The Cincinnati Reds watched their 5-game winning streak come to an end yesterday in a walk-off loss to the Oakland Athletics. Still, that wrapped up a week where they went 5-1. Now they’ll head to San Diego to face the 15-14 Padres. The Reds will look to keep the Padres under .500 at home, while San Diego will be looking to get back to the .500 mark in front of the home fans. Tonight’s game is set to begin at 9:40pm ET. It will be on MLB Network and is also the MLB.tv free game of the day, as well as on Bally Sports Ohio.
Starting Lineups
Cincinnati Reds
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San Diego Padres
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| Jonathan India – 2B | Fernando Tatis Jr. – RF |
| Spencer Steer – 1B | Manny Machado – 3B |
| Stuart Fairchild – LF | Juan Soto – LF |
| Tyler Stephenson – DH | Xander Bogaerts – SS |
| Henry Ramos – RF | Matt Carpenter – DH |
| Kevin Newman – 3B | Jake Cronenworth – 1B |
| Nick Senzel – CF | Ha-Seong Kim – 2B |
| Jose Barrero – SS | Trent Grisham – CF |
| Luke Maile – C | Brett Sullivan – C |
| Luke Weaver – RHP | Blake Snell – LHP |
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB | K |
| Luke Weaver | 11.2 | 7.71 | 1.37 | 4 | 16 |
| Blake Snell | 23.0 | 5.48 | 1.87 | 18 | 26 |
| Links: Luke Weaver’s Stats | Blake Snell’s Stats |
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Luke Weaver
Through his two starts with the Reds this season, Luke Weaver has been unable to avoid the big inning. He gave up four runs in his first start and they all came in one frame. The last time out he gave up six runs in 5.2 innings, with three runs coming in one inning. In both games he walked two batters and struck out eight. But he also gave up multiple home runs in each game. After giving up just one home run in 35.2 innings last season he’s given up five of them in 11.2 innings this season.
Since the start of last year the splits against Luke Weaver are pretty even. Both lefties and righties hit very well against him, with lefties walking a little more often and righties hitting for a little more power.
Splits (2022 & 2023)
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 117 | 34 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 31 | .318 | .368 | .514 |
| LHH | 108 | 30 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 23 | .319 | .389 | .479 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Cutter | Curve | Change | |
| Velo | 93.7 | 93.6 | 85.9 | 81.7 | 85.7 |
| Usage | 46% | 2% | 11% | 14% | 27% |
Blake Snell
The 2023 season has gotten out to a tough start for Blake Snell. His ERA is more than two runs higher than it was last season. His walk rate is double that of last season. The strikeout rate is down – though still high. And his home run rate has more than doubled. His fastball velocity is down, but his slider velocity is up. He’s only allowed two runs in each of his last two starts that spanned 5.0 innings each, but he also walked eight batters in there.
This season he’s been hit well by both lefties and righties. Managers haven’t sent too many lefties out there to face him, but the ones who stepped into the box have hit .300 against him and gotten on base at a good clip. Right-handed hitters haven’t hit for quite as much average, but they are walking a ton against him and hitting for a lot of power. For his career his splits do favor right-handed hitters by about 100 points of OPS, but his OPS against against both lefties and righties is under .700 for his career.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 86 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 15 | 19 | .271 | .395 | .543 |
| LHH | 23 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | .300 | .391 | .450 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | Curve | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 95.0 | 81.4 | 89.5 | 87.7 |
| Usage | 58% | 14% | 16% | 11% |
When and Where
- Game time: 9:40pm ET
- Where: Petco Park
- Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv, MLB Network,
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 59°, cloudy, 10% chance of rain
News and Notes
Nick Senzel named NL Player of the Week
After a big week against some American League West opposition, Nick Senzel was named the National League Player of the Week. Are you confused by that sentence too? Senzel hit .476/.560/.810 during the week, picking up a double, two home runs, and he drove in nine.
Reds Farm Report
Speaking of players of the week – one of the players we wrote about this morning in the Reds Farm Report was Blake Dunn. This afternoon he was named the Midwest League Player of the Week. If you missed out on what he’s been doing for the Dayton Dragons, and also have some interest in reading some things about where Elly De La Cruz has been impressing, here’s the link for you.
Alexis Diaz…..
Two qualified relievers ended April with a K%> 50%
1. Alexis DÃaz: 55.9%
2. José Alvarado: 55.8%— Alex Fast (@AlexFast8) May 1, 2023
Standings
| Team | W | L | GB | Playoff Odds |
| Pirates | 20 | 9 | 0.0 | 33.0% |
| Brewers | 18 | 10 | 1.5 | 65.5% |
| Cubs | 14 | 13 | 5.0 | 21.2% |
| Reds | 12 | 16 | 7.5 | 0.7% |
| Cardinals | 10 | 19 | 10.0 | 29.6% |
| Playoff Odds via Fangraphs | ||||
Luis Cessa against this lineup?
Fairchild hitting 3rd, Ramos hitting 5th, Newman hitting 6th and Maile hitting 9th?
Has anyone ever Cleted before the game started????
Asking for a friend.
Why don’t you like Ramos batting 5th? Basically one of their hottest hitters with Senzel.
No problem with Ramos, just Bell’s infatuation with Newman & Fairchild. At least Barrero is starting at SS so he can be pinch hit for later in the game!
Hes played really well for sure in his 20+ at bats or whatever.
Its just go back to Opening Day and does this lineup at 12-16 in 4 th place in a non winning year reflect core player development for winning in 2024 or winning in 2023?
They might drop a 9 spot on Snell . Who knows. I doubt it.
Senzel just won player of the week. No one saw that coming
May join you Old-School after seeing tonight’s starting lineup! Newman & Fairchild again? Jeez!
This is a tough series to the Reds but San Diego has a slow start this season. Of course, they are waiting for a kind of series like this against a weak team to wake up playing at home. I think Reds facing Snell-Wacha-Lugo give the better chances to look for a win, at least, and try to avoid a sweep that is evident on páper…Cincy got swept in 2021 and 2022 in San Diego…
Snell is a Whip/Walk machine … hope we can be patient enough to take advantage of that.
The line-up is what it is (I really dislike that phrase). I’m on limited watch time due to that start. Plus we’re all watching something else until 10 anyway.
Here’s hoping Weaver performs better than his line and Senzel & Company tear the cover off the ball.
How’s that for nearly-blind optimism? 😀
Here’s hoping we “kick the pig” and, if the pig is blind, it finds an acorn in the form of a win!
+1,000
With lineups like this we should be in our customary last place by the end of the month.
The Reds’ hottest hitter (Senzel) stuck hitting behind Newman. Clearly a lineup set by David Bell 🙂
Newman and Fairchild batting ahead of the NL player of the week, only in David Bell’s mind. Please let this nightmare with this manager come to an end.
Looks like Mr. Bell is playing with his “toy” again called a lineup by inserting himself/Newman in there instead of Friedl. Look at the bright side. Newman isn’t batting leadoff again tonight. 🙂 I will stick to what I believe though and say it right now. If Newman gets three hits tonight I will personally advocate for him playing the next game. 🙂
I thought it was always like 78 degrees in Friar Town
Let’s see about Kicking the Friars out to Coronado Island!
Beautiful place, BTW. Stayed there for a conference once.
I see Arod I mean Tatis is back.
I think it’s safe to say Newman would not have had a chance at the last one. Barrero almost mad a spectacular play.
I’m not sure Ozzie Smith gets to that ball 🙂
DId I hear that right, this is tatis first game back
been back a week.
First home game back.
Sadak literally just said Senzel gets a turn in center and newman at third for just the second time
Didnt say whose parents brought the team snack . Probably not Friedl’s.
Anyone know which parents brought the juice boxes and protein bars?
Not exactly a good start. 🙂
Yeah … this is a 1st inning Clete for me I think. Weaver is throwing grapefruits at them.
Maybe tomorrow, right 😛
I remember there were people here saying wait til Weaver gets here when Connor Over Ten was scuffling
They could very well be the same guy.
Barrero almost ran him down there. Good job.
This is getting ugly quick! Coming up on my bedtime! Probably best that I call it a night and read about how Bell deals with this game tomorrow morning!
Going to be a bullpen game at this rate
Very fortunate to get out of that with only two runs.
One final comment from this Grouchy Old Reds fanatic! Weaver at 30+ pitches after only one (1) inning! Hope Bell’s bullpen is rested and Bell is paying attention!
Sparky always talked about having a set line up. The advantage of each of player having a defined role.
Obviously, that is easy to do when half your line up are Hall of Fame players, still I do think there are advantages of a set line up.
David Bell’s line-ups seem to be drawn from a hat. Today you are batting lead off and playing centerfield, tomorrow you are batting 7th and playing third Base, two days from now you have a scheduled day off.
I try not to be overly critical of David Bell, but man, it does seem like he is managing a youth league at times. Making sure everyone gets to play.
Don’t forget the player who brings the snacks. Very important in this type of line-up construction. 😮
Now don’t go R&R on us. What’s next RACI? You know where a player plays or when doesn’t affect performance. It promotes utility. So what if you lose a few games along the way. Or hinder a prospect’s deveLopment. That’s baseball.
Agreed
Newman … go figure 😀
Night all … and this time I mean it.
Aw. I was hoping you send me a late night snack. 🙂
3 pitches to Barrero.
No strikes.
Swung at all 3.
He was hitting better when he was taking those pitches and drawing walks as well.
Jose B with not a clue of what was going on. Should be pulled right now for that. Maybe this is the reason the Reds have sucked for years
Yeah but most say Barrery needs a couple more hundred at bats. Who cares about winning. I mean we’re already 4 games under. I was a Newman critic but at this rate he gives us a better chance to win!
If every team pulled someone for striking out…..there’d be no players after 3 innings.
Have you watched a game since the 70s?
You missed the point. It was for not paying attention to the dropped ball and trying to steal first as it was. As Chris W. said first thing they taught you In little league.
Giving a full Clete
Reds have decided barrero isnt their SS. Newman is an intentional placeholder to share time
Move on RLN
Reds announcers are now just mouthpieces for FO and Bell agenda
Sweep for the Padres
Hope Im wrong
Welsh – “I think Senzel is wandering when he’ll get moved up in the lineup. ”
😀
Has anyone heard anything about votto?
At this point I’m starting to think Maile over Casali.
Interesting article from FANSIDED on Newman
https://blogredmachine.com/posts/reds-should-option-kevin-newman-not-jose-barrero-make-room-matt-mclain?utm_campaign=FanSided+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email
I’m okay with that. At this point I wouldn’t mind McLain and Barrero splitting time between SS and CF so that they’re both playing full time. Senzel at 3B for now with Steer at 1B/DH/RF.
The article didn’t say anything about splitting time between Barrero and McLain. McLain comes up, he more than likely plays short. Steer 1b, India 2nd, McLain SS and Senzel rd.
I know. I put that in there. 🙂
Another double by Fairchild.
Stuey comes thru…2 run double.
Wow. What a double play.
The Senzel bandwagon is official full
I was still a believer before it was cool. 🙂
Senzel is out of his mind. I just don’t want to see an injury. lol
Senzel is in the Zone.
Player of the week +1 day
Wait
What
My guy nick senzel???
Go nick
Maile with another hit.
His defense seems to be better than Casali at this point too.
Barrero has noooo idea what he’s doing
None
To all you naysayers out there give this team and Bell a chance. What are you gonna do? Jump on the Pirates band wagon!
I mean there is a reason he was drafted so high, I like his style of hitting the ball hard and getting on base a lot, a few will clear the fence.
Weaver was as advertised….Low cost…high ERA.
Per SD announcers: Weaver has the highest line drive rate allowed in MLB.
Looks like Ramos has the best arm out of all the outfielders.
Looked strong on that last one didn’t he?
Wow. Ramos made a better throw there than I thought he would.
Barrero wasn’t drafted. He signed as an International free agent in June 2017. You must be trolling.
At this point I’m so exited later when McLain becomes the SS and CES becomes our 1B, steer becomes LF/3b/2b utility starter. If CES and McLain we would have a decent lineup. Senzel is playing like he was drafted and scouted to play, can hit the ball and barrel consistently.
The Padres have a payroll of $260 Million dollars and they have 3 more wins than the Reds.
Well I guess they did make it to the NLCS last year. I kind of think there will be a big difference between the Reds and them by the end of the year.
No doubt…but man, it would be nice to see what. the Reds roster would look like by adding $200 Million dollars to payroll
A dream 🙂 I’d settle for $100 million more.
I don’t think you’ll find many 5th starters w/better stuff then Luke Weaver. 95 mph fastball and nice change-ups. He’s just got to keep his breaking stuff down. I think they could give him some rope because there’s nobody better available
Totally agree Indy. Everybody thinks the 5th starter should be Roger Clemons. 5th starters should be around .500 and a 4.50- 5 ERA and keep the team somewhat in the game.
You’re right JB. Weaver gave us exactly what a 5th started should. Now if the bullpen can hold on. Just maybe
Two straight days where reviews missed very obvious calls and went with the weak choice of “call stands.”
I didn’t see anything conclusive tonight. it has to be obvious….didn’t see obvious…if he grazed him, replay didn’t catch it.
Young doesn’t have it tonight. They’ve taken some good swings on him.
Still it’s just a little unlucky, hits a homer just over the fence, and get a missed call. If they call bogares out nothing happens
Ump diff +3 padres
Exactly John. Young has some nasty stuff. I was thinking the same thing Welsh was saying. He threw a lot of pitches in the bullpen waiting on the call.
Not Young’s night.
4 batters…4 line drives.
Ouch.
Snells off speed stuff tonight is nasty. Got the Reds hitters making some odd swings. Some nights you just need to tip the cap.
Senzel is a different player lately offense and defense. Good play at 3B there.
Barrero is a better defender and hits RHers better than Newman. So who gets pulled? Someone said earlier that Bell would pull this stunt. I’m not sure PH’ing for Naile made all that much sense anyway.
Well you knew it was a done deal that if someone got pulled it was going to be Barrero with Newman moving to SS. Maile did have two hits tonight by the way.
Exactly so let him hit. Same with Fairchild. Barrero is currently hitting RHers substantially better than LH. And better than Newman. Folks need to quit pretending that Bell is a numbers guy. He isn’t. Handedness and utility, with a preference for journeyman and a few veterans – that drives his game decisions and drives the Reds future into the ditch.
Ramos should have had a hit on that one. He drove it deep to RC. Good play on him.