reds are really going to miss Cessa’s 6.68 ERA out of the pen.
Get somewhere here fast from minors. Oh, wait, I forgot they don’t have anyone on the 40 left to call up.
Reds are bailing out and why not.Pen pieces all hurt.Come on,
So here’s who figures to be available to pitch game 2, now presuming no Cessa or Gibaut:
Detwiler
Hoffman
Kuhnel
Moreta
Sanmartin
Solomon
Strickland
Given the other options in this bullpen, I’ll take my chances with a guy who throws 22 strikes in 28 pitches (Gibaut).
And just like that Gibaut is the ace of the bullpen
It’s not an exceptionally high bar. 😉
Every reliever DFAd by an MLB team is almost assuredly a roster improvement for the Reds.
This is just awful, if they lose 2 to the pirates today, likely, it might be the lowest I have felt as a Red’s fan in my 50 plus years as a Reds fan. Let’s face this team right now has Castillo,not for long, 3 young starters, who may be good some day, Stephenson, hurt, India, not playing well, Senzel, finally looking better, Drury, bets year of career, Mahle, hurt, some bull pen pitchers hurt, Antone – Sims – Santillan and maybe Dunn, hurt, the rest of the roster stinks, period.
Mark, when did you start watching/listening? I’m in year 48 of fandom. Started following in ’73.
bad day to be a Reds SP later today… has this been decided yet?
This team cannot score… period …
Not announced yet
Tom,
I have the feeling that Reds at bat inning duration is much shorter than rivals.. not only in average but in “mode” … don’t you think this affects our pitching , with almost time to rest between innings, and at the end impacting in injuries ?
I have no stats on that. But with the high counts Reds pitchers have to a majority of batters, I’ll bet that is true.
1970 when I was 12 years old. I live near St. Louis and all my family and friends are Cardinal fans. It wasn’t bad in the 70’s when the Reds dominated but, since then 80’s on it’s been tough with a few exceptions, 1990, 1999, 2010, 2012 and maybe 2013 otherwise it’s been tough being a Reds fan near Cardinal territory.
We’re about the same age then. I was 8 in 1970.
And I could already (legally) buy a drink on the rare days the Reds looked as inept as today! 😉 Well at least by the end of the season I could
Saw my first game in Crosley Field in 1954. Could legally drink before Riverfront Stadium, in which I never saw a game.
Has the Moose come out of hibernation?
In the words of Monty Python:
I’m not dead yet.
OR
It’s merely a flesh wound.
Flesh wound? Your arm’s off!
I have another arm. oh crap
Well that’s that. Just a bit of a tease in their last AB. Hopefully Schrock will pitch a shut out in the nightcap.
As Doug reported in his article, the Reds have three hours to make a move if they want to bring someone in from the minors to start. (If this is going to happen, surely that player is already in the clubhouse.)
If they call someone up from AAA, I’m guessing Robert Dugger who is supposed to be the Bats starter tonight, or Deck McGuire. Shame Ben Lively went on the IL just 2 weeks ago. Probably put Gutierrez on 60 DL and option Moreta to make room. Good a guess as any I suppose.
No, this is the Reds Tom. They were just packing him into a car for the cannonball run up river from Louisville. The guy may not have even known till he reported for work today.
Guys, it’s just another loss. You know I coached High School basketball for many years, had some great teams, but I not ashamed to say I was fired a couple times when our team didn’t reach expected goals, I always thought questionably, we had winning records. Regardless at least somebody wanted more from our program and as the Head coach, fair or not, I took the blame. That is the problem with the Reds 26 and 54 and nobody is being held accountable. I am sorry but Bell needs to go just to start the house cleaning. I can tell you this it hurts to be fired but if your a good coach you accept it and go on. That is what I did and had a lot of success after these events.
Thanks for sharing and a very honest look at things.
I will settle for nothing less the ownership selling this team. Firing Bell solves nothing
+1000. And firing Bellsoves a bunch
Lol!!!
Thanks for sharing Mark. My only point would be timing. I do think the Reds are showcasing their veterans for trade targets at the deadline so that is different. Minor and Solano could get a lottery ticket A player and offload salary. I dont think the Reds thought either would be on the payroll past July. Moose is Moose. Pham might get you a good AA reliever. Drury could get you the same and perhaps a Moose donation. Farmer is part of the Bell agenda.
I hate watching these ancient lineups but professional trading deadlines argue for the long term best return, you have to maximize trade deadline returns. I would keep Bell until August 2nd and once the season has officially flipped to focusing on 2023, thats when i would let him go and bring on Benavides to coach the young guys the last 2 months as interim manager.
I love high school basketball. Hope you still do.
I grew up in Indiana. HS basketball is the only game.