Cincinnati will hope to even things up this afternoon with St. Louis after last night’s loss to the Cardinals. The Reds will be sending lefty Nick Lodolo to the mound to face off against Miles Mikolas. First pitch is set for 2:15pm.
Starting Lineups
Here are the lineups for this afternoon’s game:
Cincinnati Reds
|
St. Louis Cardinals
|
| Jonathan India – 2B | Tommy Edman – 2B |
| Brandon Drury – DH | Dylan Carlson – CF |
| Kyle Farmer – SS | Paul Goldschmidt – DH |
| Joey Votto – 1B | Albert Pujols – 1B |
| Tyler Stephenson – C | Tyler O’Neill – LF |
| Donovan Solano – 3B | Brendan Donovan – 3B |
| Tyler Naquin – RF | Edmundo Sosa – SS |
| Nick Senzel – CF | Lars Nootbaar – RF |
| Stuart Fairchild – LF | Andrew Knizner – C |
| Nick Lodolo – SP | Miles Mikolas – SP |
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB | K |
| Nick Lodolo | 24.1 | 4.44 | 1.60 | 9 | 33 |
| Miles Mikolas | 113.1 | 2.62 | 0.98 | 22 | 88 |
| Links: Nick Lodolo’s Stats | Miles Mikolas’ Stats |
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Nick Lodolo
The lefty is making his third start since missing 10 weeks with a back injury. His first outing saw him toss 4.2 shutout innings with eight strikeouts. The last time out he allowed three runs in 5.0 innings with six strikeouts.
Teams have not put too many lefties in the batters box against Nick Lodolo this season, but the ones that have gotten a few opportunities haven’t done much of anything against him. Right-handed hitters, though, are crushing the ball against him. They are hitting .318 and slugging .523 against him. They aren’t making much contact, but when they do they are making it count.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 98 | 28 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 29 | .318 | .388 | .523 |
| LHH | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .154 | .313 | .154 |
Pitch Usage
| 2-Seam | Change | Curve | |
| Velo | 94.1 | 87.9 | 82.4 |
| Usage | 58.6% | 16.1% | 25.2% |
Miles Mikolas
Despite a 2.62 ERA in 18 starts, Miles Mikolas has a losing record this season. He hasn’t faced the Reds this season, but since returning the start of 2019 he has faced them seven times and has an ERA of 6.32 against Cincinnati.
This season he’s been very good against both lefties and righties. They have nearly identical splits against him, with a small edge in on-base percentage from righties and a small edge on the power side from lefties. Neither side is doing much with an OPS of .612 from the righties and a .598 OPS from the lefties.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 223 | 45 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 47 | .217 | .269 | .343 |
| LHH | 224 | 44 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 41 | .210 | .250 | .348 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Slider | Change | Curve | |
| Velo | 93.4 | 92.7 | 87.7 | 82.5 | 75.8 |
| Usage | 22.7% | 24.7% | 27.4% | 5.8% | 19.5% |
When and Where
- Game time: 2:15pm ET
- Where: Busch Stadium
- Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 98°, partly cloudy, 15% chance of rain
News and Notes
Dauri Moreta to the IL, Hendrix called up
The Cincinnati Reds placed Dauri Moreta on the injured list this afternoon and called up Ryan Hendrix as a substitute player. Moreta went on the injured list with no designation, meaning it’s the COVID injury list. As we always are sure to point out – that does not mean that he has tested positive. It could mean he was a close contact of someone, or that he exhibited symptoms that could be COVID. He joins outfielder Albert Almora Jr. and infielder Mike Moustakas on the list. Ryan Hendrix is being called up to take his spot, but he will not require a 40-man roster move as a substitute player.
Reds in the Futures Game
If you want to see the future, well, uh, the Futures Game is happening tonight at 7pm ET out in Los Angeles. Cincinnati will be represented by top prospect Elly De La Cruz and and left-handed pitcher Andrew Abbott. The game will be live on Peacock (premium sub needed) and it will be replayed on MLB Network will have the replay on Sunday morning at 9am ET.
I like the days when both India and Stephenson are in the lineup.
Doug, on 7/14 you posted a link on what separates Greene from Strider. I am really curious what your take on that article is.
I came away a bit deflated on Hunters FV. I’m hoping Hunter is not going to go the way like Big Sal and others.
I’m not Doug, but when you look at the statcast data it tells you to change from his fastball to Strider’s is change the spin from 2 o’clock to 12 o’clock. There’s no reason that can’t be done if the coaches realize the need.
Mikolas has pitched much better than the w-l numbers look a like, has lost some nice pitching duels recently…
Reds need to take the few chances they’ll have today
And Drury continues to get snubbed
Drury is batting second. How is he getting snubbed?
Let’s go get a W Reds.
There we go india…early lead
Would like to see a big second half of the season from India and Votto.
I am very ambivalent about Votto at this point. I do not want to see him embarrass himself or damage his national HoF chances; but, as far as the team, he is the past, not the future or really even the present.
I prefer they find a part time role for him so he can be productive and get on with life for him and the team.
I agree completely. My contention is that for a hitter with his career profile, losing his .300 average is not a plus for the HOF voting. May not be a first ballot selection.
Plus, he is in the wrong spot in the lineup and that’s just a simple observation. He should be batting seventh or eighth with that BA
Start with bang
What a coincidence that Moreta works in consecutive games and lands on the COVID list. Somebody must not have sanitized the game balls. 😉
For some reason, I was thinking this was a later game. I’m tuned in now. Had to watch RoY’s HR on replay.
we better get this small of a zone when we are batting as well
Walks walks and more walks can somebody realize what Johnson teaches doesn’t work.
Seemed like he was getting squeezed pretty good on some of those calls. Lodolo had excellent control coming up through the system.
extremely squezed
Three HBP are not from getting squeezed.
The whole FAH segment before the game had me baffled. Attacking hitters is the opposite of what Reds pitchers do. And it’s throughout the organization. No way yhe coaches are preaching that given all the nibbling the pitchers are doing.
The nationals are going to entertain offers for Juan Soto after he turned down a 15 year deal which would have paid him $440,000,000.
A team offering almost a half billion dollars to a single player and yet the owners plead poverty.
The most inexplicable part to me is how a team thinks a 15 year deal is a good idea.
I doubt that the team really expected the player would play the 15 years. It is just a current way of having a Bobby Bonilla type deal without running afoul of the competitive balance tax rules.
At some point, he is released and maybe the team takes a 1 time CBT hit and probably works out a long term arrangement with the player on paying him off.
Jim, Soto is certainly young enough to play 15 years. He’d be younger than Votto by then.
Luke,
Which may be why player nixed the deal? 😉
But 15 years of the grinding 5-7 days a week for 6 months a year and all the flights at odd hours even if they are chartered. I’d say a guy who is a position player is going to be a nearly empty shell of what he was when he started out regardless of his age.
Plenty of stars produce at age 38. All I’m saying is this was not a glorified deferred contract. It was the Nats teying to lock up Soto below market value for his whole career. They know paying him $30M a year in 12 or 13 years will be peanuts. He’s worth $55 right now annually. In 12 years it will be MUCH more than that.
Ownership instability and AAV not huge and backloaded contract on a terrible team thats lost Scherzer, Harper, Rendon, and Turner. No way I would want to lock myself into a bad franchise with no hope for winning next 4-5 years. I’ll take my record arbitration salary and manage to get by at $20 mil per year until I’m traded or hit FA in 2 years.
It’s hard to imagine him turning down that big of a bank vault. How much more do you want/need?
To me, it’s another sign the game is in major trouble and that our ownership model is completely screwed.
It was a 15 year deal. So it was about $30M per year. That is WAAAY below market value for Soto. He’ll get close to $55M a year on the open market on a shorter deal with the ability to get a new contract around age 30. He would be crazy to sign that deal.
When $440 million is not good enough for a player they must not be hurting for money either
Considering that many of us here would be happy with $440 thousand or even $44 thousand. I’m not greedy. Apparently, Soto is. And guys like him are going to eventually kill the golden goose. The fans can’t sustain the ticket price increases to cover the salary escalation.
The Nats wouldn’t have offered $444,000,000 if they couldn’t afford it. . The Nats are able to afford that contract while still paying Stephan Strasberg a fortune. It tells me that the owners are doing just fine.
Juan Soto is an amazing talent, but if you were a GM would you try to acquire him?
You would have to empty your farm system just to acquire him and then you would be under pressure to sign Soto long term knowing he just turned down a fortune. If he then walks after 2024, you are left holding the bag.
Juan Soto’s market is now down to just a handful of teams, the Yankees, Dodgers and maybe a couple others.
Rookie pitchers will drive you nuts sometimes.
This team needs a new pitching coach. They are going to waste a lot of young talent. What ever he is trying to teach them is not registering.
Maybe he is listening and shouldn’t. His minor league BB rate was 2.0 and his MLB BB rate is 3.4+. His SO/BB ratio falling from 6+ to under 4. Part of it is rookie jitters, MLB competition etc. But it’s hard to discount the Reds coaching/development. Too many following the same trajectory.
+5,000
Yeesh. Looks like two different strike zones right now. I hope robo-umps are coming for balls and strikes. Some of these guys are terrible.
+1,000
It just seems to be getting worse. Granted, Lodolo was struggling to find the zone, but the HP Chumpire wasn’t helping one bit.
It’s way past time for the change.
The pitch that hit Sosa was almost a strike. Sosa is wearing a metallic guard on his left elbow and on the 0-2 count he leaned into the pitch.
I thought the rules required a player to be trying to avoid getting hit. It has morphed into if the ball touches you it is HBP, no matter whether you lean into it, stand still, or try to avoid.
Mikolas gets the high strike out of the zone. We are in Cardinal country.
I was wondering why I was talking to myself. I was on the wrap thread from yesterday. I think I might need a little nap.
Lmao
Yep. It’s time for a nap without the noise of Busch stadium in the background. I’ll check in later, but this is too difficult to watch at this point.
Later, y’all.
What is going on with the Pitching
Lodolo doesn’t have it today. With the awful bull pen this will be ugly.
Enjoy your afternoon. To nice out to spend it on this today.
Hard to imagine this is the same team that took 2-3 from the NYY and 3 from TB. The Cards are better than the Reds but not that good. This is a mental breakdown. But it’s the same thing they did the last time they had a chance to move up to 4th.
The Reds may let St. Louis get hot with 6 straight wins. The last 2 days have shown why they have to trade Castillo. This team is no where near ready to compete. The 3 rookie pitchers are no where near ready to compete at a high level 2 to 3 years at best.. It is really hard to believe, and sad, how bad this once proud franchise has fallen. In this series, so far, the rookie pitchers have failed miserably.
Two days ago people were on here wanting to keep Castillo because the Reds beat the Yankees and Rays and we’re almost at .500 from game 26 on.
It is clear they aren’t ready to compete. Everything would have to go perfect in 23 for the Reds to make the playoffs. The entire pitching staff would have to remain healthy, the three young guys would have to make improvements, and the Reds would need to sign some guys and hope for rebounds in the relievers to even remotely resemble a competent bullpen. Then on offense they have to sign a FA bat, hope Senzel continues to stay healthy and produce like he is currently. India has to return to his RoY form, Votto and Moose need to find time machines, and hope at least on prospect is ready to contribute.
All of that is unlikely to happen. The team is bad and will be bad again next year. 24 is really the first time the Reds have a chance. Then you hopefully have a pitching staff with some experience, some young bats ready to play, and enough money coming off the books to fill in the holes with free agents
It’s like the Reds and Central division are gifting Goldschmidt an MVP award. How many center cut fastballs are you going to through a guy. Good gracious.
Fire someone. DFA someone. At least, act like a serious organization. Pitching batting practice to the opposing team isn’t serious. 94 pitches through 3 innings? How does anyone take DJ seriously?
The return on the Castillo trade is going to be important. I would not trade with the Yankees. They ripped the Reds off with Chapman and already are not wanting to trade any of their top two prospects. Look elsewhere. The Dodgers have some good prospects.
With Chapman the Reds traded at the lowest possible value because they were scared about the domestic violence investigation. If they would have traded him during the season or even waited until he received his punishment that trade would have went much better. However if the Yankees don’t want to give up some value then move into someone who is serious.
Didn’t watch the game. But did DJ pitch? I would have thought it unlikely.
This team ha s not shown up in St. Louis. The truth is they didn’t play solid baseball in New York. When your pitchers are walking this many somebody has to take the fall. The Reds pitching coach DJ needs to go, nobody is buying what he is selling. On another note I think Hoffman has wore out his welcome in Cincinnati.
How many walks are Too Many for this Reds pitching staff? Eight(8) walks combine last night and five (5) so far thru only 3 innings today!
Reds are going to have to find some left handed hitting punch. You cant play a game against a good righty pitcher with 2 lefties and 7 righty hitters. Votto has lost his dominance, Moose is Moose and Naquin is a FA. There’s literally no lefty hitting in 2023 at the major league level other than Votto’s swan song.
I said a few days ago pitchers pitch. Only so much a coach can do.
After Greene and now Lodolo as well as bullpen. I have to wonder if a different voice/philosophy in pitching would help. Take a guy like Moreta, and Cesa. Look at their struggles now.
Something needs to change.
What an ugly inning, it just shows where this team heads are. Diaz – walks, Votto – poor throw, Reynolds – stay on the base, Reynolds – poor throw, Stephenson – Has to make that play and Bell it’s all falls on you.
Remarkable. You list the mistakes the players–MLB players, at that–made, and say it’s Bell’s fault? MLB players have presumably been taught fundamentals for years, and physical errors like bad throws are just that–physical mistakes that happen to everyone.
Defense terrible. Votto with a bad throw on an easy force out. Reynolds could have also easily went back and tapped 2b then makes a poor throw on a base loaded force out.. a force out.
Infield outfield communication poor and reds playing too deep in OF.
Is there anybody on this tea, that would qualify as a good defensive player in 2022.
Add defense to things that need a total overhaul…and thats with Jesse Winker and Nick Castellanos and Moose not in the lineup.
I am more in favor of firing Johnson than Bell at this point.
If i owned this team, I would fire the entire staff. They have developed a losing culture.
That culture has never been more on display then today. You are correct scotly50 they all need to go. I can only imagine what tomorrow will be? The only thing on the players minds will be 4 days off. Come Friday the only thing they will be thinking is, Do we have to come back? It is time for a complete overhaul, players and coaches.
If you take Joey votto off 1b and move Tyler Stephenson to 1b and trade for a new good Catcher…you’ve immediately upgraded the defense. Let alone the Stephenson safety/hitting/preserve his career argument.
Votto just committed his first error. Votto isn’t the problem. Also how do we know if Stephenson can play 1st.
To me Stephenson’s main value is that he is a good hitting catcher.
What would rather have a good hitting catcher or an average hitting first baseman?
I would leave him behind the plate, if it were up to me.
I would hope that Stephenson would develop into more than an average hitting first baseman.
Votto’s defense is good because he has only has 1 error? Hes a good base runner because hes not been caught stealing either right?
Votto’s defensive metrics on Fangraphs puts him on Page 2 as one of the worst defensive 1b in baseball. The eye test tells you the same.
School, I remember a writer said about Big Klu having a great fielding percentage, “he has a high percentage because he doesn’t try to get anything not directly at him”.
Mark we may hope Tyler Stephenson develops in to more than an average hitting first baseman, but there is no evidence he will, at least when it comes to power.
I see him as hitting .280 with 15-18 home runs a year. That’s great numbers for a catcher, but average for a corner infielder. The Reds need more production at that position.
To put it another way, it would be a lot easier for the Reds to find another first baseman to put up those type of numbers , than finding another catcher who could.
Moving Stephenson to 1st makes sense cause he is a good catcher right?
Votto isn’t the problem.
Funny Reds had a winning record last year. Then traded or waited, or didn’t resign the players they helped.. last season gave hope for this year. Then ownership decided to dismantle and do what they did.
Bullpen is worse if that is possible.
Reds sleptwalk 2-7 innings
Reds are painful to watch this year, the occasional bright spot notwithstanding. But why some are convinced a competitive team is close under the surface I’m not sure. Even with the injury decimation they’ve endured this year, consistency eludes the most talented of the future core. The team won’t be competitive until the pitching trio of HG, NL, and GA have the Cueto/Latos/Bailey effect going. And they have a ways to go. They have the talent, and maybe more coming behind them, but expecting this before 2024 seems like a stretch.
Trade every soon to be FA. Painful as it is, trade Castillo. Trade Mahle if you can get a good return. Trade Drury and Naquin too, or use them to improve the returns on other deals. Retool the scouting and development people. Circle 2024 on your calendars.
2007 was the last time the Reds dipped their toes in the free agent market for a quality good relief pitcher. Coco Cordero. Ever since they have signed retreads. Amazing.
Wow, just wow..
I am all for a revamped bullpen. Heck with offense prospects. This team needs a solid pen. Somewhat sarcastic and somewhat serious
Keep Stephenson at catcher. He can play 1st base some as well to give him a break. Have a good backup catcher. Find a player that can hit 40 home runs and play first base well.
This bullpen desperately needs Alex Blandino and his knuckleball.
I said that a month ago at least. Right now OS he would be one of the guys to go to over many out there.
ok can we get a position player in to pitch….just get this game over with
was at today’s game it was 100 degrees and even hotter on the field. The stadium first aid was very busy treating heat victims today. the stadium is really nice and fans were really nice. went and saw the arch museum and went to the top of the arch, I would recommend doing as long as your not claustrophobic. over all great experience even with the heat.
I’ve been to the current Busch stadium.
It can be a cauldron.
I’m not much of a drinker, but when it gets too hot to drink beer at a ballgame it’s hot.
The only hotter place I’ve been to see a game is the old old (two stadiums ago) Ranger’s stadium in Arlington.
That place was designed to be a reflecting oven.
St. Louis is an interesting and troubled city. Don’t miss the Central West End and Forest Park, the largest public park in America.
Now you pitch hit for Senzel. One of your hottest hitters. Makes since to me.
I hope senzel’s Back isn’t tightening up again
Reds are the same when they or lose.Infield defense is bad,fundamental stuff like running or throwing to the right base,hitting cut offs etc etc and the pen just like last year can’t throw strikes.Pitching coach needs to look at what he is teaching.All I see is throw as hard as you can for as long as you can and strike out as many as you can.Walks don’t seem to matter because they and I mean everybody walks hitters.Its an even bet they will walk the first hitter they face.
Some of the relief pitchers that are pitching well at the time need to go two innings instead of one. This automatic yank them out after one inning is robotic and not skillful. Most of them can go two innings if prepared. That is what middle relievers do!