After a comeback win on Friday night the Pittsburgh Pirates will look for a win tonight over Cincinnati to guarantee a series win. The Reds will look to grab a win behind Justin Dunn as he makes his third start of the season in the big leagues. The Pirates will send Tyler Beede to the mound with first pitch set for 7:05pm ET.
Starting Lineups
Here are the lineups for this tonight’s game:
Cincinnati Reds
|
Pittsburgh Pirates
|
| Jake Fraley – RF | Tucupita Marcano – LF |
| Jonathan India – 2B | Kevin Newman – 2B |
| Kyle Farmer – 3B | Bryan Reynolds – CF |
| Mike Moustakas – 1B | Ben Gamel – DH |
| Donovan Solano – DH | Rodolfo Castro – 3B |
| Nick Senzel – CF | Oneil Cruz – SS |
| TJ Friedl – LF | Greg Allen – RF |
| Jose Barrero – SS | Bligh Madris – 1B |
| Austin Romine – C | Tyler Heineman – C |
| Justin Dunn – SP | Tyler Beede – SP |
Donovan Solano is active today and jumps right back into the lineup as the designated hitter.
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB | K |
| Justin Dunn | 8.1 | 8.64 | 1.92 | 4 | 6 |
| Tyler Beede | 48.1 | 3.72 | 1.47 | 23 | 30 |
| Links: Justin Dunn’s Stats | Tyler Beede’s Stats |
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Justin Dunn
It’s been a rough 13 months for Justin Dunn, who missed much of that time with a shoulder injury. Since returning he’s struggled in a big way in both the minors and majors. He’s made just two starts for the Reds this season and he had eight in the minors – some on rehab and some after he was completed with his rehab and was then optioned.
Left-handed hitters have absolutely crushed him this season between the two levels. He’s walked them at an incredibly high rate, rarely missed bats, and they are hitting.343/.489/.562 against him. Basically Ted Williams with a little less power. Right-handed hitters haven’t been nearly that good against him, and he’s not walking them at all, but they are still doing plenty of damage with a .273 average and a .558 slugging percentage.
Splits (MiLB & MLB in 2022)
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 84 | 21 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 18 | .273 | .321 | .558 |
| LHH | 94 | 25 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 12 | .343 | .489 | .562 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | Slider | Change | Curve | |
| Velo | 92.0 | 83.2 | 87.4 | 79.1 |
| Usage | 52.8% | 21.1% | 12.0% | 14.1% |
Tyler Beede
Must of the time on the mound this season for Tyler Beede has come out of the bullpen. The righty has made three starts – all for the Pirates – and 23 relief appearances between the Pirates and Giants this season. He’s upped his groundball rate with Pittsburgh to a career high 50%, which is well above-average.
As you would expect with a groundball pitcher, teams don’t hit for much power against against him with both lefties and righties slugging under .390. Both lefties and righties make a lot of contact against him, and they will walk at a solid clip against him, too.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 107 | 24 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 13 | .261 | .365 | .370 |
| LHH | 109 | 24 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 17 | .245 | .312 | .388 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Slider | Change | Curve | |
| Velo | 95.9 | 96.0 | 87.5 | 84.9 | 79.3 |
| Usage | 26.3% | 21.0% | 13.9% | 27.5% | 11.3% |
When and Where
- Game time: 7:05pm ET
- Where: PNC Park
- Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv (out of market)
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 82°, cloudy, 10% chance of rain
News and Notes
Roster Moves Everywhere
The Reds activated both Donovan Solano (paternity/restricted list) and Buck Farmer (bereavement) this afternoon. They also optioned T.J. Zeuch back to Triple-A Louisville and placed Albert Almora Jr. on the 10-day injured list.
Luis Cessa to join the starting rotation
With T.J. Zeuch heading back to the minor leagues a spot in the rotation is now going to be going to Luis Cessa. He’s only started once since 2018 ended and it was earlier this season when he was used as an opener.
Reds need to sort.
See what Dunn has. Kuhnel didnt finish last night but needs to be put in those situations. See what Freidl has. See what Cessa has. It’s August in Pittsburgh. You want to win, but some of these guys need to be put in high leverage spots and if they dont get the job done, its still valuable info.
Go Reds.
We pretty much know those answers thus far. Friedl, Fairchild, even Fraley, aren’t really an upgrade even over Aquino. They need to clear a lot of names from the 40 and start over
Fraley has an OPS of 1.013 since returning from the IL. Even with his abysmal start, he’s back to an OPS+ of 99 prior to tonight’s game. He was above league average last year two. He’s beginning to show a trend of solid play. I’d say he’s playing his way into the team’s future in a good way.
Article today and Friedl made a swing adjustment and opened up a bit and hitting for more power and stats back it up the last 2 months.
MLB is about adjustments. Aquino is great arm and Rf but hasn’t made the adjustments hitting.
Fraley isn’t doing too badly but he can’t hit lefties either. Friedl & Fairchild, never been overly optimistic
Give the Reds credit: they’re quite good at having a guy get injured at exactly the same time another guy is ready to be activated.
Can Lopez play first? Haha. In all seriousness, is 3M going to start and bat 4 hole against lefties or will Reynolds get that part of the platoon split with Joey out?
Last night’s loss once again proves Mr. Bell is clueless in his handling of the bullpen! STOP the Relief Pitcher Roulette! Using Diaz for only one (1) out and 7 pitches in the 6th was maddening! Diaz needs to be the first choice to close out the game in the 9th if the Reds are tied or in the lead. Failure to hold Diaz to pitch the 9th inning last night cost the Reds a chance at a win! An all too familiar pattern with Mr. Bell over the last 2 seasons!
I think I’ve seen all I need to of Senzel in center. I’d like to see us try him at 1st base. Surely a college third baseman and current centerfielder can learn first base quickly.
I’d rather see an outfield of Friedl, Fraley, and Aquino the next 40 games – maybe with Fairchild thrown in every 3rd game.
why was solano on the restricted list?
Because the Paternity List, by rule, is limited to 3 days (72 hours) and he exceeded the time allotted for that designation.
Is that what they said? I didn’t know that was how it was handled?
@Kevin, “Solano was placed on the restricted list in order to give him more time after going on the paternity list on Aug. 16; that designation only covers three days.”
https://www.mlb.com/reds/news/reds-injuries-and-roster-moves
extra day with the family for paternity leave
@BK, Thank you for information.
You’re very welcome!
I swear, I was thinking Dunn couldn’t find the strike zone with both hands, a neon arrow, and a laser pointer that inning. I’m shocked we got out of that without giving up any runs.
escaped that mess
My wife says India “didn’t look right” on his run down to first.
ugh…..
We’ll take ’em any way we can get ’em …
Push the pitch count and knock him out as well.
Take a pitch fid crying our loud ,
Moustakas .
3M first pitch … am I surprised?
First pitch pop out to the infield. Wonder if he has trademarked that yet?
+1,000
Farm Dawg!!
Caught him right on the flipper …
At least it was an out.
Is Barrero making a little more contact this trip as opposed to whiffing? If that’s the case, then I’d call it progress.
He is laying off the slide some now. I would like to see him stop trying to pull the ball out of the park for a while though.
The Lettuce Man comes through high off the short wall in RF.
Fraley into the river!! Wow!
Out of the freaking park and into the river!!
Anybody got the stats on that one?
Fraley, and Romine have shown promise
How was that only 437? River splash for Fraley.
The wall is only 320 per Thrall. But I’m with you. Looked more like 500+.
That one might float all the way to Cincinnati.
My wife was surprised it was floating. I explained the cork center does that … at least until it gets water-logged.
Fraley India at the top isnt too bad.
C’mon guys. Give Krall some credit. Fraley is ok
I’m liking Fraley. Not a bad fielder. Good bat and plate discipline from what I’ve seen, especially against RHP’s.
For a throw in piece of the trade Fraley is playing very well. Phillips another part of that trade has 8ks in 4 innings for the lookouts tonight as well. Dunn on the other hand….lol
In a better world (for us) Dunn pitches out of the bullpen. And he’s not “pressed” into service on shorter notice than anybody would like.
Just found that notch to the left of the bullpen.
Another ugly AB by 3M … the beat just goes on.
Watching another 2 months of him everyday is going to be hard. I may have to create a drinking game about him.
+500
😀
That last swing was really, really bad
Dunn shakes off the boogeyman and turns in a solid 5 innings for us. We still need to play add-on, but I don’t think we can ask much more of him than that.
The kid is just incredible at getting on via catcher’s interference. Just incredible.
Kind of a weird example of “small ball” the last two batters don’t you think? 🙂 An example of managerial genius.
Pure genius … 😀
Maybe that will be Senzel’s career highlight. He seems to hit the catcher’s mitt better than he hits the baseball!
OK, Jose … light it up.
My biggest pet peeve with the Reds young pitchers is too many walks! Runs up their pitch count and risks multi-run innings! Is Dunn getting squeezed by tonight’s home plate umpire?
He’s getting squeezed a little bit, but it’s mostly on him. He’s been outside 6″ or more to the LH batters all night long.
Not really IMO. He was fairly wild and missed spots by a lot. Honestly he was very lucky with several hard hit balls right to players as well.
Good outing overall. Remember the small sample size caveat. He has only had a couple hands full of starts at all levels in the past year. I hope he has the spot in the rotation through 2021 to see what he can do.
OK, RoY … time to break out of your little slump.
Nope … seems like we’re seeing a LOT of that from India.
Sophomore slump apparently is a real thing lol
So, the Relief Pitcher Roulette begins! Bell will use a minimum of 4 RPs.
Who would you use?
Anybody but Strickland! And I would use Diaz in the 9th or 8th if needed! I thought the object of the game was to win! Participation trophies are for Little Leaguers!
On that play at 1st w/ Moose and Gibault, do you agree with the TV crew that the pitcher got there late? To me, he was there and Moose refused to throw the ball almost causing the runner to be safe?
everyone went to bed
Gibaiult was going too slow. Moose got the out so no harm no foul
Welch is giving a clinic on how to cork a bat (cork or super balls)
Have you ever collided with a manatee? Yikes!
+5,000
Is it time for Strickland yet? Time to tighten the score.
Yup
Yes, it is time
Strickland vs. Reynolds…..this can’t be good
just as I predicted…. 😉
Exactly
Barrero back on the K train. Maybe he should study Paul Goldschmidt’s swing. It’s built for contact, with power.
What bit of philosophy did Sadak just try and enlighten us with? Makes my head spun.
I shudder to even ask. I’m missing Cowboy with Thrall over on WLW. I think the two of them are the best combo we have.
Help me out here guys! Is there an unwritten rule somewhere in the Reds organization or playbook the requires every RP to walk at least one batter per inning?
Yes. It is a rule, but it isn’t unwritten. It’s somewhere in DTBell’s “book” along with the pre-determined lineups.
OK, Strickland performed well. Do we see Diaz for the 9th even if there isn’t a save opportunity?
I’m guessing RSM….with Diaz getting loose if a batter or 2 reach
He pitched 2 of the last 3 games, I hope he gets the night off, unless it’s necessary
Strickland with a scoreless inning? My world view has been totally upended. Maybe he’ll get another inning, break the 1 and done pattern. Need something to liven up this game.
His inning against the Stupid Cubs was scoreless … thanks to Diaz cleaning up his mess.
Finally India went oppo….he had been pull happy lately.
Yes and yes
Moose hit the ball so hard that idiots fell out the stands….. lifetime ban
WLW team reminding us that’s a $10K fine in Bernie Town
Even a blind Manatee finds a hole now and then, eh?
Strickland with a scoreless inning and 3M with 2 hits.. who bet that?
Nobody. Especially not 3M getting 2.
Thrall – “Here comes Moustakas chugging to the plate.”
Made my wife and I laugh … chugging is about right.
Actually, at this point, leaving Strickland in conserves the bullpen. Certainly didn’t expect to add 3 thus far
Good point. Now let’s see if DTBell does that. Very little risk given he hasn’t pitched in a while. He should be able to handle it.
Where was this bat work 3 months ago ?
Wow … we haven’t seen this in a while. Feels good even if it is the Pie-rats.
6 straight singles…seems so easy…they score in bunches with small ball approach
Barrero going through bats tonight.
Warren was warming. Diaz can rest now…we hope
Warren or roll with Strickland. Either way I’m good. We’re ahead by 2 slams now.
Very low risk re-entry into the mix for Warren. That’s a good thing.
That was a little bit of a squeeze from what I saw.
Can’t figure out why Aquino would be in left instead of right with his arm but whatever. lol
Had the exact same thought. Flip him and Fraley.
Warren hasn’t lost it. Picks right up where he left off.
Seriously Warren? Your team is up 10 to 1 and needs 3 outs for a win and you walk the leadoff bayter?
BB #2. Can’t be too careful. 😉
The book, Dennis … it’s in the book 😀
And we maul them including sending a missile into the river. It was a good night. Tomorrow may not happen.