The Cincinnati Reds welcome in the best team in baseball this week. The Tampa Bay Rays are 14-2 and have outscored their opponents 114-42 this season. They are allowing just 2.63 runs per game. Cincinnati will be looking to rebound from their embarrassing loss on Sunday, while Tampa Bay is looking to start a new winning streak after dropping their first series of the season but avoiding the sweep in Toronto with a win on Sunday. Tonight’s first pitch is set for 6:40pm ET.
Starting Lineups
Tampa Bay Rays
|
Cincinnati Reds
|
| Yandy Diaz – 1B | Jonathan India – 2B |
| Brandon Lowe – 2B | Stuart Fairchild – LF |
| Randy Arozarena – LF | Wil Myers – 1B |
| Wander Franco – SS | Tyler Stephenson – C |
| Harold Ramirez – DH | Kevin Newman – DH |
| Isaac Paredes – 3B | Jake Fraley – RF |
| Josh Lowe – RF | Nick Senzel – 3B |
| Manuel Margot – CF | Jose Barrero – SS |
| Christian Bethancourt – C | TJ Friedl – CF |
| Jalen Beeks – LHP | Hunter Greene – RHP |
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB | K |
| Jalen Beeks | 6.0 | 3.00 | 1.00 | 1 | 5 |
| Hunter Greene | 14.0 | 5.14 | 1.64 | 6 | 23 |
| Links: Hunter Greene’s Stats | Jalen Beeks’ Stats |
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Hunter Greene
After having some struggles in the first two starts, Hunter Greene looked a lot better for much of his last start against Atlanta when he struck out 10 batters without a walk in 6.0 innings and had 20 swinging strikes.
In his career Hunter Greene has had reverse splits. He’s held left-handed batters to a lower average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. Lefties walked at a slightly better clip than righties, but it’s negated by their much lower contact rate and lower power output.
2022 Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 257 | 55 | 10 | 0 | 13 | 21 | 68 | .239 | .311 | .452 |
| LHH | 274 | 49 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 27 | 96 | .205 | .299 | .389 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | Change | Slider | |
| Velo | 99.7 | 92.4 | 89.0 |
| Usage | 56% | 3% | 41% |
Jalen Beeks
A reliever who would make some spot starts here and there for Tampa Bay over the last five seasons. Jalen Beeks made seven starts in 2022 and has one in 2023 but none of them have gone more than 2.0 innings in that stretch.
The lefty had reverse splits in 2022. Hitters had the same average and a similar on-base percentage, but lefties hit for significantly more power against him. That hasn’t always held true for his career, but in his career there are no real splits with lefties and righties having an identical .753 OPS against him with negligible differences in average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.
2022 Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 176 | 35 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 44 | .219 | .290 | .350 |
| LHH | 74 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 26 | .219 | .301 | .453 |
Pitch Usage (2022)
| 4-Seam | Cutter | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 95.2 | 87.6 | 83.0 | 90.5 |
| Usage | 48% | 2% | 1% | 48% |
When and Where
- Game time: 6:40pm ET
- Where: Great American Ball Park
- Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 52°, cloudy, 5% chance of rain
News and Notes
Spencer Steer and Lucas Sims updates
Reds injury updates: Lucas Sims is here in Cincinnati and he’s expected to be activated from the IL on Wednesday.
Spencer Steer is day to day with a sore knee.
— Bobby Nightengale (@nightengalejr) April 17, 2023
Down on the Farm
Earlier today we took a look at Andrew Abbott and Carlos Jorge in our first look at the minor leagues and who has been standing out to begin the season. Abbott won the Southern League Pitcher of the Week for his work, while Jorge’s got an OPS of nearly 1.200 in the early going.
Standings
| Team | W | L | GB | Playoff Odds |
| Brewers | 11 | 5 | 0.0 | 71.1% |
| Cubs | 8 | 6 | 2.0 | 21.6% |
| Pirates | 9 | 7 | 2.0 | 7.4% |
| Cardinals | 7 | 9 | 4.0 | 58.5% |
| Reds | 6 | 9 | 4.5 | 1.3% |
| Playoff Odds via Fangraphs | ||||
Going to put the 1st losing streak of the season on the Rays!
Blue Jays already did that to them.
Go Blue Jays Woot!
Just going to say this is one of the strangest lineups I have seen in a while. Why is Newman batting 5th???? Why is Friedl batting 9th????
Bell loves doing his dartboard lineups that is the only reason I can think of.
Oh and Fairchild batting 2nd? Shrug I’ll never understand this man’s mind.
LH starting pitcher for Rays.
Maybe seems a little crazy. Moving guys down in the order is a whole lot better than freaking out and taking them out of the lineup (Friedl, Fraley) because we’re facing a lefty. That’s an improvement for David Bell. Not a fan however of Newman hitting 5th at the DH. lol All RH hitters at the top. Do you think David Bell realizes that a batting order really DOES matter? 🙂
Thanks to the brilliant three catcher roster, Bell has no RH options on the bench other than bad hitting catchers. If he did, they would be playing today. Don’t give him credit for playing the only guys he has.
J – Now see. I was trying to be extra nice and you ruined it. lol
If I were coach, I’d also bat Newman 5th tonight as DH because it suits him so well as his swing is looking very strong.
Well you would have been correct in doing so tonight.
Anybody down Cincy way>>>> Is it really 50ish there right now? Here about 10-12 miles NNE of downtown Dayton (OH), I don’t think it has been much if any over 40 all day, and is currently showing right at 40 on my PC’s weather connection.
I’m 8 miles from the ballpark and yeah, it’s 50ish.
you guys are lucky. It has been brisk at best here all day, gray, rain off and on, and a wind worthy of early to mid March.
I saw temps as low as 38/39 during the day on my wife’s Amazon device (don’t dare even type the name when close to it or it might kick into action).
A balmy 74 degrees and sunny here in Central Florida this evening!
Bragger! (he says through his jealousy of said 74°)
I love Florida. 🙂
How about a high of 36 where I live in Wisconsin. We had snow this morning luckily it didn’t stick.
Snow? What’s that? Think I saw it once on the Weather Channel
It looks like that white sand you see when you visit the gulf of Florida. I love that shell free beautiful white sand.
“Hold On To Your Butts!” Going from playing the 5-10 Phillies to the best team in the majors right now! Should be interesting!
Dennis,
Where in Central Florida are you ?
Just northeast of Orlando in the City of Oviedo, a former celery farming region that now grows houses for all those suburbanites working in Orlando, the Space Coast and Disney World. Grew up in Northern KY about 50 miles down river from Cincy! A Reds fan since 1961. Florida resident since December 1986! NOT retired, just tired as I am still working full-time at age 70!
Dennis I spent 7 years at Cocoa Beach. Worked at Cape Canaveral. 1986-93. Grew up in Norwood
I just moved back to Cincy from Cocoa Beach. I lived in Miami before that, I’v got to say I miss Miami most of all.
My daughter moved to Vero Beach last October and have now bought a house in Rockledge. Several of my high school classmates (Holmes High) have moved to Florida
Going to be a challenge, that much is sure. Hoping Greene is more dialed in tonight and does more than just chuck a fastball. I’m thinking the Devil Rays will be all over that if he does.
Mark, I’m afraid the Rays batters might feast on Greene’s fastball if it doesn’t have movement or he can locate it down in the strike zone!
The strange lineup choices aside, It’s really not making sense how Bell is using the 3 catcher situation. With a left hander starting against the reds it’s a good opportunity for one of the other 2 to catch with Stephenson playing off the plate
Now the bench for today is the 2 catchers, a hurt Steer, and a struggling Vosler.
So we’re playing with a 12-man position roster tonight given Steer is banged up … let’s hope that works out.
The old adage in sports is that when you’re a man down everybody else needs to step up!
I love a good clean inning to start. Got to feel good to Senzel to get that rocket and make the play.
My god is the paid attendance 500 people. The stands are like a ghost town. I know it’s a Monday game and it’s chilly but ouch.
Not real happy to see Fairchild give away the 1st out of the inning. Looked like he was trying to bunt it by the mound for a hit. Guys with his EV and Barrel stats don’t need to be doing that.
Will Stephenson ever start hitting the ball out of the park? Not expecting huge numbers. But no reason why he couldn’t average 20-25 HRs.
I’m thinking he’s getting his strength back from his injury last year.
He had a broken clavicle and shoulder surgery within the last 10 months or so. Yes, he is younger than Votto and the surgery seemed less complex. However, that doesn’t mean he couldn’t still be less than 100%, especially as the daily grind of the season has set in.
Nick looking good in the field
How long till India is moved off 2B? He almost let that last routine ground ball play him. Not a good at 2B at all.
Is the Rays pitcher Beeks the son of the guy in the movie Trading Places?
Putting that RH’ed bat in the 5 hole paid off
That’s why he is in the 5th spot. Newmy loves lefties
Newman just left the surly bonds
hahaha!!! Nobody wanted Newman hitting 5th at the DH (me included) and he hits a HR. Hilarious.
That is usually how it goes. No way should Newman ever hit 5th of DH though.
You never know. David Bell could be a genius that we don’t give him credit for.
That’s why I made a fuss about it I knew this would happen if I did complain about it. haha..
With three catchers and Steer out, playing the right hand hitting Newman was the plan.
Keep Barrero’s glove at ss.
Not sure if I can link Newman’s place in the batting order to his HR.
Glad he hit it, though.
JayTheRed – Good job (thumbs up) 🙂
I complained. Just because the result was good doesn’t make it the correct decision. Newman is not a bad player but . Does not belong in the 5 spot in the lineup and on a young rebuilding team doesn’t belong in the starting lineup more than 25% of the time. Maybe the Angels could use him.
Like to see Senzel steal a base here
Nice steal by senzel
Advancing was good, but it was a wild pitch.
The Rays are using an opener….so that might explain the quirky lineup.
That is the reason. They addressed that on the pre-game show. Rays coming with a RHP in the 3rd.
Had the lefty bat low in the order to miss the southpaw. Nice move
Strikeout on the changeup!
Greene 47 pitches after three. Not terrible.
Good job stranding runner at 3rd with 1 out, Greene
Beeks to start the 3rd? Go figure …
Interesting stat line for Greene thru 3 innings! NO strikeouts but only 47 pitches!_
Greene has no one pitch above 98 MPH so far… Is he saving gas for later? If not I will be a little worried
cold
Oh no… Greene is out….
This isn’t good. Greene was throwing very well.
sounds like he was throwing his off speed pitches really well and spoting them . According the radio announcers
Buck Farmer up. Oh boy.
Greene out….shinburger last inning
what happend to Greene?
Took one off the shin. Stayed in and finished the inning. Probably tightened up on bench.
ugh, thanks, hopefully its nothing too serious.
Probably good to get that under ice asap to keep swelling down, especially if it got him on muscle. I was hoping they’d pull him. Cue Dizzy Dean, who pitched in the all star game with a broken toe and hurt his arm,
Are we using Greene as opener now? 🙂 Rays are unconventional with great success. Reds are just unconventional:)
I stepped outside and got delayed … why Farmer?
Nevermind … I see the comments about the shin-burger he took.
We can’t catch a break! The Ray’s will absolutely light Farmer up!
Well two games in a row Greene didn’t allow a walk.. 3 innings I know isn’t much, however still I think a good trend.
Newman!
Newman OPS off life support.
Newman did it again lol
Now see. I told ya we should bat Newman 5th. lol (don’t think so) Another double. We’ll take it. 🙂
Are the Reds actually thinking about bunting? Amazing. Two on and nobody out.
Fraley and Senzel plate discipline loads the bases
Barrero needs one here
Would you Bring up TJ Hopkins or Mclain as a extra bat as this bench as of now is weak, Not counting Steer
I don’t bring up McLain unless he plays every day.
Tend to agree and right now the offense is doing well. Take out yesterday’s game.
This Kelly guy looks like some of our pitchers.
LOL, looked him up had only two walks his first two games maybe three games.
Scooter Friedl the legend.
Bases clearning Double!!! Go Reds
I guess that’s why TJ is batting 9th today 😀
Friedl is turning himself into an every day player.
My guess is Bell used Frield to hopefully give Barrero some good pitches. That didn’t work out, so Frield took matter into his own bat 🙂
Both Frailey and Friedl are doing a great job this season so far. I am hopping Fairchild can do the same thing. Move Myers to 1st or DH and get rid of the 3rd Catcher.
Barrero being Barrero
He can’t swing at that pitch after 2 straight walks an 1-0 count
It was a 2-0 count.
How much of the Reds improved hitting can be attributed to the new hitting coach or do we just have better hitters this year?
Well, we’re not complaining about the hitting coach so he MUST be good. 🙂
Good catch by Fairchild.
Have to admit watching Senzel tonight. He looks more natural at 3B.
I wonder how long Farmer can go. We need a guy to eat innings.
Well there we have it.
Yep,
Throwing strikes and not walking guys would help. Not sure if Herget can go a few innings tonight or the rookie they just called up? You are right though someone needs to eat some innings.
I would like Herget to take Cessa’s spot.
MVP of the season so far Alex Young!!!
Broken bat 1 pitch soft liner double play.
Alex Young is the early favorite for bullpen pitcher of the month in april.
He’s got to be the setup man for Diaz. Fix our bullpen one step at a time.
Nice if unorthodox DB by the boys! Let’s hope he comes out to start the next inning as well.
He has been really solid so far this year.
Sorry, I just woke up. Why were both pitchers pulled so early? Was there a rain delay?
Greene got hit in shin with a linedrive. finished third inning but didn’t come back for 4th. The Rays used a Reliever to start the game and I forget what you call that.
“Opener” is the commonly used term.
It’s called gambling!
Good baserunning by Senzel and Friedl on that double (seeing it in video). I was thinking “get to the wall, ball” to insure that Senzel would be able to get in. When I didn’t see that, I was wondering if Senzel was going to be able to make it, thus, if Friedl was going to be able to make it to 3rd or not.
Farmer couldn’t help himself! 2 walks in 1.1 innings! Fortunately, no damage!
That one ate India up. Missed chance for a DP.
Gotta get one (1) out as a minimum!
Oh no India!!! That could have been two.
Nervous….
Start rubbing your lucky buckeye 😀
I leave Young in to finish the inning. Will see if it works out to make the change.
As the younger guys move up I feel they’re going have to find a place for India to play. Bullpen isn’t that great where we can give opponents extra outs.
Likely we do. Maybe LF as an option with some DH duty thrown in.
Maybe but if McLain comes up playing 2B someone will have to get traded if they’re going to play every day like they should.
Jake no fraley defense makes the play of the game
That was a great catch!
Fraley gives his all and pulls a bunny out of his hat! Got to love it.
nice one
Great catch. If the ball gets by him there it clears the bases with a triple.
Bullpen so far picking up the slack after Greene’s unfortunate exit.
Praying Greene is not injured. There is not much in the minors that I feel is ready to be in the Bigs!
“There is not much in the minors that I feel is ready to be in the Bigs!”
If there were a lot they’d be pitching up here already right?
Greene a bruise per C Trent. X-rays negative. Good move getting him out…dislodge a bullet.
Good news. agree on taking him out.
I don’t know how defensive runs saved is computed, but Fraley just saved 3.
And Friedl created 3.
Both lefties who started the game against a lefty SP.
2nd time the Barrera has struck out on a ball a foot off the plate.
Just a little regression from Jose tonight. He’s not being as patient or selective.
Myers too…
This ump is not calling the low strike tonight even though it shows it to be a strike
Where is Strickland when you need him! Just kidding! Back away from the window ledge!
That might get warnings all around.
Well, I’m pretty sure Franco is getting plunked.
Good job by TS. I’d hit him 3rd.
India blatantly left his elbow out with his evoshield.
Rays wanna plunk Fairchild down 4-0????fine
Stephenson rips an RBI single and its 5-0
Thats what winning players do. India does what India does..score runs. Hes right there with Acuna leading the NL in runs scored.
Left it out in the batters’ box which is his turf. Rose used to stand there and take a shot in the bicep like that.
Newman for full-time DH! 😉
They were saying on post game that he’s 9-18 as a DH. Maybe you’ve got something there. 🙂
They were saying on post game that he’s 9-18 as a DH. Maybe you’ve got something there. 🙂
Don’t question where Newmy hits. He does what he wants .
Time to try to avoid using high-leverage relievers unless completely necessary.
Newman “Star Of The Game” with three hits. Only a genius would put him at DH and bat him 5th. 🙂 Glad it worked out for sure.
Newman’s OPS vs. lefties is 1.186.
That’s why he bats 5th. Did I see a stat earlier in the year that he was 2nd in hitting against lefties last year?
Herget seems legit guys and gals.
Is Kevin Herget…good? Or is it just the fact that he only pitches in low leverage situations?
I’m telling you I would really like Herget to take Cessa’s spot and start. I think he could give you good starts. I’m going to keep beating the drum.
You r more knowledgeable than I.
I tend to agree and let’s see what happens
I think he is thriving in this 15 second pitch timing. Some guys will love it and some won’t.
Haven’t got much too lose in at least trying.
Barrero and senzel with a nice sequence there
What in the HECK did we just see? Nice way to play some aggressive add-on. Great slide by Barrero.
I would really like Senzel and Barrero to have good years. Rooting hard for them both. Imagine what this team could look like with them two and others on the way?
+10,000
If pitching can stable out. Mainly 4th and 5th starters. Bullpen as well, Reds could be a surprise. Healthy will be key
Agree. I really like this team. Yeah they will have clunkers like yesterday but if everything gets fixed like you say, it could get interesting.
Gibaut was pitch efficient as was young. Both could be available tomorrow as well
I like them to, the offense is good, and we got 3 starters that give a chance to win 60% of the games.
These guys started the season so hot, but we are working them
3 quick outs and we’re done in under 2-1/2 hours again. I do really like the pace of these games. Now if the bots could start calling the strikezone … 😮
There goes the shut-out … such is life against a team like the Rays.
The Rays are 14-2 after all!
Well, there went the shutout!
Kevin Newman told the best team in baseball to come back another day. This day is his day!
There we go… great win
Bullpen held up well and the hitters … well, they HIT, got on base, and scored nicely. Some great D thrown into the mix and we beat the best in MLB to open the series.
Greene pitched well and getting outs with out the strikeout. No walks.
Yep. Too bad his night was cut short.
Tough to beat good pitching combined with good hitting.
Hope Greene’s injury is not long term and that he will be able to make his next scheduled start!
The Reds won? The bullpen held? And pitched more than a; inn8ng! Newman had 3 hits? Did that unnameable hot spot freeze over? Another injury isn’t a good thing. Barrero seems to be making progress albeit more slowly than most of us would ideally like. Fraley is not hitting of late – maybe he needs a rest. Let’s just hope the Reds don’t follow the same pattern as this weekend and get demolished tomorrow.
Only one (1) run yielded by the Reds bullpen! Awesome!
Let’s go D’backs!
Great game by the Reds tonight. Now where do we find two more SPs so they can compete for the division this year and in the future? Is Weaver capable of being a #4 or #5? Do we dare bring up Abbott? If not, then do we just concede one game out of 5?
Anytime we have a rainout or an off day we need to, if possible, move up the Big Three. They’ll still be on schedule that way.
Still theres 2 out of 5 games or 1 out of 5 if Weaver can at least pitch 5 good innings. Cessa needs to be in the BP I think. Should we try out Abbott, Richardson, Stoudt and others on a revolving basis and see which is the most ready now?
I keep forgetting about Anderson. Maybe we do have a 4th and 5th starter.
If things don’t get better we pretty much have to try guys like Williamson and Stoudt. It doesn’t happen often but sometimes pitchers “perk up” and really show what the can do after making it to the majors. Abbott is really getting more tempting all the time.