There are five games left in the regular season for the Cincinnati Reds. Tonight they’ll start up a 2-game set in Cleveland against the Guardians. If the Reds want to make the playoffs they likely need to win out. Tonight’s first pitch is set for 6:10pm ET.
Starting Lineups
Cincinnati Reds
|
Cleveland Guardians
|
| Jonathan India – 2B | Steven Kwan – LF |
| TJ Friedl – CF | Jose Ramirez – 3B |
| Spencer Steer – LF | Josh Naylor – 1B |
| Christian Encarnacion-Strand – 1B | Kole Calhoun – DH |
| Joey Votto – DH | Andres Gimenez – 2B |
| Noelvi Marte – 3B | Gabriel Arias – SS |
| Elly De La Cruz – SS | Will Brennan – RF |
| Will Benson – RF | Bo Naylor – C |
| Luke Maile – C | Myles Straw – CF |
| Hunter Greene – RHP | Lucas Giolito – RHP |
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB | K |
| Hunter Greene | 104.0 | 4.24 | 1.35 | 46 | 143 |
| Lucas Giolito | 176.0 | 4.60 | 1.26 | 64 | 195 |
| Links: Hunter Greene’s Stats | Lucas Giolito’s Stats |
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Hunter Greene
Coming off of one of the best starts of his career – he struck out 14 batters with one walk and allowed a run in 7.0 innings against Minnesota – Greene will be looking to repeat that performance against Cleveland. Tonight’s start will be his first against Cleveland in his career.
His splits are pretty big. Right-handed hitters hit quite well against Greene, putting up a high average and plenty of power. Left-handed hitters don’t do much hitting against him with a sub .200 average and only hit for mediocre amounts of power against him.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 236 | 58 | 19 | 2 | 10 | 19 | 63 | .271 | .336 | .519 |
| LHH | 218 | 36 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 27 | 80 | .194 | .307 | .366 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-seam | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 98.7 | 87.7 | 91.5 |
| Usage | 54% | 41% | 5% |
Lucas Giolito
After being claimed on waivers by Cleveland, Giolito got shelled in his debut as he gave up nine runs in 3.0 innings in a 20-6 loss to Minnesota. In the three starts since then he’s allowed five earned runs in 19.1 innings with four walks and 27 strikeouts (2.33 ERA). Giolito faced the Reds a month ago when the Angels came to town and he allowed one earned – but three more unearned – in 6.0 innings.
The splits for Giolito pretty much don’t exist. The OPS for righties is .778 and for lefties it’s .771. They do get there a little differently, though. Lefties walk more, but hit for a lower average, and they strike out a bit more often. Righties hit for a higher average and make a little more contact.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 443 | 98 | 20 | 4 | 21 | 31 | 112 | .244 | .308 | .470 |
| LHH | 306 | 60 | 11 | 2 | 16 | 33 | 83 | .225 | .311 | .461 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-seam | Slider | Curve | Change | |
| Velo | 93.3 | 84.2 | 78.1 | 81.1 |
| Usage | 43% | 29% | 2% | 27% |
When and Where
- Game time: 6:10pm ET
- Where: Progressive Field
- Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv (out of market)
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 69°, cloudy, 15% chance of rain
News and Notes
Matt McLain out for the year
The Reds were hoping to get Matt McLain back after a short rehab stint over the weekend. That’s not happening. McLain re-aggravated his injury and will miss the rest of the season. We wrote more about it, with quotes from McLain, earlier today and you can check that out here if you’re looking for some more information.
Wild Card Standings
| Team | W | L | GB | Playoff Odds |
| Philadelphia | 87 | 69 | +5.0 | 100% |
| Chicago | 82 | 74 | 0.0 | 58.3% |
| Arizona | 82 | 74 | 0.0 | 78.2% |
| Miami | 81 | 75 | 1.0 | 55.5% |
| Cincinnati | 80 | 77 | 2.5 | 8.0% |
| San Francisco | 78 | 79 | 4.5 | 0.1% |
| Playoff Odds via Fangraphs | Top 3 Make Playoffs | ||||
Division Standings
| Team | W | L | GB | Playoff Odds |
| Brewers | 88 | 68 | 0.0 | 100% |
| Cubs | 82 | 74 | 6.0 | 58.3% |
| Reds | 80 | 77 | 8.5 | 8.0% |
| Pirates | 74 | 82 | 14.0 | 0.0% |
| Cardinals | 68 | 88 | 20.0 | 0.0% |
| Playoff Odds via Fangraphs | ||||
No more roster moves today or did I miss them?
Nothing I saw.
As far as I have seen and heard the Reds held their hand/
A person would not have to be a serious conspiracy theorist to at least wonder if the Reds front office was less than truly interested in making the playoffs.
Renfroe and Bader were PR lottery choices in the waiver rush; and, since then the Reds have passed on some pitching that might have aided their desperate bullpen situation.
Meanwhile, with the offense struggling they were slow to bring up Martini when Fraley went down and have made no moves as it became evident Fraley was a mere shell of his prior self after the 1st week of his September return.
At least Lopez…somebody. I know what you mean.
No margin for error here. And the guys ahead of us pretty much need to barf it up (certainly possible). If it can’t be us, I truly hope the Stupid Cubs don’t make it. I’m betting with the odds shown above that the Snakes will be playing next week.
Let’s kick these Guardrails into the Mighty Cuyahoga River!!
Just saw a posting noting Brooks Robinson has passed. Another significant loss for Baseball.
https://apnews.com/article/brooks-robinson-orioles-death-6bbfb514ab91429db8aed53e8c17861d
I saw a pic of Boog Powell visiting Brooks last week on X (Twitter) which made me wonder if Brooks was on last call watch.
I was wondering why they showed the highlights of him from 70 W.S. My moms favorite player.
Giolito is certainly on the radar to be a Red next year.
I like his downward tilt on pitches.
He fits right in with nibbling that the Reds pitchers like to do.
In other words DJ wouldn’t have to do much molding.
I for one hope they move on from DJ, and throw some of that money at the LA Dodgers pitching coach. Because whoever goes there seems to instantly receive magic pixie dust.
What was EDLC thinking to swing for?
At least part of it was that first really bad strike call, but at this point, I think he’s just not seeing stuff well for the most part.
Looks like we’re watching the extreme variability at the bottom of the zone tonight. Pretty ugly with Joey and Elly … and quite opposite as well.
Benson ripped that, but didn’t lift it. Hope it’s not going to be one of those nights.
De La Cruz is lost at sea ….didn’t even take the bat off his shoulders … awful AB
If it’s possible, EDLC looks even worse than 3 weeks ago. He is not driving the ball anymore, even when he does make contact. I would like to know what they are working on. Pitch selection skills improvement is a two step process with the second one being swinging. Yes, that’s sarcasm.
This comment aged well. Lol
the number one thing to accomplish for next season is to figure something out with EDLC…..I know he is raw, but he has regressed so badly this year….it is alarming
There is a difference between minor league and big league pitching and making the transition as a hitter can be difficult. Not sure he has regressed he is just making the transition. We have seen the same thing from previous #1 prospect Barrero.
Thrall and Cowboy talking old-time pitchers. Gaylord Perry came up and Cowboy brought up his spit ball 😛 😀
Everybody duck on those flying bats!!!!
And on the flip side , it’s Sadak comedy hour … dude is just hard to listen to
Kind of grooved that one 😮
Lazy slider away that hung long enough for a hitter expecting the heater to jerk it out to his pull side.
This is not what they needed, it might be over before this series even started.
Always play from behind – almost always
Hung the slider.
They aren’t touching his fastball.
Whoever is calling the pitches (DJ Bell or Maile) isn’t paying attention.
+500. As I said above the HR guy was expecting a heater and got to that slider hung away
Yet another Reds pitcher gets himself in trouble by getting ahead in the count and then refusing to throw anything even close to a strike until it’s 3-2. At some point, someone is going to need to figure this stuff out for the Reds to be successful. You can’t always strike everyone out. Let them put the ball in play when they’re taking a defensive swing.
Derrick Johnson ain’t it … been saying it all year. He needs to go out the door along with the hitting coach at years end ….
I’ve resisted the heavy criticism of Johnson, but I just don’t see that he’s getting the guys to break that bad habit. And it runs across starters and the bullpen. Remember when Abbott debut and his own Dad said he needed to stop nibbling? Yeah … 😮
Exactly !
We’re in our favorite position. Come from behind, baby!!
Home Runs haunt, especially when preceded by a couple of singles.
3-run dingers are very hard to swallow.
Greene surrenders the multi-run long ball again… He has to learn how to avoid that if he wants to be a solid starter next year… the lack of a third above-average or average pitch is hurting…
Working on an ERA of 15 for the gsme
Luke says, “Hold my beer. I’ll show you how to do it.”
That 0-2 pitch to India is a perfect example of what the Reds pitchers never seem to do. It was basically a hanging something-or-another right down the middle, but because India didn’t know what to expect, he took an awkward swing and got himself out. Not only was it an out, but it only required three pitches.
Suspect the slider that got hit for the HR was supposed to do exactly what you described but got hung in the wrong spot and got jerked to the pull side. In the middle of the plate that fastball swing doesn’t get good if any contact, hung or not.
Snuck a triple in there … nice job by Steer to beat him.
Steer is great with 2 strikes. Best approach on the team.
Keep the coaches away from him.
Yes sir CES !!!!
That beats a Sac Fly … 😮
Crushed that one and it didn’t hook. Cowboy noting it was almost out of the park.
Hit the closed Lite beer concession stand.
Tastes great
Less filling!
What is going on with CES? This guy has some serious power.
Hes my every day 1b and 4 hole hitter.
The guy we are seeing now is the guy I was seeing on MiLBTV almost nightly when he was at AAA. That’s why I was saying just bring him up and play him and don’t worry about handedness with him.
Giolito is terrible. Hoping the Reds aren’t dumb enough to go after him.
CES just hitting them where the ain’t to get the run home. They ain’t sitting in the bleachers.
If every pitching staff, and every pitcher, is pitching you the same way, game after game, does the hitting coach and or coaching staff step up? Or is that just for each player to figure it out individually?
And, on the flip side, if all of these pitchers are throwing off speed stuff and getting double digit strikeouts, why don’t any of our power pitchers throw change ups? AT ALL! Soto, Rijo,Castillo to name a few all had off speed out pitches to finish a strikeout. Without it, you have 8-10 pitch k’s if you are lucky,and high pitch counts with batters never worried about being out in front of pitches. More so than player moves in the off season, the Reds need to figure out how to take their existing young and talented team to the next level with the bats and on the mound.
Oopsie … hung another one.
Greene doesn’t have it tonight.
Nice job Green – batting practice … behind again lol… unbelievable just unbelievable
Staff “ace” in a pennant race, not to worry Elly Hamilton Aquino will bail him out
I eat my words
and EHA did his part.
I don’t know why the Reds consistently drop the lead after a come back… Incredible… Green doesn’t have the location of his pitches tonight…
Get him out man that’s pathetic.
Until green develops a 3rd pitch, he’s never going to be elite
Well it’s not like we haven’t seen that all year. Reds score runs to take the lead and then give it right back in the bottom of the inning. Truly amazing.
And another hanger finds the seats.
Is this going to be a “last one to score by HR wins” kind of a game?
Bell sits and fiddles while the season burns.
He literally has no feel whatsoever for when to pull a starter and when to leave them in….random guessing j
A David Bell managed team that can’t lose another game versus a Terry Francona managed to team that has nothing to lose. Who do you like?
This kind of Games when Greene comes off with no location is really horrible…
They have to win every game ….
Well, he got all of that one (for a change) … 😮
Not a bad hit. 😉
Get that man a Viking helmet and a cape!
They got lucky it hit Benson or he’d be on 3rd.
OK, TJ. No matter who they throw at you, just lift one enough to score Benson. Or smack one out/to the wall. That works as well.
Nuts!!!
I want green out, but I truly don’t know who to bring in!!
Same.
Greene and EDLC have as much physical talent that I have ever seen in a Reds uniform in the last 53 years but they will frustrate till the end of their Reds careers.
2awful ABs back to back
Ahead of him, knows that pitch 4-inches off the plate to the right is a strike, nibbles and walks him …
I’m very tired of this story playing on endless repeat loop.
Straw just made a good defensive swing on that. Not Hunter’s night for sure.
Yep messed around the strike zone
Greene man … get him out right now.. wow that’s a bad effort
How disappointing was that outing?
Other than Andrew Abbott, has any pitcher taken 3 steps forward and proven they are a legitimate starter in MLB and 180 innings guy next year? You can make an argument for Ashcraft as a toe injury, not underperformance ended a solid stretch. Hunter Greene is disappointing. Starting pitching is going to be the #1/2/3/4 conversational piece over the winter.
I’m not so down on Greene, but I do question the coaching staff’s ability to get him on a better track. Same goes with the rest of the pitchers. Since the sticky stuff was outlawed, the need for control seems (to me at least) to far outweigh the spin rate stuff that used to light up the boards.
But I am not now, nor was I ever a baseball pitcher (aside from batting practice).
He was great last start but thats kinda the problem….Hes so up and down and a 2 pitch pitcher. Hes not young anymore and being paid well not on what he has done but projected to do. One thing for sure. we will get to watch him pitch every 5th day for a long time.
You absolutely correct on starting pitching. If we had 3 guys that pitched 180 innings with an ERA less than 4.50 we could have clinched the division easy.
Seen about enough … we know how this is gonna end with this quality bullpen work
Here comes the reds bullpen……and here comes trouble
The Reds come from behind and fool us again, plus the Cubs lose.
7 runs allowed in 4 innings in a game that they must win …. Absolutely pitiful –
Nice job by Moll
Moll has been so affective since coming over from the A’s. He should be a co-closer with Diaz.
Not on stage yet, but both Paul Simon and Europe appear to be warming for a joint mash-up of “Slip Sliding Away” and “Final Countdown”.
Probably all the Ratt tune “Round and Round”
Cleveland TV guys said their batters had an idea about Greene in BP. Someone has seen him before. They believe he was tipping his pitches.
If that’s the case, that’s fixable. Maybe not by our coaching staff, though … 😮
What’s wrong with the bunt there ?????
Marte with the strikeout ….. I mean come on you at least gotta get the runners over …
They had speedy runners on first and third with Friedl at the plate and one out against a righty. That was another perfect opportunity for a bunt.
There ya go Elly !
Unbelievable Benson ! Worst team in MLB in this situation … unreal
Will Benson is changing his mechanic or swing or whatever when he finds runners on base because of the big amount of Ks he got in this situations
It’s a Luke Maile kind of night. And Elly is showing us we shouldn’t forget him.
And as if flipping them off, he steals 2nd.
And we’ve got a slugfest — whatever it takes!
Bullpen shutdown time and let’s get this one.
Great play by Marte.
Marte superb defensive play at 3b.
Sam moll is a keeper. great pickup.
I find it a little ironic, that the best value trade made the deadline was by our very own Cincinnati Reds.
Honestly, maybe not. Boyle has been lights out since the deadline and hasn’t given up a run in his first 2 ML starts. Stock from RML has some really interesting comps between Boyle and Randy Johnson. We might have given up a top 5 in the game pitcher if he solves the walks.
That’s the kind of inning we needed after retaking the lead.
Let’s keep the pressure on the Guardrails here.
Overall, Elly with confidence these last five will really make.a difference.
Bravos are NOT helping tonight. Not one bit.
Braves win – Cubs lose.
Sidewinder … not a good pitcher for us to face. Especially if the Chumpire is calling stuff 4-6 inches out of the zone a strike.
Tj Friedl!
This is a core piece of this team, its center fielder and top of the order guy.
The other day, some people wanted to relegate him to “Fourth outfielder” status.
Same guy, just got hot this week.
And while hoping for a big night from Hunter Greene, winning this game (despite a 9-7 lead at this moment in time) is really in doubt.
Well, to be fair, one guy here had designated Friedl as no better than a 4th outfielder, but I think that was mostly a conceit to promote his and other RLNers’ favorite, Fairchild, to a starting position.
I don’t recall many other posters agreeing with the position, even before Friedl went on his recent binge.
TJ Friedl leads the team in WAR.
Might be more than a placeholder as some have said.
Hes had a great year. That said, 2024 is going to have to be the year with expectations and that means sustaining success to the next year and staying healthy for a lot of these guys + need some proven pitching.
Wasn’t me. I just said he doesn’t walk and would be better slated to the bottom of the lineup. His obp dropped a ton from earlier this year, but he’s been hot. No doubt about it
Friedl doesn’t have the greatest amount of talent but he’s made himself an outstanding ballplayer with hard work and dedication.
Using the Superball loaded bats tonight in Cleveland.
TJ!!! Four straight games.
He’s legit. I’m thinking he figured something out this season. Let’s hope it sticks.
L-E-G-I-T
😀
Mr. ?!!! Four games in a row. HR! What’s his name again JB?
Terry … Terry Legit J. Friedl.
hahaha 🙂
Huzzah!
Hunter Greene is too inconsistent to be considered a #1 #2 or maybe even a #3 starter. He is a 4/5 starter right now on a good team. Sad but true. Hopefully he can correct that but he is 24 already and as time goes by that chance is growing slimmer and slimmer….
And yeah, he is just 24. Let’s not put him in the discount bin too quickly.
I mean, earlier this afternoon on the Kevin Newman is DFA’d thread, some readers thought the Reds pitching was “just fine”.
I still don’t know if Hunter is consistently 100% strong since his DL stint with his hip problem, but let’s see him next year. He was great last week against the Twins.
+1,000
Hunter is going to be great against swing and miss teams (Twins) and not so much against contact teams (Cleveland)
Braves 12-11 in September. That’s not what you want going into the playoffs.
Steal here with Benson…..don’t hesitate.
He is safe, he missed him with the first swipe.
Agreed. Just not enough angles to overturn it.
Yep, was going to be hard to overturn it. Benson and Naylor’s response couldn’t be taken into account.
He might be but the camera angles are terrible. They will go with what’s called unfortunately
“Stands” vs. “Confirmed”
I don’t mind House sending Benson there. I kind of get the challenge on a missed tag. But challenging the collision rule was silly. Naylor was in textbook position. I guess it was just a freebie addon to the whole challenge.
Absolutely, with the lead and 2 outs you send him every time.
Bravos appear to be sleep-walking. Probably not the best approach if you need to tune up for the playoff race where you are a heavy favorite. Certainly not doing us any favors with the Stupid Cubs tonight.
Glad to see the good Cruz tonight.
Solid at SS as well tonight. Combined with Marte’s play … pretty tight over on the left side.
Elly looks like the just called up Elly again.
Cruz is so hard to figure out. One night he is unhittable and seriously unhittable, then the next night the exact opposite.
+1,000
“There was a little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good she was very, very good but when she was bad she was horrid.”
Nice fight tonight. I left down 3-0 and am pleasantly surprised. Not even sure 6 straight gets us in though? Maybe, but have to finish this one first
I won’t give up until it’s mathematical not possible. Someday I want.to see TJ Friedl playing Center field in a World Series.
Yep. The math works hard against us at the moment. But a win tonight guarantees a .500 record at minimum.
let sims pitch the 9th ….please
Sure … because that would mean HDTBell wasn’t the manager of our Queen City Redlegs anymore.
Good Cruz and Good Sims tonight. That goes a long way.
Now, how much add-on do we need in order for us all to feel more comfortable about Diaz for the final 3 outs? Asking for a friend … 😮
Oh my, I agree, let Good Sims pitch the 9th.
Diaz already warming. That ship has sailed I’m afraid.
That stat they just showed about Maile puts him in some elite company. Good for Luke!!
I really like Luke. Especially after watching a special on his ride into GABP interview.
Yep. I caught that interview piece with Brian G. Great interview. Same format with Fraley earlier in the season.
Zone is the size of a dime for Votto tonight. At one point, I swear the Chumpire started to raise his hand and stopped because he remembered it was Joey at the plate.
Hahaha thinking the same thing. Votto getting calls
Stewie for Joey … that’s become predictable. Hoping they send him.
Absolutely have to here.
How lucky are the Cubs that they get to play half of their games against the most dominant team in baseball during the last two weeks of the season when the Braves already have everything clinched and probably don’t care too much about winning these games.
I still think that has a high chance of backfiring on the Bravos.
Exactly. With a loss tonight they 12-12 in September. That’s not how you want to go into the playoffs.
Pretty much a blown call by the Chumpire on that. Stewie looked like he beat him.
At least Marte extended his hitting streak.
OK, I’m feeling better about Diaz in the 9th. Just CRUSHED that one (again).
That was a BIGGIE! 🙂
Maybe don’t write off old crusty Elly quite yet
Having good Elly back could make for an exciting last 4 games.
Wow, who woke up Elly tonight? Good to see! Hope he keeps it up.
I’m thinking he said, “Forget you, Jobu. I’ll do it myself.”
Now that the Reds are out of it and the pressure is off they will start hitting.
Is the EDLC in the box score the same EDLC who was said earlier to look totally lost at the plate? Must be a fast learner.
70th appearance … that’s not a good number from where I’m sitting.
Finish it here. We just forfeited the DH for defense.
So we lose our DH?
Yep.
Bell treats CES like he’s a slow runner and a plays poor defense. Neither are true.
Agreed. Plus how much defense to you gain with Steer who was in LF the entire game and now has to switch gears for just one inning?
But it allows HDTBell to consult The Book of Knowledge and satisfy his urge to tinker.
He can’t help himself. lol Double switched out of the DH. hahaha
I feel fairly comfortable here. Which hasn’t happened in a long time.
The obligatory walk. Sigh.
Not entirely on Diaz. Completely blown call on that last pitch.
I can’t watch (only listen), so I will defer to your judgment on that one.
Oh for crying out loud!!! How bad is this Chumpire???
Bad enough to call that a ball. That was really bad.
Tell me we didn’t just walk the leadoff guy in the 9th with a four run lead.
OK. What happened is this abysmal Chumpire just awarded first to the batter on the basis of he’s incompetent at his job.
Does that make you feel better, Melvin? 😛
Not much but we just won so I feel better now. 🙂
The pitch really wasn’t a ball. Can’t fault Diaz there.
Why not stick with Sims given that Diaz has looked gassed lately? A win here would be nice. Don’t give it away.
Because HDTBell and his Blessed Book 😮
Odds are on Day having Elly with him. Been a long time.
Two homers, 3 hits. Solid play at SS. He deserves it.
I think it’s been about a month since we’ve seen tonight’s Elly?
Really didn’t expect that after the early hole we dug. Now if the Bravos could pony up a come from behind win, that would be sweet.
That 5th inning for the D-Backs really hurt.
A few commenters had to stop posting after Elly did his thing.
They’ll be back next time he K’s.
What is your point?
EDLC had a great game.
Prior to this, he had a long series, maybe a couple months, of bad games.
Were folks who commented about how poorly he was hitting and fielding mistaken?
I don’t recall anyone saying that he was finished or washed up.
Now that he has had a good game, it doesn’t nullify all the bad games he’s played.
It does give hope for the future once again.
Great win despite the poor outing by Greene. Four more to go and see how the chips fall.
Nice win. Unfortunately, the Braves and White Sox aren’t helping a bit.
81 wins and counting.
Guaranteed non-losing season.
Superb BP to bail out SP again.
Still not mathematically eliminated with 4 games remaining. All who thought that possible at season’s start and put it in writing raise your hand and take a bow.
Certainly not I.
EDLC certainly drove the ball tonight. I hope this gets his confidence hip as he had reall y hood at bars tonight with good outcomes. Good to see him have success at the plate. Sustaining it certainly improves chances of running the table for the last 4 games.
Yep. After that first K, he looked entirely different. Much more dialed in (obviously).
467 feet and 119 mph. Just cannot fathom that speed.
I hate to say it but we need him if we are going to the next level. If he doesn’t become a superstar the chances of playing in a world series are slim.
Did I notice Elly was using a different bat tonight? I was thinking he had a black one before and a blonde one at least in that last AB.
Gotta love Friedl.
Acuna hammers a 2-run home run to make it a 6-5 game against the Cubs in the 7th. Still some hope…
braves within a run 6-5
Suzuki whiffed on a routine fly ball – Braves lead 7-6 bottom 8th
Always fun to read the game thread on a back and forth game where the Reds prevail.