The Evil Empire is heading to Cincinnati for a 3-game series this weekend. The Reds will don their city connect uniforms tonight for the first time of the season as they welcome in the New York Yankees. Cincinnati will look to continue their home magic, where they are 12-9 on the season, and take advantage of the Yankees road woes (9-10 on the season). Tonight’s first pitch is set for 6:40pm ET.
Starting Lineups
New York Yankees
|
Cincinnati Reds
|
| Jake Bauers – LF | Jonathan India – 2B |
| Aaron Judge – RF | Matt McLain – SS |
| Anthony Rizzo – 1B | Jake Fraley – LF |
| Gleyber Torres – 2B | Spencer Steer – 1B |
| Willie Calhoun – DH | Tyler Stephenson – C |
| Anthony Volpe – SS | Nick Senzel – 3B |
| Oswaldo Cabrera – 3B | Henry Ramos – DH |
| Kyle Higashioka – C | Wil Myers – RF |
| Aaron Hicks – CF | Jose Barrero – CF |
| Clarke Schmidt – RHP | Ben Lively – RHP |
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB | K |
| Ben Lively | 5.1 | 1.69 | 0.94 | 0 | 2 |
| Clarke Schmidt | 40.0 | 6.30 | 1.65 | 14 | 48 |
| Links: Ben Lively’s Stats | Clarke Schmidt’s Stats |
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Ben Lively
It’s been a good season for Ben Lively between Triple-A and the big leagues. He’s come back to the US after spending time in Korea and he’s throwing six different pitches and mixing them up well and it’s led to good results early on.
This season right-handed hitters have had more success against him – walking more often and hitting for a little bit more power in the process. Left-handed hitters haven’t done much of anything against him as they are hitting .171 and have an OPS against him of just .502 so far.
Splits (AAA & MLB)
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 86 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 13 | .237 | .314 | .342 |
| LHH | 44 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | .171 | .209 | .293 |
Pitch Usage (AAA & MLB)
| 4-seam | 2-seam | Cutter | Curve | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 91.4 | 91.3 | 88.8 | 75.7 | 80.5 | 84.4 |
| Usage | 32% | 20% | 12% | 11% | 19% | 6% |
Clarke Schmidt
It’s been a tough year for Clarke Schmidt as his ERA currently sits above 6.00. His May had gotten out to a good start after allowing just two earned runs in 10.1 innings over his first two starts, but his last time out saw Tampa Bay put up seven runs against him in just 4.2 innings.
This season he’s pitched fairly well against right-handed hitters. They’ve hit for a little bit of power against him, but he’s not walking any of them, limiting contact, and they are hitting just .250. Left-handed hitters, though, are absolutely crushing the ball against him. They’re hitting .369, drawing walks, and hitting for tons of power against him. Historically he’s had big splits with lefties doing plenty of damage, but not quite as much as they’ve done so far in 2023.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 91 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 27 | .250 | .286 | .441 |
| LHH | 96 | 31 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 21 | .369 | .438 | .667 |
Pitch Usage
| 2-Seam | Cutter | Curve | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 94.8 | 92.4 | 84.1 | 86.8 | 90.2 |
| Usage | 26% | 22% | 20% | 29% | 3% |
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: 76°, cloudy, 15% chance of rain
News and Notes
Matt McLain’s rise
In today’s Reds Notebook we talked about how a swing change has helped lead to the rise of Matt McLain, going from a solid hitter with some issues in Double-A to the guy who destroyed Triple-A and had the best OPS in minor league baseball before being called up.
Elly De La Cruz is awaiting his call up
After getting on base three more times last night in Louisville, Elly De La Cruz says he’s ready and just waiting for his call up. He’s hit .360/.453/.733 in his last 95 plate appearances for the Bats after a 1-21 start to the year when he came off of the injured list.
Is Nick Senzel having a true breakthrough?
Matt Wilkes looks at Senzel’s season so far over at Reds Content Plus to see if he’s having a real breakout or not. There are some good signs and some not so good ones, but it’s also still quite early in the year, so it’s tough to know if signs in either direction are real or just noise at this point.
Standings
| Team | W | L | GB | Playoff Odds |
| Brewers | 24 | 19 | 0.0 | 66.3% |
| Pirates | 23 | 20 | 1.0 | 13.3% |
| Reds | 19 | 24 | 5.0 | 1.8% |
| Cubs | 19 | 24 | 5.0 | 14.7% |
| Cardinals | 19 | 26 | 6.0 | 40.9% |
| Playoff Odds via Fangraphs | ||||
“After getting on base three more times last night in Louisville, Elly De La Cruz says he’s ready and just waiting for his call up.”
Doesn’t he know Big Bob and Company don’t like pressure like that? lol Personally I like what he said. If he does come up I have no idea how they’re going to do it. I know De La Cruz won’t take a back seat…and he shouldn’t.
I’m here to root against the evil empire.
May the Force be with us.
Facing a right handed pitcher and Reds have 2 left handed bats. They need to get Friedl back and to call up EDLC.
With the inminent return of Friedl from IL, plus the call ups of EDLC and CES, I guess that the days of Myers, Ramos and one of the back up catchers in the active roster are counted.
the rebel alliance faces the evil empire
Burn those uniforms
Seems like, if they wanted to go monochrome, they would have gone all-Red, you know? Cincinnati Reds and all …
Some fan is happy out there in RCF with a Judge HR ball. 🙂
It’s like a little league field to Judge
How far did the Judge blast go? I’m just tuning in.
Personally, I like the look of the uniforms. Still contemplating getting some of that gear.
Right Center not too far I think. Just a solid hit.
Can’t remember but Paul O’Neill said it was over 400 ft
These black uniforms are cool in one sense I guess but they kind of make us look like cat burglars. 🙂
That’s funny right there …
+500
Looks to me like Schmidt is dancing off the rubber. Anybody else seeing that?
In my post earlier elsewhere on this site I said “As much s I detest walks, I’m OK with the Reds walking Judge every at bat tonight!” I guess Bell did not take my suggestion!
Now see. The one time you wanted them to they wouldn’t do it. 😀
Rough start for McLain, 5 SOS in 9 ABs. Does he get time to develop or does he get the bench in favor of Newman?
Some people on here think Newman should play alot.
I know. Serious lack of patience in the Reds land.
DEVELOP! 🙂
Stephenson continues to struggle, double play on a 3-1 pitch. Even Larkin hints he isn’t ready to hit on that 3-1 pitch.
I missed Law going on IL. Who was brought up and what happened to Law?
What? I didn’t see that either. There goes our opener.
It was said on the television broadcast. They didn’t say who got called up though.
Blind Hog -> Acorn
Seeing eye single but it counts. 🙂
Glad to see that day off has everybody rested and ready to play. This is NOT a great Yankees team … especially their starting rotation. Our challenge scoring continues.
Law on 15 day IL with right elbow sprain
2 on nobody out and what happens = nothing. This team has to be better than that.
If you can’t hit you need to bunt. Make something happen.
Mr. Speedster Mr. McLain. Good infield hit. 🙂
Chumpire’s zone is a little flexible tonight, no?
Those long-ago days when the Reds were actually enthusiastic about stealing bases at seemingly every opportunity gave me a false sense of optimism. This team is being run as if it’s full of guys who can be counted on to hit three run homers.
Pretty efficient 5 innings for Lively. Now if the boys would back him with some Crooked Numbers … 😀
I was thinking Freddie B. was going to be taking over there 😛
Well that ejection made sense /s
I think Bell had a good point. If he had to wash something off his hands that was illegal, why is he still in the game? Regardless this Reds offense is horrible.
Yep. It’s either a banned substance and you’re out or it isn’t.
I have seen several odd ejections by umpires. Bell was not yelling at him or swearing at him from what I could tell. Umpires need to be more held accountable for ejections and their inability to call strikes this year.
Why does this Reds team struggle against a pitcher with a pre-game ERA north of 6?
Reds need to “get busy” scoring some runs! All other NL Central Division teams are currently winning except for the Dirty Birds who play the Dodgers later this evening!
Set up almost behind the RH batter’s box and call one 10 inches off the plate a strike. I’ve really had it with that kind of garbage. Zero accountability for improving and getting it right.
Yeah this guy’s strike zone is all over the place
I want to try the “challenge system”.
Can’t complain about the pitching so far. This is even better than Williamson the other night. Lively looking good. Oh come on Freddy. Don’t take him out now. 🙂 He just retired 15 in a row and pitched around Judge….on purpose. Hope it works.
Nope. Two run HR. smh
Nice starts from some unlikely people, Williamson, and now Lively.
Pitching changes like this one are one of the primary reasons are relief core is gassed, or on the IL.
Mistake there to Rizzo. Big one.
Absolute zero reason to take Lively out of the game.
I thought for sure it was a left-lefty thing, which would have made it stupid enough, but I gave them too much credit. This stupid team can’t get out of its own stupid way.
Everyone on the planet could predict this outcome except Reds’ management. You’ve got a guy cruising along, making absolutely perfect pitches, but you just HAVE to take him out because you’re soooooo smart. This organization is run by idiots.
This is why Freddie B. shouldn’t be their next manager. He pulled guys like Bell does when he filled in the last time. Bell 2.0
You can be pretty sure Bell made that call from wherever he is.
He followed Handy DT Bell’s script on that one. I get they are limiting Lively’s pitches, but … C’MON, MAN!!! 😮
That was one of the dumbest moves the Reds have made all year. I am sure it was a Bell call. Lively did the right thing and stayed away form Judge, his reward was to be taken out of the game. This madness has to end.
Threw two absolutely perfect pitches and was removed.
Way to go MMc! 🙂
We really had better convert here. I mean REALLY.
Strike out, pop up, fly ball caught at the wall?
I forgot Fraley is an RBI machine.
If you gonna take him out….why not bring in Young to face Rizzo?
Excellent point.
WLW audio feed is about half the pitch ahead.
Boone brings in a Righty against Fraley. Looks like Bell has company for dumb moves award
Looks like he had a predetermined budget of 80 pitches as determined by David Bell and to be enforced by Freddie. Judge came up with 78, Freddie was squirming in the dugout according to Thrall. When Judge was walked, there was no hesitation to take him out even though Lively made a very good effort to get him out.
With moves like these, the “rest” days after getting hot, the strict adherence to the handedness paradigm, I really believe that the way this is team is managed is by autopilot 85% of the time. The only exception seems to be when Bell gets a hunch which usually results in a failed SB attempt or early stage substitution.
A young programmer from a 6 week boot camp could write a program to replace Bell without breaking a sweat. A monkey throwing darts ….
Stephenson isn’t that great a defensive catcher and isn’t a good enough hitter to DH. What to do
Like I keep saying every other day… trade him now while he still has a
little value left. He’s not the answer at catcher, DH or anywhere else.
I’m baffled. It’s like he’s still timid in his approach after the surgery.
Sitting right at the edge between the batter and the plate … and he STILL can’t get the call right. 3+ inches inside.
Of course, we didn’t help our own cause much there. Even TySteve’s dribbler had a positive effect. The two backwards K’s killed us.
“Why is Stephenson hitting fifth?”
“He’s my number five hitter.”
“Why are guys taking strike 3 in situations where striking out is the worst possible thing?”
“Guys are being selective and swinging at pitches they like.”
“Why are you losing so many close games?”
“Just bad luck.”
+5,000
If he is catching he should bat 8th or 9th and if he isn’t catching, right now, he should not be in the line up. First and third nobody out they don’t score. Please bring up some real hitters.
Runner at 3rd, NO outs and left there! Then runners at 2nd & 3rd with less than 2 outs and abandoned as well. Simply cannot consistently fail to drive in runners that are in scoring position, especially 3rd base and expect to win against good teams!
And the Little League play begins
Honestly why is Gibaut still in? Nothing against him but Bell pulls Lively after a walk.
Lucky! Lucky! Lucky! Mr. Gibaut!
Fairchild has 2 hits and 3 rbis and you pull him for Jose can I see strike 3? You don’t beat the Evil Empire with a gnome
How is this home plate umpire looking on TV?
Consistently terrible. Zone has been 10″ too wide at points. He’s missed calls on the near side where he’s set up that were 3″ off the plate. It’s gone both ways, but it’s a clear example of the Flex-o-Zone tonight.
Thanks Mark. It looked that way from section 521 just wanted to make sure.
What’s with the taking 3rd strike call? Is Votto telling these hitters to do that?
BTW, my dear wife says the unis look like prison wear 😀
Haha I’m sure they’re cool as something different. I wouldn’t want to see them all the time though. I’m sure the players wouldn’t want to wear them in the daylight. Black attracts heat and so does red for that matter. White is better for the hot sunny days. We can pretend like we’re “stealth” while wearing these. 🙂
Cowboy was saying India was on the SS side of 2B … but it was the umpire 😉
hahaha
I know it isn’t technically hopeless here … but it sure feels that way. Staring down the barrel of yet another 1-run loss because we couldn’t score when the opportunities presented themselves. SMH Very Hard and Repeatedly!
Relax Mark, it may well be more than 1-run real soon
Well don’t hurt yourself doing that. It’s not worth it. 🙂
On a different team, after the hitters had made about a million outs on check swings with two strikes, you might imagine the manager would say “hey, guys, let’s try not to do that anymore.” On this team, the manager is too busy to be bothered with such trivial details.
Fairchild and Stephenson are not good hitters.
Man LDS’s hatred for McClain is borderline obsessive compulsive. Don’t know what’s worse, that or his never ending devotion to Barrero. Freaky
@Beaufort, where do you get that? It’s not McLain I’m laughing at. It’s all the folks here that lack patience. Tonight it’s time to dump Stephenson. So what if he’s coming back from an injury. He should be hitting .300+ with 20 HRs. Trade the bum. A couple of weeks ago, folks here were lauding Senzel sudden resurgence. Now that he’s fallen back to earth, trade that bum too. It’s not devotion to Barrero. It’s a practical view of player development. It takes time for most players. Starting once in a while, 2 out of 3 whatever isn’t going to get there.
I haven’t read all the comments over the last week or so, so I may have missed something, but I have only interpreted LDS’s comments as being frustrated with the lack of patience in developing young players. Those comments have been towards both the Reds organization and many of the commenters on here, which I personally agree with both.
I don’t recall him hating McLain. In fact, I would bet he is rooting for McLain to succeed. He is just pointing out how impatient many people on here are and how the Reds have mismanaged the development of their young players.
I guess you need to give examples to back up your snide comments.
LDS was correct … and that’s a Clete for me.
Maybe tomorrow, right?
3-2 game you bring in your worst relief pitcher. SMH
Everyone in the bullpen is available, and in a game that was still potentially winnable, you decided to go with the guy who last pitched well in 2018. And of course the only reason you’re not in a save situation is that you refused to allow your starter to continue cruising along for at least one more hitter.
…and those two runs were scored as a result of the bases on balls…
Ahem.
Ball game is over 19 and 25. If things don’t improve in a hurry, when you consider the upcoming schedule and the injuries, this season will over before June. That may actually be good, maybe then they will bring everybody up and cut ties with the dead weight. The bull pen really gave it up tonight.
That Myers investment is really paying off
Catching up here…why was Bracho used in a 3-2 game in the 9th?
Because there’s no accountability with this team and managers don’t have to do anything that makes any sense to anyone.
It’s up to the Dodgers to keep the Reds out of last place. It’s sad to pull for those guys.
The Reds need to win the next two and have some momentum for the St. Louis series. But, let’s be honest this team has way way way to much dead weight; Ramos, Fairchild, Newman, Barrero, Maile and Myers. That is almost half of there available hitters and when you throw in Casseli and Stephenson that’s 8 players who seldom if ever get a hit.
Bell. You forgot Bell. He is dead weight.
Barrero is not dead weight. He is dead to those of you who don’t want to wait until he has proven whether he is a mlb player. Remember, if Barrero can establish himself as a mlb player, then he is an asset.
So he could be exchanged for a different assset. That’s a good thing.
Fairchild Myers Ramos and Stevenson need to go all 4 are horrible hitters and need released or traded .
Stephenson is a good hitter who is struggling right now. Slumps happen. Periods of struggle happen. This is especially true with young guys.
…and when they’re coming back from injury. I kind of think maybe he came back too early.
I agree. Especially coming back after injury to a tough position like catching. Patience, certainly the rest of the year, with Stephenson will probably be a positive. He’s a natural meet-the-ball type hitter.
I don’t think we are going to be able to judge Stephenson until next season. To me it’s similar to the Suarez situation. Hopefully, next year he will hit with more authority.
I agree with you 100% on Fairchild, Meyers and Ramos. I would add Casali to that list. I’m still not sure why the Reds are carrying three catchers.
We left after the Yankees scored in the 8th. Nice to see the ballpark with fans in the seats, even if half were Yankee fans. Lively pitched a really nice game. I was baffled why he was lifted for another right hander to face Rizzo, but the result was predictable. Nice evening, but crappy result.