The Cincinnati Reds took two of three on the west coast from the Los Angeles Dodgers and climbed back into first place in the division. Tonight they’ll face off against the surging Chicago Cubs (10-2 over their last 12 games) at Wrigley Field under the lights. First pitch is set for 8:10pm ET.
Starting Lineups
Cincinnati Reds
|
Chicago Cubs
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| Elly De La Cruz – 3B | Nico Hoerner – 2B |
| TJ Friedl – CF | Seiya Suzuki – RF |
| Matt McLain – SS | Ian Happ – LF |
| Jake Fraley – RF | Cody Bellinger – CF |
| Spencer Steer – 2B | Dansby Swanson – SS |
| Joey Votto – 1B | Yan Gomes – C |
| Christian Encarnacion-Strand – DH | Christopher Morel – DH |
| Will Benson – LF | Trey Mancini – 1B |
| Luke Maile – C | Nick Madrigal – 3B |
| Andrew Abbott – LHP | Marcus Stroman – RHP |
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB | K |
| Andrew Abbott | 61.2 | 1.90 | 0.96 | 19 | 66 |
| Marcus Stroman | 125.2 | 3.51 | 1.20 | 48 | 109 |
| Links: Andrew Abbott’s Stats | Marcus Stroman’s Stats |
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Andrew Abbott
What would you think if someone told you that Andrew Abbott was the most valuable pitcher in the National League this year even though he’s only made 10 starts? Well, Baseball-Reference has him tied with Blake Snell at the top of the league among pitchers with 3.3 WAR. The lefty is coming off of back-to-back shutout performances against the Giants and Brewers, covering 14.0 innings where he struck out 15 batters.
The splits for Andrew Abbott are quite big. Lefties have not done much of anything this season against him. They don’t get many opportunities to face him, but the guys who do have manged to hit .174 with one walk and one extra-base hit. Right-handed hitters have performed much better than that, but they still haven’t found much of any success. They are hitting .187 against him and have a .620 OPS.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 190 | 32 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 18 | 49 | .187 | .263 | .357 |
| LHH | 47 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 17 | .174 | .192 | .239 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-seam | Curve | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 92.7 | 80.7 | 82.8 | 86.5 |
| Usage | 50% | 17% | 18% | 15% |
Marcus Stroman
After being named to the All-Star team, Marcus Stroman has struggled in the month of July. He’s made five starts in the month and his ERA is 7.99 as his hit’s allowed and walk rate have shot up. In his last start he allowed seven runs to the White Sox in 3.1 innings. It was his second straight start where he couldn’t get out of the 4th inning.
This season has Stroman showing reverse splits, but over the last three years he’s been a bit more even against both lefties and righties. This year managers have put in lefties as often as they could against him, but they are hitting just .182 with no power to speak of. They have drawn plenty of walks and have a good contact rate – it’s just led to no production. Right-handed hitters don’t walk nearly as often, and they made less contact, but they also have found a lot more hits and have hit for more – but still not much – power.
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 236 | 58 | 12 | 0 | 5 | 15 | 54 | .264 | .309 | .386 |
| LHH | 284 | 45 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 33 | 55 | .182 | .285 | .254 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-seam | 2-seam | Cutter | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 92.2 | 91.7 | 90.0 | 85.3 | 86.7 |
| Usage | 8% | 46% | 10% | 28% | 7% |
When and Where
- Game time: 8:10pm ET
- Where: Wrigley Field
- Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 77°, partly cloudy, 0% chance of rain
News and Notes
The Cubs and Brewers make trades
Chicago has acquired Jeimer Candelario from Washington in exchange for two prospects. Milwuakee landed Mark Canha for a minor league pitcher.
Standings
| Team | W | L | GB | Playoff Odds |
| Reds | 58 | 49 | 0.0 | 36.5% |
| Brewers | 57 | 49 | 0.5 | 70.1% |
| Cubs | 53 | 52 | 4.0 | 26.6% |
| Pirates | 47 | 58 | 10.0 | 0.3% |
| Cardinals | 47 | 60 | 11.0 | 1.3% |
| Playoff Odds via Fangraphs | ||||
Reds twiddling their thumbs. Lorenzen?
I sure hope they are. Pitching is not their problem at this point in the season, which is the only point that counts right now.
It’s July 31 and all our relievers lead in appearances. I’m also not counting on Lodolo or Antone. Not counting on Lively either for that matter. Lorenzen could help
The clock is ticking against the Reds as the trading deadline expires. All we have to show is a 3-year extension to a subpar marginal manager. How about Lorenzen? The relief opportunity was missed by not getting Chapman.
And a $53,000,000 multi year contract to a stud former first rounder, lest we forget.
Having come to age with the Big Red Machine, I am more than confident you David Bell haters would have been calling for Sparky Anderson’s firing in 1975 and 1976. Thank goodness social media didn’t exist then.
The Reds need to play well the next few weeks, look at The Brewers next 13 games, 3 at Washington, 4 vs the Pirates, 3 vs Rocks and 3 at White Sox. Stay close because they then play 17 against pretty good teams.
I would also take a look at the last half of August for the Cubs. The Reds probably have one of the tougher august schedules in Baseball this year.
Supposedly Milw has the 3rd easiest remaining schedule & the Reds have the 10th easiest. What’s that mean? Not much, the Nats just swept SF last week
and the Phillies lost 2-of-3 to the Pirates. It’s why they play the games.
At this point, do we trade two or three prospects for a starter who gives us three starts before Greene is back? Who may or may not be a rental? A lefty reliever would be a good pick up. I suspect our wealth of prospects has other teams asking us to overpay and Thrall is saying no.
Seems like Abbott is logging innings like no tomorrow .. so could they shut him down as a starter to become the elite lefty reliever in the playoffs .. Julio Urias was shutdown reliever for Dodgers in their WS run a few years ago. How does it affect his development (career), if at all?
NO! Krall also says no. The kid will dominate all through the post season too.
As have others said, yet there have still been at least two innings limits for Abbott on these sites, and responses have echoed yours. I, too, have read Krall saying no innings limit for Abbott. A lot of writing occurs on this site, but not nearly so much reading!
I was concerned about the Reds before the series with Milwaukee and again with the Dodgers! After a 3-3 record thru the first 6 games. I am now very nervous about this 4 game set with the Stupid Cubs! Should the Reds split the 4 game series they will likely fall out of first place in the NL Central as the Brewers are on the road against the awful Washington Gnats!
Patience and plate discipline will be necessary tonight, especially with the younger hitters who have not faced Stroman!
Go Reds! Score early and score often!
Why do you get very nervous? You can’t affect the outcome, your livelihood does not depend on the outcome, the four game set will have small effect but is 10% or fewer of the remaining games. And how do you know the Cubs are stupid since you use that label frequently.
One more thing! As much as I detest WALKS, I’m OK with walking Happ & Bellinger as long as the bases are not loaded!
Brooks Raley, Kyle Finnegan, or Daniel Bard please!
Indy, I’m with you. Raley would be a nice boost and not cost too much in prospects. No to Lorenzen
I think many of you are selling Lorenzen short. Starter, long man, high leverage possibilities, or pinch runner. We just had somebody slow on the other night in LA with no pinch runner. Game we lost I think
We made our “trades” in McClain, Elly, Abott and CES.
Don’t short circuit anything
FWIW, lance McCalister had his Chicago media friend on for an interview and the word is when other teams call Krall…HE says you cant have this guy this guy this guy or that guy. Still interested? and they Hang up. I see a last minute FA rental pitcher. I think Marte/Arroyo/Collier/Petty/and Phillips are untouchable unless the other team is offering a young controlled elite pitcher…..which no one does anymore.
More from lance…Phillies and Guardians lead MLB in attendance increase from 2022 up 40%. reds are third up 38%. Last week was the most attended week in MLB since 2012. Last time the Reds played the cubs this late in the season with both winning records??? 1994.
Go Reds.
Just walk Happ.
Ditto from a guy who detests walks! Happ just feasts on Reds pitching!
Sam Moll to the rescue!!!
For Joe Boyle, apparently. Oh ye of little faith.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/07/reds-acquire-sam-moll-from-athletics.html
Refs just traded for left-handed reliever Sam Moll from the A’s for minor league pitcher Joe Boyle. Exactly the kind of deal I was hoping for, get another Lefty in the bullpen but don’t give up a lot to get him which is what they did…well done
Great trade, Joe Boyle’s O/U IMO is below Moll especially considered how long Moll is controlled and a Lefty to boot. Boyle has shown ZERO progress in his ability to find the plate in his 3 years with the Reds and in fact regressed to some extent. He is not a MLB starter IMO and destined for the pen.
I like the trade.
4+ years of control, and cheap.
Nice mid-level RP.
Yep, good trade. Good FIP, low HR rate, high BABIP, so the ERA should improve. He has just a little less usage than Alex Young on the season so far.
We have a trade!
They move Hunter Greene to the 60 day IL?
Saves a 40 Man spot, for the next weeks.
Already been out 60+ days.
Not a big deal (I hope)
Oh good was hoping it didn’t mean anything.
He wasnt coming back from the timeline of 60 days. August 20 return is past 60 days. Moll is controlled and lefty and a bullpen guy.
That first inning looked like we are playing the brewers
Top of the order just watched two called third strikes and grounded out weakly on a 2-0 pitch. Those are exactly the opposites of what you’re supposed to do in those counts. They are young, but old enough to know better.
Got out of that one without any runs. 🙂
Looks like a Loogie. Opponents BA .197 against lefties per Sadak.
Wheels Votto
That a boy Wil !!
Strong lineup top to bottom.
This is ok.
Luuuuuuuuuke
So refreshing to see them base hitting them to death!!
I think enough time has passed where I can say this team might be good. I don’t want to go out on a linb but I think they are good
2 out RBIs are golden. Look like Stroman sinker is very hittable. Score early and score often, let’s go.
Right on cue with Brantley saying Abbott hasn’t allowed a run in 17 innings. I just wish they would shut up.
47 pitches thru 2+ from stroman.
4 game series, and I believe Cubs only have 1 lefty reliever. Would love to start using up their bullpen in game one.
I like scoring on these solid base hits. 🙂
We’re playing “our game” tonight. Good job so far.
Jake Fraley nice RBI hit and stolen base.
Fraley leads the team in HR and RBI and steals. Thats pretty good.
I just wish he could hit left handed pitching even a little. He’d be an awesome right fielder. I do wish he’d get more chances.
I think he cant hit lefties. Use his strengths and acknowledge his weakness. thats being part of a team. Some other righty teammate pick him up. hes really good in his current role
I’m still not convinced he can’t. I’ve seen him hit some hard balls against lefties. Sometimes numbers are deceiving.
Settled in to the hotel for tonight (only a 1-night stay in transit). Had the game on from the start, but just getting things set up to where I can comment.
Love that we’re pressing Stroman and hope we keep it up. Even old Employee #19 got in on the action.
Let’s keep Kicking this Stupid Pig!!!
Father Time does it again … 😀
JV with another hit. Up to .209
Votto settling back in as a 6 hole hitter against righties. great to see. fun.
Stroman pushing 65 pitches thru 2.1
Joe Eh!!! Stroman struggling to get out of innings. Good start to the series!
Base hits and stolen bases.
Love this version.
It’s nice to not face Stroman at the top of his game. Back in mid May to mid June, he was filthy, I remember him 1-hitting the Rays when they were dominating. Fatigue is maybe setting in, he’s averaged 4.5 IP per start in the last 6 starts coming into tonight.
Maybe it’s just the Brewers pitching.
Would love to see a sweep and knock the Cubs back to 8 games out.
Walking the 9th batter with a lead of 6-1 is not ideal
No. Have to be smart and know what the score is .
Abbott looking to match Stroman’s pitch count?
Need to reign this crap in and not let the Stupid Cubs succeed.
Abbott needs to go have a quick chat with his dad.
Get the bullpen up! Before the lead is totally gone.
This is starting to look like a game thats bigger than 1/162.
Buckle up.
Cubs can hit
Abbott may be hitting a wall
I think Brantley is right. The 113 pitches last game might be wearing on him.
To me it just looks like he’s afraid to throw a pitch over the plate, and he’s waiting he’s behind in the count to try it. This is the opposite of what his dad preaches.
Not really a wall.
He did throw 113 pitches last game.
This is the reason we need to see more than 100 pitches per outing…so they can be trained up to go longer.
Abbott seems to not be following through on his pitches. In better news the Nationals are up 5-3 over the Brewers.
Cubs can hit and AA doesn’t have much of a slider tonight. Go with Cruz or Gibaut or someone that might get 5-6 outs if AA gives us much more.
On the positive side, Nats just took the lead on the Brewers 5-3
reds knocked out stroman. May need 9 runs. Gotta win this game. Hitters gotta keep adding on. this is one of the bigger games of the year. Send a message to the Cubs Reds are in first place.all hands on deck
Big test for AA. Can he rally and atleast get us thru 5 with the lead?
Or 3.1? Nico is 2-2 so it’s probably smart
Fraley got a good pitch to hit, but that’s why I’m not a fan of swinging at the first pitch when two guys in front of you have walked. A major league fastball is hard to hit even if it’s over the plate.
Why not let Abbott stay in the game? Maybe he gets through this and lasts a couple more innings? Save your bullpen for the 4 game series?
He’s struggling a little tonight, and more importantly we need him to finish the season.
Yes I agree he was struggling but he needs to learn how to handle it.
Agree with the move also.
I don’t feel good about this now being a bullpen game.
OK, friends. Time to take the phone and the game to bed with me. I’m beat. Easier day tomorrow, which will help.
Here’s to the Bike Helmets we just added to the mix. Got to love that as the result to hold down any more damage.
Night, all.
Good play by Steer at 2B.
Nats beat Brewers 5-3
Got to win this game.
Great news! Now let’s win this game!
Finnegan gets Milw 1-2-3 in the 9th. 98 mph and K’d Yelich to end it
Trade for that guy!!!!
In the words of Jack Nicholson “I love Washington”.
Winning this game will be huge. Let’s go Reds
CES with the opp double. Drive him in !
Cubs have a long man.
Reds – eight 1 inning guys.
See if we can hold .
It’s a Bell dream game! He gets to use at least 5 relief pitchers!
Once this series with the Cubs is over, the Reds will have only 24 road games left while having 27 home games!
Suzuki isn’t nearly as bad as Shogo, but he makes $17 mil a year I think?
Farmer being allowed to get five outs was a pleasant surprise.
Bell was distracted playing Candy Crush on his iPad
It’s impossible to tell how he’s doing in that game because his expression never changes.
Buck Farmer gets 5 outs and mows down 1-2-3-4.
And, with only 16 pitches!
We got good Buck tonight.
Astronaut Farmer is an enigma! Either very good or very bad! No in between for our Buck!
Maile hits the ball so much harder then Tyler
Tyler has a better track record than Maile and more potential.
I have a lot more faith in Tyler, but very glad both on the team.
I sure do wish Elly would shorten up to bunt now and then. At least put the idea in someone’s head that it’s possible.
Come on Reds hit this bum
Morel .880 ops batting 7th and Mancini 8th. How were they under .500 all this time?
9 more outs. this is a huge game to win.
The Air Force issued glasses like this guy wears. We called them BCs. Birth Control glasses
I miss living in Chicago. The 7th inning stretch singing “take me out to the ballgame” is one of the best traditions in baseball. Wrigley is a great place to see a game. If you haven’t done before, treat yourself.
Aye aye aye Lucas Sims here we go
Sims. Smh
Sims is fading. He’s been used so much and he’s max effort every time
Sims is a nightmare.
My goodness (as Barry Larkin would say) sims has been awful lately. Maybe he’ll get out of this jam. My guess is Bell will pull him before he gets out of it. Fingers crossed for Lucas.
Poor choice by Bell.
Young threw 3 pitches but he had to leave because he doesn’t walk guys with his right hand.
I don’t understand it at all.
Sims up to his normal tricks. Hbp and walk. Bell needs to get someone up ASAP. 3 batters max if he don’t get Suzuki.
Hoping somebody is up in the bullpen. Get Sims out of there after this guy.
Bullpen roulette.
Big one there. Two more.
Happ with 2 guys on … here we go.
Got him.
ALL RIGHT!!!!
Sims need Chaos and runners on before he zeroes in.
Good Lord. My heart can’t take much more of Sims.
We have to score an insurance run or two.
I don’t believe what I just saw. If you’re going to get past those two guys in that situation, you really might as well go ahead and win the division.
Wow. Got out of that inning with two on and nobody out. Nice comeback by Sims.
Everybody can breathe again…
’til the Bot 8th
Sims great rebound, but we still need a better setup man
It would help to get another good arm before the deadline.
My bad good come back by Sims, he started to locate his fast ball. Now get some runs.
Sims is definitely not good for my heart!
Sims makes me crazy but he is a bulldog.
Sims always seems to make it interesting. You gotta love his stuff and his competitiveness, but his control leaves a lot to be desired. I think he just likes messing with Dennis.
For weeks, Sims comes in and blows the first two ABs. His warm up routine needs to be modified or he needs to sports psychologist to work with him.
I was going to congratulate Sims for being more efficient by putting the first guy on base with a quick HBP instead of a walk, but then he undid it by walking the next guy. But yet another good job of getting out of the mess he’d created for himself.
Who is gonna pitch the 8th for the Reds? Gibaut? Law?
Gibaut’s got this.
Don’t have to worry about climate change when Sims is on the mound! Why? Because everybody is holding their breath!
Got to bring Benson home.
The Guardians have to be kicking themselves for giving up on Benson. What a find by Krall!.
Need a sac fly here.
Dang. I was thinking Senzel or Newman for the squeeze. Oh well
That would have been a smart thing to do. I wish you were managing.
What’s a squeeze?
Someone should ask Bell if he can define it.
6 outs. Dang. Had a chance at add on
Jeez, Elly was winding up to swing before the ball was delivered.
He strikes out on the same pitch over & over
Everybody knows the off speed stuff is coming but Elly.
If Elly knew how to bunt…
Matt McLAin is a good SS.
That was a Concepcion/Larkin play there by McLain.
Benson lost his hat again
Just saw that the Brewers picked up Canha from the Mets. He might improve their weak offense a bit.
I could not wait to get rid of Barnhart. So tired of him. They just showed him on the Cubs broadcast cheerleading
Things could be different if Freidl or Fraley would have caught those balls.
Bell not knowing what a squeeze play is might turn out to be somewhat costly…
Look like we’re in trouble. C’mon Gibaut.
Friedl payed a price going after that. Still no padding in Wrigley. smh
Reds have a setup man problem lately… it is a suffering
2 balls we had our gloves on and the ivy got them. Gibaut only 93 to Morel there. He’s a hacker… not giving him a 3-2 fb down the middle
This would be a bad loss if they lose this. Up 6-1.
Gibault got it to Diaz…How about an add on run??? Asking for a friend. THIS IS A HUGE GAME
It will be up to Diaz to bring this one home. Can offense add a run to give him some wiggle room ?
It is extremly necessary to score here in the 9th by the Reds
Moll in Chicago yet?
Good battle. Just like that first one in LA. Need a boring 1-2-3 ninth just like Friday
That 9-0 win yesterday’s was a break on the nerves…right back at it tonight
At least Diaz had a day off.
Has any Reds FO type commented on Abbott having a shutdown point when he reaches xxx innings pitches?
Krall said no….but that was a month ago.
Yes..Derek Johnson has… No one listens or reads what he says. There’s no set point ..they are monitoring but Reds usually go 20% more from prior year and hes getting close. They will deal with at that point per DJ. They may be at that point. Johnson says he prefers lengthening starts rather than shortening innings each start.
Thank you very much, though I wish the answer was different. I don’t see how this is a thing that you “deal with when you get there.”
I mean, 120% of innings pitched from ’22 to ’23??
He threw 118 ip in 22. He’s thrown 119 ip in 23. 120% is only 142 ip! He will hit that in 4 or 5 more starts. I don’t see how we have him for Sept and October if we don’t shut him down in August.
Now… I know there may be no October if he skips a month, but that seems to be the prudent thing to do.
Get Verlander and sit Abbott in August. Bring him back mid-Seot if we ooen some ground and Greene and/or Loyola co e back and pitch well.
DIAZ TIME!!
Just can’t get past the fact that you had a speedy runner on third with one out, ahead by 2 runs in the 8th inning, your #9 hitter at the plate, and to Bell that doesn’t seem like a good time to squeeze. What WOULD be a good time to squeeze, if not that? The guy’s “I’m just going to sit back and hope for the best” attitude may be fun for the players, but it’s not fun for me.
The Reds offense turned off after the 3rd inning….
This May all work out but I sure didn’t like Bells pulling off Cruz after 7 pitches and having Young come in to pitch to 1 batter. Kind of wasteful in my view. Not considering the possibility of an extra inning game when we would have to use Duarte. But maybe Diaz will shut them down in the 9th. ?? Hopefully or we will probably lose because of using Cruz and Young foolishly. Using your only left handed for one batter with 2 outs isn’t wise.
I think Cruz should be the 8th inning guy.
Hoping for the good Diaz.
So far, so good
One down. 🙂
We got a Brewer ump there
awfully hard to tie your shoe
One more. 🙂 Walk Happ here? Naw.
Big win. Cubbies go home
big win
Got it!!! It was a tough one.
Diaz! This is NOT how the game would have turned out last year. Now they really might as well go win the division.
BUT GET A SET-UP GUY.
Maybe we did 🙂
I hope you don’t mean Moll…
WooHoo! We got em. Diaz didn’t have to use too many pitches. 🙂
When Diaz slider works, he’s quite good. Big, huge win.
Hey Chicago whaddya say???
The Cubs are going to lose today!!!
Nice little riddle you have 🙂
Lights out for Diaz and for me.
Winning feels good against the Stupid Cubs.
Wow. Diaz makes it look easy.
Reds win!! Cubs can’t even the Reds in the NLCD in this series falling 5 games behind tonight…Brewers now at 1,5 GB
Great ninth by Diaz. That first pitch 97 mph fastball at the knees with life was nasty. Nice to finish of Happ for the exclamation point. What a luxury to have a top shelf closer!
Unless I’m forgetting something, I think every pitch he threw either went over the plate or was within a few inches of the plate, so they were too good to take, but most of them dipped slightly low or slightly outside. Just a thing of beauty. I feel SO much better when his first couple pitches aren’t way off the plate.
Great win tonight. Krall please get us another big time bullpen arm!
Amazing how EDLC is either hot or cold. 3Ks is cold.
If only he knew how to bunt. Could help him reach base when he’s cold, and would be an absolute nightmare for the corner infielders every time he came to the plate.
But I would settle for just having a better sense of when to swing and when not to swing…
How many teams in baseball win at Chicago when their top 5 in the lineup go 1-18? Probably not too many. Hitters 6-9 were 7-16. Not too shabby.
How many teams would have one of the best hitters (statistically) in the national league hitting 8th?
At least he’s hitting 8th for the Reds and not Cleveland!
How many fans thought we’d never see him again after sub-.100 BA and demotion to Louisville?
Hand raised here.
Please stop the consistent negativity. Whatever the Reds current management is doing is working and the players and the majority of fans approve. Apply for a management position if you can do better.
Woops. Top 5 were 1-19.
Splitting this series will take some wind out of Cubbies’ sails. Winning 3 will demoralize them. Sweeping would deflate them 100%.