After being shutout in the series opener on Friday, the Cincinnati Reds took care of business on Saturday afternoon in St. Louis and beat the Cardinals 8-4 to even up the series. The two teams will get back at it this afternoon with the winner taking the series victory. First pitch is set for 2:15pm ET…. if the rain stops.
Starting Lineups
Cincinnati Reds
|
St. Louis Cardinals |
| TJ Friedl – CF | Brendan Donovan – 1B |
| Matt McLain – SS | Paul Goldschmidt – DH |
| Jonathan India – 2B | Nolan Gorman – 2B |
| Elly De La Cruz – 3B | Nolan Arenado – 3B |
| Spencer Steer – 1B | Willson Contreras – C |
| Tyler Stephenson – DH | Dylan Carlson – RF |
| Will Benson – RF | Jordan Walker – LF |
| Stuart Fairchild – LF | Paul DeJong – SS |
| Curt Casali – C | Tommy Edman – CF |
| Hunter Greene – RHP | Adam Wainwright – RHP |
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB | K |
| Hunter Greene | 62.0 | 3.92 | 1.32 | 25 | 88 |
| Adam Wainwright | 31.2 | 5.97 | 1.74 | 10 | 19 |
| Links: Hunter Greene’s Stats | Adam Wainwright’s Stats |
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Hunter Greene
After dealing with some hip tightness and being skipped in the rotation, Hunter Greene is back on the mound this afternoon. It’ll be 10 days since he last pitched and despite giving up just one run in the game in his 6.0 innings he took the loss in Boston. In the start prior to that he tossed 6.0 hitless innings against the Cubs.
It doesn’t seem that opposing managers are paying much attention to the information that should be readily available to them because they continue to send a bunch of left-handed hitters to the plate against Hunter Greene despite 187.2 big league innings worth of information that says they hit him much worse than right-handed hitters do. In 2022 lefties had an OPS 138 points worse against Greene than righties. This season they have an OPS 264 points worse. Yet despite all of that more lefties have seen Greene this year than righties.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 131 | 34 | 11 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 39 | .283 | .344 | .525 |
| LHH | 136 | 23 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 49 | .193 | .294 | .311 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-seam | Change | Slider | |
| Velo | 99.0 | 92.1 | 88.7 |
| Usage | 55% | 6% | 40% |
Adam Wainwright
It’s been a tough year for Adam Wainwright. He missed the first six weeks of the season and has made just six starts for St. Louis. He has allowed less than three runs just once.
This season left-handed hitters have been crushing the ball against Wainwright. They are making tons of contact and hitting for plenty of power, though they only have one homer against him there’s been 13 extra-base hits from leftes in his six starts. Right-handed hitters have an OPS nearly 300 points lower than lefties. They have been solid across the board but haven’t done a bunch of damage.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 78 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 11 | .278 | .325 | .431 |
| LHH | 72 | 25 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 | .379 | .417 | .636 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | 2-seam | Curve | Cutter | Change | |
| Velo | 86.4 | 87.3 | 72.1 | 83.2 | 81.8 |
| Usage | 5% | 34% | 30% | 26% | 5% |
When and Where
- Game time: 2:15pm ET
- Where: Busch Stadium
- Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 67°, rain showers, 90% chance of rain
News and Notes
Casey Legumina activated, Kevin Herget optioned
Cincinnati activated reliever Casey Legumina from the 15-day injured list this afternoon and have optioned Kevin Herget to Triple-A.
Nick Senzel to Triple-A for rehab
The Cincinnati Reds have sent Nick Senzel to join the Louisville Bats for a rehab assignment. He’s not eligible to return until Friday, so expect him to spend a few days with the team to get some at-bats and time in the field.
Standings
| Team | W | L | GB | Playoff Odds |
| Pirates | 33 | 30 | 0.0 | 20.7% |
| Brewers | 34 | 31 | 0.0 | 57.4% |
| Reds | 30 | 35 | 4.0 | 3.6% |
| Cubs | 28 | 36 | 5.5 | 10.4% |
| Cardinals | 27 | 38 | 7.0 | 21.4% |
| Playoff Odds via Fangraphs | ||||
Perdy sure reds wasn’t shutout friday,scored 4 I’m a thinkin
Puts me in the frame of mind for driving through Arkansas tomorrow!
90% chance of rain …
Weather Channel app says 19% around 1:00, rising to 20-31% over the subsequent couple of hours. Of course, this is the Weather Channel where people stand outside in hurricanes and floods to tell people not to stand in hurricanes or floods.
Weather channel seems to be closer to actual than AccuWeather. At least here in NY. Wainwright is probably begging for rain since he struggles against the Reds
I looked at Weather Underground a few minutes ago, and there is no rain at present in St. Louis. Nothing on the radar, so I think the game starts on time.
I believe Wainwright is 11-17 with a high ERA of about 6 against the Reds lifetime. Let’s kick his butt and show him no matter where he pitches against the Reds it’s the Devil’s Lair.
I certainly hope so, but I wonder whether he’s different enough from other pitchers they’ve seen that the young guys might have a bit of trouble with him. On the other hand, maybe they’ll beat him like a rented mule.
Same lineup today except for catcher. That’s unusual for David Bell.
He’s learning, now that he has better players.
Of course maybe he always knew and didn’t have good enough players.
Shhhh! Don’t anybody tell Bell!
sorry…..Shhhh
Given the weather forecast, let’s not give the Cards any hope and score early & often!
Senzel, Votto, Myers and Ramos are all starting for Louisville today. Who on the current 26-man major league roster are they going to replace when their rehabs are complete?
Hopkins for sure. I could see them send Barrero down since he is clearly behind Fairchild now in the OF rotation. Ramos could replace Benson. Then it comes down to letting Myers go or a catcher in my opinion. Maybe they option Newman down?
He could replace Benson, but Benson has started to play well. Newman is playing pretty well too lately, and I’m not certain that Senzel is really a comp as far as infield versatility goes.
Senzel has not come close to a clean year off the IL yet. If somehow you can get anything for him trade him.
To me, Hopkins for sure. Beyond that … ?
Benson, Fairchild, and Barrero. Maybe Ramos stays in Louisville. Regardless, I expect the team to regress appreciably once the old guys return.
Senzel replaces Barrero
Votto replaces Hopkins
Myers replaces Fairchild
Ramos remains in AAA
My guesses, It could also depend on who is ready 1st, but these seem to be the moves unless Krall DFA’s a C.
India leaves via the front door
EDLC says not today old man.
That play was kinda funny. lol
Greene took something off there. Only 99 mph. 🙂
Yup
Finished him off at 100
Let’s see! Abbott 2-0 and probably making the league minimum salary. Greene is 1-4 and making almost $9M per year! Just saying! Need a solid start from Hunter today!
Huh???
Greene is making 1.33 million this year
Speaking of Greene, I see improvement every game! Nice job in pitching around a leadoff double in the 1st!
DraftKings has this daily promo going…bet the money line and if your team gets a 2 run lead you win. 1 run to go! Also have Cards under 4.5 today
Ok this is Greene’s bad inning this year. Let’s hope 1,2,3 .
Or maybe not.
Here we go again. Walk, dumb 0-2 double and a hanger. 3 gifts. Never go down and in to a lefty
Yep! Always up & in or low and away to lefties! Been that way since baseball was invented!
Same pattern with Greene, as well as other Reds pitchers! Early inning walks, nibbling after getting ahead 0-2 in the count, etc.!
just keep it at 2 runs ….no way Reds are not getting to Wainwright
Greene’s slider today, is the best I’ve seen from him. a lot of biting action.
I prefer that one over the “sweeping slider”
And, Hunter Greene tracking at 20 or more pitches per inning as usual! If he survives past the 5th inning I’ll be surprised! 4 SOs though which looks nice in the box score but this team needs a win when HG is on the mound!
Maybe Freidl should’ve rehabbed
I was saying yesterday why didn’t he.
87 down the pipe. Wainwright got lucky on EDLC.
thought the same…center cut.
Speed changes keep hitters off balance just enough.
Ellly…great piece of hitting.
McClain has to be on 3rd on that 2 out hit? Then EDLC can make it 2nd/3rd
Probably not positive if Casali could score.
Generally agree though.
Are my ears deceiving me, or was I hearing a feint, “Let’s Go Reds!” chant?? 🙂
I sense a 4-5 year window of Reds dominance finally..
L6 with Elly at short. Probably barely jump. McLain 2B long term
All our rehabers won’t be rehabbing today. Louisville game canceled due to rain.
That’s why I put EDLC at short. He snares that line drive easily from goldy
Do they not hit line drives over 2B? 😉 haha
True but that is the second one in a week that EDLC would have had.
Many more righties then lefties though
I know. Just playin with ya. Haha
Greene isn’t as sharp today as his last few outings. It will be interesting to see how he fights through that.
Jeez. Strand this guy please. HGs slider is terrible. Supposed to look like a strike and dip out of the zone, not start at their shoulder and hang right over the plate
HG most likely wasn’t going to be sharp today with all the time off, but he’s got to get to work! Mahle didn’t come up with a splitter, but developed it. He pulled off 3.70 era or whatever without half the arm talent HG has. He’ll be 24 so youth as an excuse only lasts so long
Mahle was 3-12 with a 5.14 ERA in his second year. It takes awhile unfortunately. I dont get why Greene just wont commit to 3 pitches and change speeds. Everything is too hard.
Good inning in the 4th. Casali just pounded 98 mph at the upper zone over and over.
Cards best 2 players hit very tough pitches.
Goldys hit was about 3 inches off the ground.
Arrenado’s was down and away slider that he shot the other way.
I thought Benson could have attempted the superman dive…instead of a reach and fall. It would have been a triple either way.
That slider to Arenado wasnt really down. Hanger…just not right down the middle. I know the kid is young and he hasn’t pitched in a while
Oakland just dropped a 4 spot on the Brewers.
Maybe to show MLB their hypocrisy they should have Pete Rose read their in game gambling updates on TV.
Lmao. Football is starting to have a problem with gambling. I mean what does the league expect?
money money money.
I’m not even anti gambling, as I think people should be able to make their own decisions, but this constant gambling ads in game, and on comercial is a disgusting money grab.
Yeah it’s terrible during hockey games as well
Hahahaha!!!!
Hunter Greene proves people wrong. 76 pitches through 5 and will head into the 6th.
Old man shooting for his first quality start. That would not be good
Ha not today.
Nice at-bats today by Elly. He’s showing great baseball IQ. Barring injury he’s a star
Seem to be pitching some around him. Like to see CES brought up and put behind him.
Looks like you jinxed him, Indy 🙂
Come on Stephenson you got to be on 3rd on that.
Yes
Reds have hit good against Stratton this year. Let’s keep it going
No doubt about it! Baseball IQ is a real thing. You can see it (or the lack of it) in players. The Reds have managed to get a few young guys with a high baseball IQ and high physical talent to match and it’s going to be FUN to watch!
Stewie has his moments, but he just gets down 1-2 almost every stinking at-bat. I don’t see him hanging around if CES ever forces Steer to the OF. Same w Senzel. He can hit lefties, but he’ll get hurt and he’s barely average in the OF
EDLC flashing the leather on the one hopper, then has the IQ to know the catcher is running and takes his time. I’m not upset with elly and McLain on the left side.
Don’t look now, but Benson is now hitting .300 with a .364 OBP since being called up.
I’d like to see him keep this going to the ASB. If he does, the Reds might have something here. He’s clearly a good defender with a strong arm, perfect for right field. And more importantly, he’s a lefty bat for a Reds team starved of good lefty bats until very recently (looking at you, EDLC).
Cautiously optimistic. Would be great if Benson is the real deal.
Definitely. He has all the skills.
You may very well be correct but there is a big time roster crunch coming. Senzel isnt going anywhere in the next 6 weeks nor is Myers and Votto is here for the duration. All 3 could be back in the 7-10 days. Plus Fraley.
Senzel comes up, TJ Hopkins goes down.
Votto comes up, Benson goes down.
Myers comes up, Fairchild goes down.
Fraley comes back, Barrero goes down.
OF rotation in 1 week…
Against righties: Fraley LF, Friedl CF, Myers RF
Against lefties : Steer LF, Senzel CF, Myers RF.
I agree there is a roster crunch coming. I also agree Hopkins is the first guy to be sent down. Beyond that, I think all bets are off, including don’t look past Senzel also being optionable. He has available options and does not have the service time to decline an option.
Any player with fewer than five years of Major League service time and an option year remaining can be optioned to the Minor Leagues. Players with more than five years of service time must consent to be optioned.
https://www.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/minor-league-options
If we presume India, Stephenson, Friedl, Fraley, Steer, McLain, and EDLC are NOT going to be optioned, that leaves the available option pool of Barrero, Benson, Fairchild, and Senzel. I could see realistic scenarios in which any of these guys could be sent down. And if they bring up CES, all of them could end up at AAA.
I see Senzel at risk because his only clear value above the other option pool guys is as Fraley’s platoon partner. Meanwhile, it seems a given that Newman is going to play vs LH pitching. Thus the Reds could just as easily cover Fraley’s spot vs LH pitching by playing Newman at 1B (as they have started to recently) and moving Steer LF.
The team would be better served by biting the bullet on the 3 catcher plan and cutting bait on Myers; but, I agree they probably won’t do that.
@ JIm. Im not saying what I would do. I’m predicting what the Reds will do. Senzel is top 5 hitting in mLb against lefties and he can play IF or OF. That has value. I think they trade him at the deadline for a AA reliever to unload his salary and move on. Thats not a bad strategy IMO on June 11. Trade deadline is only 7 weeks away
OS> It all comes down to whether the FO is more interested in trying to get into the playoffs or maximizing what they get back by selling at the deadline.
If they move Myers now and go back to 2 catchers, that frees up two spots without optioning any of the guys in my pool. I think Benson sticks 1st. That leaves Barrero, Fairchild, and Senzel for 2 spots, presuming Ramos is not in play too. As I said above, pick’em. I could make a case for any of the 3. But the better case than any of them is probably to get CES up to MLB.
And if you didn’t see it, I said on a thread yesterday or the day before, I thought would be best for the team and Fairchild if he was sent down like Friedl was last year to see if he could work on the things the league seems to have found out to drop him from his 116 OPS+ last year to the 85-90 range his at this year. So, I am not pulling for him just because I have been following him closely all along.
I’m not a fan of removing Greene here.
Hopefully, Bell pushes the right button.
That HBP hurt him. He had him and hung on the ball to long. If Greene can just get through that darn 2nd inning. For some reason it gives him troubles
He chose the right button !
Nice work Gibault
Hits Carlson 0-2 and then walks a 7 foot tall dude w humongous strike zone. C’mon HG….this game is huge
you want to be the ace of a staff….tie game in the 3rd inning….don’t hit a guy on an 0-2 pitch, then walk the next guy….just a thought
For those who think I’m a hater of Bell, I will say this about bringing in Ian. . .
This could be a good move. What I want to see, though, does he bring in someone else now, or does he keep Ian out there? I mean, pretty much the same exact move from a recent game, brought in Farmer for 3 pitches to get the 3rd out, then brought in the minor leaguer.
So, “results”, yes, excellent move. What does Bell do after that?
After the last few years I can’t believe I’m saying this but I like our chances now that we’re into the bullpens.
Stratton 5 runs in 4 appearances against the Reds this year. Thanks Marmol.
Sorry 4. Should have been 6 there with India.
That hurt. McLain fouled off a pitch that he usually drills and then the K was a nice pitch. I thought India made it 5-3. Dead center is tough
Not a bad outing for our #2 starter! Struggled a bit but hung in there.
Tough crowd in here today.
Idk how Gibaut does it? I think his biggest attribute is nobody told him he has C+ stuff so he thinks he’s got elite stuff.
Just like buying a house ,Indy. Location,location ,location.
You beat me to it.
1 year ago today Reds lost to the Cards on a walk-off to go 20-39.
Greene 5 strong innings of 1 run ball and Diaz and Cessa pitched consecutive scoreless innings. Reds took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the 8th inning and HUnter Strickland gave up 2 in the 8th and closer Joel Kuhnel gave up a walk off 2 run bomb in the 9th inning to lose 5-4.
That Reds lineup had Nick Senzel leading off 0-5 in CF.
Tommy Pham 3 hole in LF
Matt Reynolds 6 hole 2b
RLN fav Colin Moran 7 hole
ALbert Almora rf 8 hole
Chris Okey catching and hitting 9th.
Progress for sure.
Omg. I’m glad I got out early last year. That’s hideous. Kuhnel drives me nuts.
I’m not sure if Moran,Almora and Okey are playing baseball anywhere
And I believe that’s the game Kuhnel was emotional on the bench after that homer.
Pitching is like real estate … Location, location, location.
Lol. Intelligent minds think alike
Close.
Put CES behind EDLC immediately Krall. They are pitching around him. Not getting fastballs
Less than 20 MLB at bats and they’re already pitching around him 🙂
Fastest man alive? No way, but can’t see anyone faster over 6’3. It’s too hard to get those big feet going usually. Maybe Megatron Calvin Johnson in his prime
Nothing better than Contreras dropping the ball. Can’t stand him.
That was shades of the Hamil-run.
Ellys speed applies so much pressure.
Speed kills baby
Our prized young rookie today has supplied a path for the tying and go ahead runs today! On the road against our nemesis. All without hitting a HR!
Wait til they figure out that he can handle the soft breaking stuff and start bringing the heat.
Ok I like the idea of getting Grienke, and Chapman. Most people seem hesitant about trading away any prospects. We also have a riser crunch.
Fraley 8.9 trade value
Chapman 6.3 trade value
Grienke 2.7 trade value
( total 9 total value)
Our outfield could be
Friedl, Steer, Benson Myers, Senzel
Trading the Viking hurts chemistry I think plus Greinke would get murdered in GABP. Biggest park to the smallest
It’s often implied but I don’t think it’s true that GABP is the smallest ML park. Yes, right field has been cut short but that’s the case in other parks. Check out Yankee Stadium and Atlanta’s new ballpark. GABP’s center and left center field distances are as big or bigger than many others.
Chapman yes, Grienke no.
He would go from a canyon park to a band box….5 inning pitcher too.
The reason I’d go after Grienke is he’d be an affordable gap filler, and our rotation has a huge gap that needs to be filled. I’d love to get Bieber, but he’s going to cost a lot. I’d target a big FA arm in the off-season.
I’m a big Fraley fan, but something needs to be done to help the pitching get though the season.
Loving Benson! I wasn’t one of the ones piling on him early because this season is for sorting and he looks the part atleast
He sure does Indy. I’ll admit, his AB’s early on made me wonder but he looks solid now!
Reds need a number one next year. Why not sign free agent Julio Urias from the Dodgers. Will be 27 next year.
That’s exactly who I’d target.
Bargain basement Bob outbidding the deep pockets? Don’t see it, but we do need alot of help
Haha flea market Bob , Indy. Have a lot of money off the books in Moose, Votto,Myers. Sign Urias and the people will show up.
Someone pretty young like that, I could go for.
Urias yes, but then you have to outbid LAD.
Sims has to make it interesting.
Sims looks really good lately. Not grooving the costly gopher balls this year
Sims has been good of late. Big help to bullpen.
Oakland sweeping Mkl? We take it.
Good inning by Sims. Reds 3 outs away from a big win. Let’s make it easy with some add-on runs in the 9th.
Pop, Pop, K after the mandatory walk.
Sims pitching Walker like the starters should have. Outside and down. He steps in the bucket on every swing.
I’m telling you guys…Tigers dropped another one. Go get Lorenzen with all this surplus offense we can’t use and then hire Jeff Keppinger and Jerry Hairston Jr as coaches))
I agree Indy. I like a couple A’s guy too. Blackburn maybe. They wont cost much. Austin Hendrick or a Daytona lottery pick.
Benson 3/4 on the day. And his average continued to climb.
And, as Marty Brennaman so aptly put it….
This one belongs to the Reds.
On to KC.
Yes! Always extra sweet to beat the red Birds. Feel good about the bullpen.
I haven’t seen good Reds defense in years. It’s nice to see.
With Fairchild, Friedl, and Benson in the outfield, that’s a lot of speed that can cover a lot of ground. Even if you stick Fraley in LF, the Friedl/Benson combo is still tough to get a hit against.
Solid. A game they never win the past two years.
True that.
A good way to think of it.
Bullpen would have collapsed, no extra runs scored.
2 of 3 from the Dodgers and 2 of 3 from the Cards. I call that a good week.
Yep 🙂
I’m curious.
After EDLC, who is the fastest player on the team? Benson, Fairchild, Friedl, McLain, and Barrero all have serious speed. I honestly don’t know who would win in a race between the 5 of them, although I have a hunch Friedl would probably come in last.
Fairchild had the fastest time to 1st
Big win folks. When is the last time we saw a Reds team pull of tough wins like this? Now if they can do the same this next series?
Character building win. These are the games we want our young guys up here experiencing!
CES Should be in the show. The Reds 7-8-9 hitters don’t produce or generate the badly needed power long ball hitting opportunity. Fairchild good field no/hit along with others with the same profile. CES has more than earn it! The time to win consistently is now.
Correct! As evidenced by another paltry 2 for 11 with RISP!
Oakland A’s sweep the Brewers.
Unbelievable!
Benson stepping up, maybe hearing the rattling down in Louisville.
I know K-child is the fair-haired boy on RLN, but he’s in competition for a spot right now.
Would like to see him cut down on the Ks and hit for contact and use his speed.
McLain, India and Steer are 2Bs machines. Occasionally, one will go out.
That will do,