Nick Lodolo had the worst start of his professional career on Tuesday night as the Cincinnati Reds were crushed 10-0 in a loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in front of 11,304 fans at Great American Ball Park.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tampa Bay Rays (15-3) | 10 | 17 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (7-10) | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| W: Bradley (2-0) L: Lodolo (2-1) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
After both teams failed to get on the board in the 1st inning, Tampa Bay got the scoring going in the 2nd with a solo home run by Taylor Walls. Nick Lodolo then saw an infield single to shortstop put a runner on first and followed up by hitting Vidal Brujan in the front foot with a slider. That would come back to haunt him after it turned the lineup over with two outs and leadoff batter Yandy Diaz hit a long home run to make it 4-0.
Things did not get any better in the 3rd inning for Nick Lodolo. He gave up back-to-back singles to Randy Arozarena and Harold Ramirez before Taylor Walls tripled them both in to make it 6-0. A sacrifice fly followed to extend the lead by a run. Lodolo would get out of the inning from there, but had 61 pitches through three innings and had already given up eight hits and seven runs. Randy Arozarena made it nine hits and eight runs after hitting a solo homer into the right field stands in the 4th. The lefty would finish the day with 4.2 innings and 12 hits allowed to goo with those eight runs.
Casey Legumina came in to finish out the 5th inning, which he did. He returned for the 6th inning and gave up a solo home run to Taylor Walls – his second of the game – as the Rays made it 9-0 before getting through the inning.
In the bottom of the 6th inning the Reds threatened when Jake Fraley drew a 1-out walk and Tyler Stephenson was hit by a pitch to put two men on. Cincinnati couldn’t cash in, though, as Wil Myers popped out and Kevin Newman lined out to right field.
Alexis Diaz took the mound to begin the 8th inning and he made quick and easy work of the Reds, striking out Wander Franco, Isaac Paredes, and Randy Arozerena on 13 pitches. In the 9th inning the club turned to backup catcher Luke Maile to pitch. He’d give up a run and be bailed out by two outstanding plays at first base by Wil Myers. Cincinnati headed to the bottom of the 9th needing at least 10 runs.
Key Moment of the Game
Yandy Diaz hitting a 3-run homer in the 2nd inning that put Tampa Bay up 4-0 and the game was never close after that.
Notes Worth Noting
Nick Lodolo has never had a start go as poorly as this one. He’d never allowed double digit hits in a start. He’d never given up more than five runs in a start. Never before had he allowed more than two home runs. All of those things happened on Tuesday evening.
Shortly before the game the Reds announced that they had signed Hunter Greene to an extension. It buys out the first year of free agency and gives the team an option for a second year. During the game we updated the article that provided more details about the breakdown of his contract.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Tampa Bay Rays vs Cincinnati Reds
Wednesday April 19th, 12:35pm ET
Drew Rasmussen (2-1, 2.60 ERA) vs Levi Stoudt (MLB Debut)
Phillies and Rays series similar. Huge ups and huge downs. I dont understand the barrero vs Newman rotation. It’s one or the other. barrero hasn’t proven much but has potential. Newman is fading rapidly . No one can say anymore he is a good shortstop. That means the Reds arent committed to either and shortstop in 2023 is just filler until EDLC. Reds are declaring their intent by playing Newman regularly. They arent committed to anyone at SS currently on the 26 man.
Senzel has played good infield defense and for a team that has stunk at that he has a role.
I expect great things from EDLC, hopefully. But, he’s 6’5 and watching some of the video from ST, he’s nowhere near as smooth as Barrero. Let’s see how Barrero is hitting after starting 140+ games. As someone pointed out earlier this week, Concepcion was well below average his first 3 years. During those years, he had more than 1000 ABs before he learned to hit well.
Agree 100%
But Reds are playing Newman semi regularly. That tells you they aren’t committed to Barrero at SS. Krall and Bell and Buddy and Larkin are making the decisions and they have moved on from Barrero and on to EDLC as the franchise SS. Larkin is the surrogate GM.
Maybe so, but if so, shortsighted as h_ll.
I expected them to play Newman regularly, he’s doing fine.
@SteveAreno, thanks – after tonight’s game I needed a good laugh. You provided it.
“That tells you they aren’t committed to Barrero at SS.”
If that really means Bell then Krall has to take charge. He seems to be smarter than that.
Davey had Klu as Reds hitting coach. Nobody like Klu among Reds coaches.
That’s true @OldTimer, but there could be. There are guys out there, whether the Reds hitting coach is the one remains to be seen. I suspect Eric Davis or Votto could be effective hitting coaches.
I agree 100%, but with DB managing Barrero will never get the chance to start 140 games….
Well, at the end of the 1972 season, Concepcion switched to a lighter bat, which he had been urged to do by Ted Kluzewski and Sparky Anderson. When he did that, his hitting greatly improved. The first half of the 1973 season, before he broke his ankle.
Give Barrero some time. I think he can hit ML pitching.
Newman is adequate.
Arroyo is supposed to be the best fielding SS in the Reds’ system.
Elly De La Cruz may be too tall (at 6’5″)to play SS, but Oneil Cruz (at 6’7″) is doing ok with Pittsburgh, although right now he is on the 60 day DL. EDLC would likely have a fantastic position-adjusted OPS for a shortstop.
Old-School: they may well not be committed to him, but they’re giving him a shot at it–a chance to prove that he deserves a commitment. The fact that they’re also giving him some reps in center may indicate that–given the shortstops in the high minors–they value him but want to establish his positional flexibility.
Not optimistic about tomorrow. I thought the Reds could beat Bradley, even allowing for a Lodolo off day. Just didn’t expect him to have his career bad start.
Senzel and Newman back to earth.
Offensive Player of Game: Curt Casali ! With two hits he has his average up to .238 and we haven’t seen anything like that in our backup catcher in a long time.
Defensive Player of Game: Wil Meyers
Business Day special tomorrow, see you there!
Plus, Luke Maile is hitting .250 and boy can he pitch.
11:35pm seems like a late start, but I guess with the shorter games it’s not so bad.
good one!
A little typo never hurt anybody, right?
Just keeping us on our toes.
If Doug hadn’t specified ET, then we could have assumed he meant 11:35 pm in Tokyo or some such time zone…
Lodolo looked to me like his mind was someplace else tonight and had a hard time concentrating. Happens to everyone.
The official Reds website states 12:35pm as the starting time.
Interestingly during his warm up tosses he didn’t look like his confident self-tonight.
His last outing too he had to fight to stick in the game as long as he did. Wonder if something is bothering him and he is just too proud to say something. He knows how much the Reds need him to be a quality SP for them.
Could it be he is also in contract negotiations? I noticed both he and Greene had a little less on the fastball their last starts. I chalked it up to the cold. But with the news of the Greene contract, it may make a little sense why his mind was somewhere else. A young guy making league minimum staring down $50 Million can probably be pretty distracting.
I was wondering if Lodolo was tipping his pitches. Maybe he wanted a juicy contract, but decided to hand out souvenirs instead.
We can only hope that Senzel improves because I haven’t seen him play well at any position as yet. His hitting is very lacking has be pitiful. I was at the game tonight and Newman and Senzel were terrible at SS and 3rd. A poor team effort as well.
Love to hear insight from people that actually go to the games. Only so much we can see from the broadcast and of course even less from radio or game cast.
I’ve never thought senzel looked good anywhere defensively – very stiff. Never seen Newman play. I – like others – do not understand why he is playing as much as he is.
Funny as I have heard nothing but how solid Senzel has been at 3rd, 2nd, and CF. 1 game doesn’t define a player. Plus Nick has been hitting as of late.
Some on here expect way, way too much and it’s only 1st month of the season
What? Senzel was fantastic in the field. You must have had a bad vantage point. The only possible play you could be referring to was the one down the line that took a ridiculous hop to the side because of spin off the end of the bat. Brooks Robinson wasn’t making that play. Otherwise, he took some real hot shots and fielded them with ease. He looks really good on the dirt. I can’t disagree with your take on him at all. Newman on the other hand made poor decisions to throw across his body instead of spinning to get something on the throws when moving to his left. So I agree with you on him.
*can’t disagree more with your take on him
Lodolo starts the game with his mind on Greene’s contract?
Haha Maybe. Who knows? Don’t know whether it was jealousy or seeing $$$$ for himself. Probably just a bad day.
Boy, I sure didn’t see this start from lodolo coming. Rays are a good hitting team though. Anyone notice a drop in velocity or trouble hitting his spots? I do wonder it pitches being tipped.
In the highlights it looked like he missed his spots, based on where the catcher was set up, on several of the hits. Either just an off day, which happens to the best of them, or maybe he was tipping his pitches.
The Reds lose 10-0 and I am still on cloud nine from the Hunter Greene extension. In my opinion, this is the best thing to happen with this team in a couple of years.
I am going to the game tomorrow. I was going anyway, but today’s news makes me feel much better about giving Bob some of my money.
the difference between the rays and reds was quite striking today. Tampa’s defense is very good and the batters were really working the count and fouling a lot of pitches off.
once again the highlight of the game was when Maile came in to pitch. I think we are on to something with the position players pitching. the ball is constantly in play. with great defense and speed on display. the action was non stop during the inning. I am thinking a nine inning game with all position players as pitchers would be quite an entertaining game
A similarity between the Reds and Rays, so far, is quite striking: the home attendance figures for each team.
Don’t look now, but Jake Fraley is in the middle of a mini-slump and his average has plummeted from .370 to .244 in that time. 1 hit in the last 18 ABs will do that.
Also, Newman over Barrero at SS?
Barrero is hitting .265/.342/.412/.754 over the last 2 weeks. He hasn’t been on fire, but he’s putting up respectable numbers and has been a contributor, both on offense and defense.. It’s absolutely criminal that Newman is taking ABs away from him.
If Newman starts at SS again today, I’m going to be quite put out.
After Barrero struggled to hit last season (after a wrist injury), and EDLC’s success in the mid-level minors, the Reds seemed to give the indication that they were moving on from Barrero.
Why else to you put arguably the organization’s top defensive shortstop in center field half the time, and bench him for somebody like Newman, who has little to offer in the field or on the plate?
Don’t be surprised if EDLC does come up that Bell does the same thing with him.
There’s no question Barrero is very gifted defensively, but offensively I doubt he’ll be able, over a period of years to average .250 as a hitter in the key shortstop position. There’s too many potential shortstops, led by EDLC and others, in the farm system. I agree, as others have stated, that the Reds have moved on.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see McLain take SS. It should at least be interesting to see how it all develops. You have 3 talented guys who all want the same job.
He is not in CF half the time.
He also played SS quite a bit after he healed last year. While I know he is supposed to be a good fielder he has not performed like one. Brantley was very pointed in his observation of his defense in the broadcast. His strike zone discipline is terrible . He will chase balls a foot outside. His pitch recognition is terrible. Like many I want him to figure it out and be our everyday SS but to be honest he isn’t even close at this point.
How does anyone know if McClain or EDLC will hit at the MLB level. Barrero was a stud in the minors as well? EDLC has barely been above AA. I know we are all hopeful, but we see how young AAA studs get treated around “veteran presence”.
As of April 19, Barrero has played 14 innings in CF and 86 innings at SS. Not quite “half the time”.
Reading some comments and then thinking about my own comments.
I am truly gonna not worry about who’s hitting what and batting average , and even who’s pitching well or not. Numbers in first month of season while fun can be misleading.
Truly too Reds really have no bench if Bell had a normal everyday 9 lineup.
Two catchers, Volser and Newman. Think about that for a moment.
Myers Friedl, Fairchild in outfield. Senzel, Barrero, India, and Steer infield. Stephenson catching and Fraley DH .
I see lineups posted for today’s Titanic Contest.
Newman is at 3B and Barrero back at SS. Senzel isn’t starting. Maile is our catcher.
If Steer is hurt then y not dl him and bring up McLain, or Hopkins .
Senzel,Myers,and Steer if healthy should be in lineup.
Really glad to see the Reds taking the foot off the brake and starting to accelerate the rebuild. Hunter Greene through 2028 and possible 2029 is a major statement.
Krall has said the plan is to draft acquire and develop young starting pitching. Krall was asked a month ago or so about extensions and he was evasive saying it depends on the individual player and situation.
Glad to see Williamson have a strong outing last night in AAA.
The interesting thing to follow will be how the Reds approach India and Stephenson. Both hit arbitration next year. The Brewers and Rays pulled off a win/win trade a year ago where both teams traded away positions of strength to acquire positions of need. Brewers traded from depth( pitching) for a SS in Willy Adames. Rays had Wander Franco waiting to play SS so acquired pitching in Drew Rasmussen( todays starter) and top notch releiver in JP Feyereisen who has had long scoreless inning streaks both last year and this year.
Wonder if the Reds might be looking to trade from areas of strength 2b/ss/3b for areas of need( pitching, catching, Elite young outfielder with a big bat.) I m a huge India fan and would sign him to an extension. I am also a huge barrero fan too but doesnt appear the Reds are handing him the keys to SS. But, India might land a big time pitcher/catcher or outfielder if the Reds feel they have their next ss and 2b- EDLC and McLain with Steer and Marte giving good depth at 3b.
Toady’s line up has 3 guys hitting over .250. This team can’t win right now. When do they call up some of the young guys, EDLC, CES, Mclain, and others. How about as soon as they are healthy and given some time to rehab? The players I see no future for currently on the team = Newman, Fairchild, Vosler, Maile and all are in today’s line up. When is Steer going to play again?
He had a quad injury Monday night. I m sure they giving him another day to assess things with an early game today and get away day to Pittsburgh. Tomorrow will tell. He’s “day to day”.
IF Bell had a normal everyday 9 lineup. “KEVIN H”
I think it’s against Bell’s rules to have an everyday 9. Seems like in the past many years ago teams had a regular starting 8 starting most of the 154 games.
Yep. The subs may play 50 games or less. Some 20 games.
The recognition of the importance of handedness splits is relatively recent and not confined to the Reds. The idea of it provokes some derision here, but they’re real nonetheless. As for the Great Eight. if somebody assembled a team that good, I’d bet that any manager would play them regularly.
Good thing Bell didn’t manage the team back in the 70’s or the great 8 might have never existed.
It is a good thing, Mark: it would have violated child labor laws.