The Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs have split the first two games of the series and the winner of this afternoon’s contest claims the series. The Reds will turn to Luis Cessa to try and pick up the victory. Chiacgo will send Adrian Sampson to the mound as they look to widen their lead over the Reds in the division’s race for third place. First pitch is set for 2:20pm ET. The game today will be watchable exclusively on YouTube (for free).
Starting Lineups
Here are the lineups for this afternoon’s series finale:
Cincinnati Reds
|
Chicago Cubs
|
| TJ Friedl – CF | Zach McKinstry – 2B |
| Jonathan India – 2B | Seiya Suzuki – RF |
| Kyle Farmer – 3B | Franmil Reyes – DH |
| Jake Fraley – LF | Ian Happ – LF |
| Spencer Steer – 1B | Nico Hoerner – SS |
| Aristides Aquino – RF | P.J. Higgins – C |
| Nick Senzel – DH | Alfonso Rivas – 1B |
| Jose Barrero – SS | Nelson Velazquez – CF |
| Austin Romine – C | David Bote – 3B |
| Luis Cessa – SP | Adrian Sampson – SP |
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB | K |
| Luis Cessa | 48.2 | 5.18 | 1.42 | 18 | 36 |
| Adrian Sampson | 70.2 | 3.95 | 1.33 | 19 | 54 |
| Links: Luis Cessa’s Stats | Adrian Sampson’s Stats |
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Luis Cessa
Over his three starts, Luis Cessa has been building up his pitch count and in his last outing he fired 5.0 innings on 69 pitches against Colorado. How much further he’ll he asked to go than that this season is unknown
With so few innings pitched this year, the splits for Luis Cessa can swing a bit with each start moving forward. For now it’s been right-handed hitters that have been teeing off on Cessa this year while walking plenty. Lefties aren’t hitting for much power and aren’t walking much, but they are hitting for a solid average.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 118 | 29 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 13 | 18 | .282 | .364 | .534 |
| LHH | 87 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 18 | .268 | .310 | .402 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 94.0 | 94.0 | 83.0 | 88.3 |
| Usage | 15.1% | 24.3% | 42.0% | 18.6% |
Adrian Sampson
The year began for Adrian Sampson in Triple-A Iowa where he spent the first month of the season before making a spot start against the Dodgers. After that he was optioned, then designated for assignment and and claimed by Seattle. They designated him for assignment a week later and he elected free agency, then re-signed with the Cubs on a minor league deal. Two weeks later he was called up to Chicago, and three weeks later he was in the big leagues for good.
Teams have tried to put as many lefties in the lineup as they can against Sampson this year but it’s right-handed hitters that have found success against him in 2022. Righties have an advantage is walk rate, average, on-base percentage, and power. Lefties have managed just one home run against him in 159 plate appearances, while righties have hit six of them in 18 fewer chances.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 141 | 39 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 31 | .298 | .348 | .496 |
| LHH | 159 | 36 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 23 | .242 | .289 | .336 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Cutter | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 92.6 | 92.2 | 85.0 | 83.3 | 85.4 |
| Usage | 35.0% | 29.2% | 5.5% | 16.6% | 13.7% |
When and Where
- Game time: 2:20pm ET
- Where: Wrigley Field
- Watch: YouTube (Free)
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 79°, sunny, 0% chance of rain
News and Notes
Daniel Duarte heads out on a rehab assignment
It’s been a long time since Daniel Duarte was on the mound in a game. He pitched in three games for the Reds in April before going on the injured list on April 16th. A week later he was transferred to the 60-day injured list with swelling in his right elbow. Today he heads to Louisville to begin a rehab assignment in Triple-A.
Joey Votto is the Reds Roberto Clemente Award nominee
The Cincinnati Reds announced that Joey Votto is their nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award earlier today. You can vote on the award here. From Major League Baseball: The Roberto Clemente Award is bestowed annually to the player who best represents the game of Baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.
It would be nice to see Aquino keep hitting. It would be a miracle unlike any other miracle.
And AA’s sojourn to AAA earlier in the season may be just enough to keep him from making the full 3 years of service time for standard arbitration over the off season; and, I believe his time has been accumulated over too long a period for Super2 to apply also.
This game is a You Tube game so go there to see it.
I remember way back in Spring when Diaz and Duarte pitched in the same game. It was electric. Hopefully Duarte can regain that form and stay healthy.
Yonder Alonso to me is a good announcer. Have heard him a few times. Maybe Reds can hire him.
Good to see Senzel back. Hope he swings it well.
I’ve got a Client meeting that will run until about 3 PM, so I’ll be a little late to the party today.
I still haven’t figured out what Bell has against playing players in their ‘natural’ positions. Steer is primarily a 3B while Farmer is utility. I’d switch their positions.
I agree
At this stage I agree. Play Steer at 3rd. His natural position.. in saying that, play 1st and 3rd can keep Steer’s bat in the lineup.
This team is still feeling the effects of Dick W’s poor design. India, and Senzel are still out of place. As for Steer, he seems like he is a utility. He’s consistently played 2B, 3B, and SS, now 1B, and LF gloves have been added to his bag. I doubt Farmer is on the roster in 23.
Krall must remove Farmer for DB to not play him everyday. He is now batting third, that should tell you something. Look at competitive teams third place hitter…that will tell you all you need to know
@Chris yes let’s take away one of better performing players so Bell can’t use him. Lol!!! Your funny. Here is a thought for you Farmer has earned his playing time.
Disagree – we’re too far past Dick W to get on him for lineup design. You don’t want to slot players too early, but it’s not good to line them up in new spots in MLB. Plenty of time has passed for prior staff to be responsible for that.
Good point I was thinking that myself
Happ is just going to kill us in the field today.
Cessa is dealing. If it continues, then he should get a spot in starting rotation next season.
Cessa, at the least, is pitching himself into the long relief role. Hoffman is a free agent I believe and Cessa can replace him.
I believe Cessa had some starting experience previously with the Yankees in their system. I also like what I’m seeing from him. Doesn’t have amazing velo, but he’s showing good location to get hitters out.
I don’t think the Reds bullpen is that far off from fixing itself next year. If Antone ,Sims, Santillan are ready opening day, they will be better. Diaz, SanMartin,Cessa and a much improved Farmer.
Missed opportunity there for Steer to at least hit a Sac Fly.
Just got on….. I don’t know if you all have been tracking but Queen Elizabeth the second has just passed
Yeah. That official announcement was so Brit wasn’t it?
“The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort….”
Baseball is hard.. per Yonder Alonso.. imagine that.. we on rln talk like it’s simple
It’s hard watching as well.
Perhaps but we act like it’s easy to hit and field and pitch a baseball. It’s not and that in my opinion is what baseball so great.. these guys are very talented in their craft. The hand/eye coordination is phenomenal
Middle of the fifth, 1 hour and 15 minutes in. On a pace for 2:30?
Ooops … 😮
Great hustle and in and out of glove. Just missed it
If listening on YouTube, what do you guys think of Alonso announcing?
He’s not bad.
Not bad. No Joey Votto, mind you.
Aquino’s arm that was not. I know it doesn’t come into play all that often, but you’d like to have seen something closer. Hoerner wasn’t even concerned about it.
I like Friedl but not a good arm. That could be a problem.
Typically they’ll try to put an arm like that in left.
Fraley is about the same arm. Maybe slightly better but not much. Two left fielders.
Just looked up Fraley’s arm, and it was rated even worse at 40.
Friedl’s arm was rated at 45 the last time he was listed as a top 30 prospect.
Not a good arm in CF. That was too easy.
Friedl with another weak throw from shallow center to home. His arm is a seriously liability.
I totally see that interference call
Sarcasm?? Lol
He stepped on the plate … and he knew he was doing it.
Yonder saying The Lettuce Guy sold that interference call.
And we get the weirdest DP available with only the 1 run damage done. Shouldn’t be an ER on Cessa but rather an E-9.
Fredl again…. smh…. this cannot happen
Not a good day for Friedl …
Clearly a sunshine miss on that one. At least it only resulted in 2 bases and there are 2 outs. Stinks for Cessa.
Cessa is making a strong case to remain in the rotation in 23. Nice outing!
Friedl now on the hook for both runs by the Stupid Cubs. And we can’t score jack … not a fun day.
And we SHOULD be ahead 1-0 right now with Cessa in line for a possible win. But we aren’t.
Farmer….finally a red over 10 HR again
Well, we’ve seen the last of Colin Moran.
It was quite an era …
There’ s still next pre-season!
Good stroke Kyle!
Role reverse between AA and Senzel here in the 7th. AA sells a take for ball 4 on a borderline pitch which was probably a strike. Senzel chases high early and then gets burned on a pitch which looks clearly too high.
It seemed to me that the strike zone graphic was considerably low. The call was bad if you’re assuming the box is 100 percent correct. It looked way low to me on the Senzel at-bat.
Could be you nailed it Tom. The pitch to Senzel did not look nearly as high on the replay from the 1B dugout camera as it was painted to be in relation to the strike box from the CF camera.
I dont trust the box in general and it did look low. However, that ball was at the letters and that is clearly not a strike.
Cessa has earned himself a spot in the rotation the rest of this season, in my opinion. Overton can pitch long relief if he comes back since he won’t be stretched out.
Remember what JV said during Field of Dreams day. Paraphrasing, velocity is not the biggest aspect to hitting, it’s how the ball is presented to the hitter, how it moves, etc. Maybe Cessa has something, and maybe Greene could take a few tips from Luis.
Aquino…strike 3 called ball 4
Senzel ….ball 3 called strike 3.
Both calls equally horrible
robo umps please
Cessa did look real good today. He seems like he maybe following the path of SanMartin, perhaps misused in the first place and now thriving in another role.
Senzel getting robbed didn’t help the next AB at all. Just another fine example of the excellence of the MLB Chumpire.
I’d be interested to know how many breaking pitches Barrero has hit hard this year. I’m beginning to wonder if he is even seeing and recognizing breaking pitches.
During his mental break, the report was he was in the cage against the slider machine. Then again, he knew those were coming.
Good point, Tom. At times, he will lay off the breaking ball but as far as driving one to the outfield…not in my memory. He is getting uncomfortable close to the Senzel conundrum…what the heck happened or why were we so impressed early on?
Fredl Again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thats three…. get him out of there
Who is playing center, Stevie Wonder! I know bad joke. Struggle in centerfield today.
It’s hard to remember when a fielder had such a hard time with THREE fly balls in one game. Sun must be wicked out there I guess.
That may just do it for me. I get the sun is a big factor, but it’s just too hard to watch.
And I’m not suggesting it’s easy. It isn’t.
You wonder how a professional player who clearly has had to deal with sun fields before can do so poorly.
The first one he just misplayed as I see it. The sun killed him on these last two.
that one that went in and out of his glove was not a mistake, looked like a tough play he almost made to me. I admittedly just tuned in, and only saw a replay.
T.J is normally a good glove with a weak harm but the sun is giving him problems
It can be a very tough position to man under certain conditions.
We have not had a decent home plate umpire this entire series!
It’s because there are so few available. They save them for the “paying” teams.
They’re all dinosaurs and its time to replace them, even if the robo ump makes mistakes it cant be as many as our ancient umpires make.
Reds can find the most unique ways to lose a ballgame! Two days ago it was 11 walks and a HBP. Today we have outfielders who can’t seem to catch fly balls!
Somehow, they are keeping me “in” today. You’d think we would be down by 5+ runs at this point, but we’re not. Stupid Cubs can’t convert … which is a good thing for us.
Time to mount a charge. Let’s not leave it to the 9th inning, please.
Time for some runs and win this game! Excellent job by Diaz
Good outcome for Diaz but the Reds really need another reliever for the high leverage situations. If the Reds manage to come back, who pitches the bottom of the ninth? Strickland?
Agree. Not sure if that’s Antone anymore and if it’s not they need to find somebody (FA) to fill that spot.
I’d like to see Antone bounce back, but I not confident. Same with Sims and Santillian.
Exactly. Diaz saved the day but Bell had to burn him to get out of a jam they never should have been in.
I love when the box stops working on a broadcast, reminds me of yesteryears watching without them.
Maybe they took it down because as Tom M. noted above, it looked like it was set up too low on the screen; and, perhaps both those 7th inning calls, on Aquino and Senzel were not as bad as we thought.
I thought myself watching Senzels AB that the box seemed a bit small and I implore everyone not to take the box as gospel since I think its dubious in its application depending on the broadcast. That said, Senzel’s a crouch hitter so that might be deceiving us the other way a bit.
I would like 3 outfielders who can at least hit against righties and lefties and don’t have noodle arms.
So would 29 other teams
How about 2?
Feels like a make-or-break AB here.
These young guys need to watch Farmer and his approach at the plate. Just put the ball in play and go with the pitch. Stop swinging for the fences every at bat. Even India gives quality at bats, especially with 2 strikes.
+5,000
Time for Steer to get his next MLB hit.
Wick should have a Reds jersey on.
Steer….more RBIs for him…. tie game
I just can’t believe this is a tie game at this point. I’m happy about that, but it just seems like we got creamed already.
Nice AB by Steer. Wick now needs to go look for his dog.
I’m afraid that might be the ballgame.
Why in the world did Bell use up his bench in this inning? He burned 4 players in a tie game. Is Steer injured? Fairchild as a PR and out of the game? Yeah, Bell’s a good manager. And that’s a wrap.
It made zero sense to me as well. But he’s a brilliant baseball mind and the players love him, so … where else are we gonna go?
I’m baffled.
Why are you saving guys in a game youre trying to win? Thats why you use your bench right? To win games? Seems to have worked as well.
I dont think hes a good manager, but why are we complaining when he actually does something right. Makes you sound like you dont know what youre talking about.
AA managed the sun on that one.
Last call …
I’m rather confused about the sun issue. I’m sure MLB has the highest quality sunglasses and losing the ball in the sun just doesn’t happen that often. But, did you notice how Freidl air mailed the ball over second base and past the pitcher after his muff. Who ever decided that he, and Senzel for that matter, are CF material?
Grab the nicest pair of sunglasses you can find, put them on, and then go out and look directly at the sun. After not being able too not being able to look at it for even a split second without burning your retinas, imagine theres a teeny white sphere coming at you through the air, and then tell me if you want to amend your previous comment. The only sunproof glasses that might block the sun would be akin to something a metal worker would wear, and I bet they cant see much otherwise so you wouldnt want to be wearing them playing baseball.
You also use your glove to block the sun.
I played a lot of outfield, its not easy if the suns in your face no matter who you are. Theres a lot of guys that make it look easy in this league, but I would hope that true since they are professionals. Sounds to me Friedl had a tough day because of it, but so would most guys as there arent many gold glovers out there.
Well that was ugly
Did we actually just see that?
And Nick’s ankle looked good there as well.
Lopez hit a triple? he is for sure just going to be benched for eternity now…. tie game
Lopez is a good guy to have on your team.
Pathetic. Barrero moved the bat down in his first attempt. That’s pop up play. Can’t believe they let him try again. He obviously doesn’t know how to bunt. Lopez bailed everybody out. Good job! Oh boy, can Diaz pitch another inning?
Lopez has to be a bench piece next year.
He looks like a nice bench piece and maybe a fringy starter going forward.
Audio is now several seconds behind the video.
India takes care of everything….
India is a ball player.
I’m sure Friedl would like to forget this day.
He needs to pull a Larkin and throw his mitt in the garbage
Everybody, “Sophomore Slump!!”
India, “Hold my beer …”
Exactly.
I really need to mow but I’m curious to see who Bell brings out of the bullpen.
Who are we hoping for?
San Martin has my vote.
Yep. Not much else down there.
Lucky for me it’s been way too humid and the yard hasn’t dried out. Mowing will wait until tomorrow. But I may have to pause for a bio break very soon.
If we hold on and win this one, I swear I’m going to celebrate by having a very large Lars Nootbaar 😀
With the audio delay (about 5-6 seconds) that looked VERY strange.
My audio is fine
mine too…
refresh maybe?
Don’t know if Dennis is still with us but no leadoff walks, please
Barrero can play defense though.
Barrero…just earned his paycheck today
Time for Gibaut to earn his
and he did!!
pleasently suprised about Gibraut
Unbelievable. That’s L-O-P-E-Z , Bell.
+10,000
Wow! First career save for Gibault and a massive comeback for our Reds.
Catch you all tomorrow at Busch and the WLB-fest. Let’s have BBQ Cardinal for dinner tomorrow, OK?
Fun game, glad I caught the end!
And everything worked out exactly as Bell planned
We both know that’s not True but some others would agree with that statement
bell has no plan
hmm, yall just wanna complain about everything, even when theres nothing to complain about. Crazy IMO
This outcome was pure luck not strategy. There’s plenty to criticize.
I enjoyed the win. Love seeing the effort these guys give. The roster needs a lot of work but they do play hard.
How many outcomes are a result of strategy over the course of a season? Bringing in Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning wasn’t strategy, it was common sense.
Reds with the W! Enjoy the Victory Reds fans!
India with a well-earned player of the game.
Last YouTube broadcast of the season. Can’t say I’ll miss it. Not the worst, but I found the team challenging at times. Alonso MIGHT be a good announcer at some point, but there’s work to be done. Certainly no John Sadak 😀
Night all!
Post-game is hilarious with India still having his Pitch-Com on 😀