The Cincinnati Reds (30-33) host the Arizona Diamondbacks (31-31) this weekend at Great American Ball Park, with the first game of a three-game weekend series on Friday night. Southpaw Nick Lodolo takes the mound for the Reds, while Arizona will counter with lefty Eduardo Rodriguez. First pitch is at 7:10 PM EDT.
The Diamondbacks come into town riding a high of a seven-run comeback with one out in the 9th in Atlanta Thursday afternoon. This win got them back to the .500 mark, but they are still 6.5 games back in the NL West. Arizona is second in the National League in both home runs (87) and team OPS (.781), trailing only the Dodgers. Their pitching, on the other hand, is at the opposite end of the league leaders. Their 4.76 ERA is second-worst in the NL and they’ve allowed the second-most home runs in the NL at 78.
Lineups
Arizona Diamondbacks | Cincinnati Reds |
| DH – Ketel Marte | CF – TJ Friedl |
| SS – Geraldo Perdomo | 3B – Santiago Espinal |
| LF – Lourdes Gurriel Jr. | DH – Tyler Stephenson |
| 3B – Eugenio Suárez | LF – Spencer Steer |
| RF – Randal Grichuk | 1B- Christian Encarnacion-Strand |
| C – Gabriel Moreno | C – Jose Trevino |
| 2B – Ildemaro Vargas | RF – Connor Joe |
| 1B – Tim Tawa | SS – Matt McLain |
| CF – Alek Thomas | 2B – Garrett Hampson |
With Elly De La Cruz still on his way back from the Dominican Republic for his sister’s funeral, Matt McLain is starting at shortstop for the first time since 2023.
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB | K |
| Eduardo Rodriguez | 44.2 | 7.05 | 1.70 | 18 | 52 |
| Nick Lodolo | 69.2 | 3.10 | 1.11 | 14 | 60 |
| Links: Eduardo Rodriguez’s Stats | Nick Lodolo’s Stats | |||||
Eduardo Rodriguez
Rodriguez hasn’t had the type of season a player wants to have. He pitched to a 6.26 ERA in March and April, giving up 22 earned runs in 32.2 innings, including six home runs in that time. It got worse for him in May, as he allowed 16 runs in 12.0 innings over three starts. Rodriguez went on the injured list with shoulder inflammation after his May 14th start against the Giants. Tonight will be his first start since the middle of May.
Rodriguez is very much a fastball-dominant pitcher, with it being nearly 45% of his pitches thrown this season. He throws a change-up and a cutter mostly to right-handed hitters, while he reserves his sinker and slider for lefties. While he has struggled this season, he is still striking out batters at a decently high rate. He does have 52 strikeouts in 44.2 innings, which is nearly a 25 percent strikeout percentage. Most batters swing and miss at his changeup, which has garnered a 27.2% whiff rate this season.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB% | K% | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 156 | 42 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 10% | 24% | .307 | .368 | .547 |
| LHH | 55 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5% | 25% | .314 | .345 | .490 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | Change | Cutter | 2-Seam | Slider | |
| Velo | 91.9 | 86.5 | 89.1 | 91.7 | 84.9 |
| Usage | 44.4% | 20.7% | 14.4% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
Nick Lodolo
Lodolo is coming off a brilliant start in Chicago on Saturday when he pitched six innings of shutout baseball while only allowing five hits and two walks. However, there is a massive difference in his performance when Lodolo has pitched on the road vs at Great American Ball Park. At GABP, he has allowed 18 earned runs in 26.1 innings, including six home runs. Opponents are slugging .518 against him at GABP. This is in comparison to his 1.25 ERA in 43.1 innings on the road.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB% | K% | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 235 | 46 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 5% | 22% | .212 | .266 | .350 |
| LHH | 55 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5% | 16% | .362 | .418 | .489 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | Curve | Change | 2-Seam | |
| Velo | 93.5 | 81.8 | 87.7 | 93.6 |
| Usage | 29.1% | 27.3% | 23.1% | 20.5% |
Game Details:
- When: 7:10 PM EDT
- Where: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, OH
- TV: Apple TV+
- Radio: 700 WLW (Cincinnati area)
- Weather: 74 degrees, thunderstorms, 65% chance of rain
News, Notes, and Pre-game Reading
Roster Moves
Should the Reds be Buyers or Sellers?
Minor League Recap
You can find all the scores and stats from around the minors on Thursday.
Division Standings
| Team | W | L | GB | Fangraph’s Playoff Odds |
| Chicago | 39 | 23 | – | 87.6% |
| St. Louis | 34 | 28 | 5.0 | 34.6% |
| Milwaukee | 34 | 29 | 5.5 | 30.3% |
| CINCINNATI | 30 | 33 | 9.5 | 3.4% |
| Pittsburgh | 23 | 39 | 16.0 | 0.3% |
Garrett Hampson is starting! I hope he gets on base, steals a base, and makes all you eat crow! Ha! I do wish he was playing shortstop though because McLain has enough to worry about with just making contact. This will be fun to see CES back in the order.
+100,000
No game for me tonight due to CrappleTV … 😐
Personally not a fan of MattyMc at SS. I don’t want it to throw him off in any way.
Enjoy the game, friends. I’ll check in every once in a while.
Mark, I avoid Apple TV as well! We all know what happened with an apple in the Adam & Eve story!
I have four days left on the reduced price subscription I signed up for previously. But it just took me 20 minutes to get logged into Apple TV with the account that owns the subscription because apparently both of my Apple accounts were logged in on the iPad in question and the wrong one was being used when I tried to access Aple TV even though in the app configuration profile the right one was listed. And the new iPad still won’t play the Apple TV right!
I was about ready to just follow the Reds game on Gameday and watch the Bats instead!
I’m with you. This stinks. I was looking forward to a leisurely Friday evening watching the Reds, but I’ll be darned if I’m going to pay extra for a rarely used streaming network just to watch a game a couple of times a year. I’ve been a Reds fan since 1961 when we first moved to Ohio, but this team is slowly losing me. 🙁
Maybe it will throw MM on, he’s already off.
That… is a terrible lineup. Should at least answer the question posed earlier if the Reds should be buyers or sellers. Feels like a lineup of a late September game. Six guys with an OPS+ under 70 and we’re in the first week of June! (Watch them put a ten-spot on the board tonight!)
I might have encouraged them to fly the AAA team out for the day.
Joe and Hampson both starting. No EDLC. And yet the Reds are going to win. Won’t be surprised. For that matter, wouldn’t be surprised if Rodriguez has his best game of the year.
If you had not seen or heard, EDLC planned to be back for the game tonight, but his flights got messed up, and, he won’t be back until “later”.
As things stand now, he does NOT plan to take official bereavement (3 day minimum) and plans to play starting tomorrow.
Conner Joe is batting .281 with zero errors for us. Pretty good record for a mid-season trade and non-regular starter, sports fan.
Nothing would be surprising, LDS, except, perhaps, sustained excellence. Or even competence.
Here’s a thought! How about the Reds hitters take that wooden stick and hit the white ball with the red stitches! Seriously, the Reds have another opportunity to gain ground in their Division and the NL Wild Card race! The Cubs are playing at Detroit, the Brewers are hosting the Friars and the Cards face the Dodgers in St. Louis!
The Reds current opponent is one of four teams (plus Cards, Brewers & Giants) competing for the 3rd and final NL Wild Card spot (Reds are only 5 games behind the Giants).
Need to start by winning Game No. 1 tonight against a Dbacks team that has won 4 in a row! Let’s help our SP by scoring early and often!
Feels like a lot of teams are using that “hit the ball” strategy. We should try it.
I heard if you hit the ball over the fence, you can just keep running the bases and nobody can stop you. 🙂
Maybe we will have a merciful rain.
I feel it, a winning streak is coming that will flip the script on the division, of the magnitude of the winning streak that Francona had with Cleveland back when they won 22 in a row. Light comes from darkness.
I’ll have whatever magic elixir it is that you have been imbibing, B-Town.
Gabp is a bandbox, but some of our pitchers home/road splits are crazy. Lodolo 1.25 road era? Some of these cheap hrs must get in their head? The smaller outfield also takes away basehits
A lineup of Espinal, Hampson and Joe is really something.
Darn, not everybody is hitting like TJ Friedl. Why can’t we have all nine batters over .300? Ha. Conner Joe is batting .281 for us and doing well in his limited appearances.
How’s the weather? The forecast doesn’t look good
I would’ve started Benson (this is a recording) but with three RH starters next on the menu, and Trevino coming off a monster game, I get what they’re thinking.
i never get what they’re thinking. you play to win. put your best lineup on the field. and if you don’t have a best lineup, you go get reinforcements. if we had one Ty Cobb, Pete Rose or Joe Morgan on this team i’d feel like we have a puncher’s chance of winning every night.
Candy is playing 3B tonight for the Bats. Oh boy. 🙂
Rain delay in Louisville at this time 7;25pm
Wow Corbin Burnes out with TJ surgery.
That’s a big hit.
Where is Steer going?
You could tell Tito was upset with Steers base running mistake. This team is just so bad. Maybe Tito thinks if he can hang on this year and make changes next year, somebody has to do something.
Yep. He didn’t like it at all.
Why would he be able to make changes next year if he can’t make them this year? Only reason I can think of is if the Reds get better players.
Anyone see steer thrown out at third on grounder to ss ? Was it that bad?
Cowboy said cant run if ball hit in front of you. Thats 10 yo stuff( me not cowboy)
Yeah, pretty bad. It passed maybe five feet in front of him and was 97.8 mph off the bat.
Poor decision and you could read Francona’s lips. He was less than enthused.
We have little or no chance against any lefty even one as bad as this guy has been and we do little league stuff on the bases.How in the world have we won 30 games?
Power plays and that’s about it for this one.Two runs at GABP is really nothing in the third but for us it might as well be 10.
Two meat balls by Lodolo are 3 runs to Arizona
Yikes Lodolo. I mean right over the plate, what did he think was going to happen with those pitches?
The Reds need to put Marte on his rear end in his next at bat.
That was a long time ago, brother.
Why? Because he hit a home run? Maybe just shoot him instead.
I agree Mark. I’m younger than much of the crowd in here, but still old school in that area. I hate all the showboating.
I love Barry Sanders’ mentality, who would not showboat when he scored touchdowns…”act like you’ve been there before and you plan on doing it again”.
Only two hitters in this lineup have a BA above .250. Three are below .200.
Friedl with a bomb
Thanks Apple for freezing and missing the TJ home run. Way to go TJ!
It froze on me too. smh lol I paid $10 bucks for this game. lol
I feel an early Clete coming! Not confident this Reds lineup can score one run let alone 3+
Friedl is Johnny Wholeteam right now.
Pretty much and he nailed a 90 mph cookie which is what major league hitters do.Team MVP for sure.
A healthy Friedl is a good MLB ballplayer.
I hope he can stay that way.
Nice turn, McLain to Hampson to CES. Getting out of the inning before the rain comes is always a plus.
The Bats and the Lookouts both in a delay….again.
Both games are postponed again. Lots of bad weather this year for them.
Steer misses 91 right down the middle.It ain’t his night for sure.
Joe’s BA went from .281 to .209 in a hurry.
No, it went from .281 to .273 for the Reds. It went to .209 for the Reds and Padres. It’s measured in different ways by different sites.
Not sure how that’s possible since he’s had very few ABs for the Reds but I’ll take your word for it.
Not really my word but just the published stats. He had 32 ABs and 9 hits for the Reds before the game started. I looked it up and wondered why there is so much negativity about that kind of production.
Okay buddy. Was just going by what Gameday said. You are correct. His time with the Reds alone:
.265/.297/.324
For the year:
.209/.255/.256
The argument is the Reds could/should be looking to find better talent. Nothing personal with the guy. He seems like a good guy.
Joe just can’t wait to make an out with 2 on.This pitcher has nothing.
Little Mac follows by taking strike 2 and then takes strike 3.Just makes no sense none at all.Two on and a foul pop on the first pitch by Joe and then called out on strikes.Reds not competing with any smarts at all.Good grief
Gamecast said strike 3 was way inside on McLain. Robo zone will improve the game
The only problem is they’ll implement a diminished version of it with a challenge system and keep most, if not all, of the problems they currently have
Hampson with a double. Not expected but we’ll take it.
Busts it very good to deep in the outfield and you still can’t just pat the guy on the back?
Good hit by Hampson over the left fielders head. 🙂
Friedl is a ball player. Good bunt.
Absolutely
He’s fun to watch!
Espinal is pathetic offensively
That’s a bummer. He was doing so well offensively.
Espinal has been dreadfully lousy in clutch situations. Very frustrating what that two hole in the batting order has produced this year.
Reds #2 hitters were hitting .175/.287/.238 entering today.
They have Dontrelle Willis on commentary. He was a career .244/.287/.378 hitter.
That’s an awesome comment Noyes
Sad, but awesome
For those who don’t know Willis was a pitcher was he not?
Yes he was. And a dang good one for a little while. I could easily be wrong, but seems like he was ROY.
TS needs to learn how to protect the plate with two strikes. Goes down looking tooo much.
Another wasted chance… the repetitive story
Another no name pitcher with a high ERA giving the Reds fits. Ugh
And speaking of lousy…that at bat by TySteve
Reds are 0 for 6 with RISP thru 5 innings! Gotta admire this team’s consistency!
Is there somewhere to see which team leads the league in strikeouts looking?
Probably isnt the Reds
Espy has no power,none at all and again we look at strike 3 to end the inning.No words just none to describe this team and how they play the game.
Guess CES figured out his timing. Bomb shot!
It’s a pattern. Fraley did same thing on his first game back from Louisville.
THAT’S why you want CES up with the Reds. 🙂
Impressive. That was a bad ball, and he hit it.
Gameday said it was a strike.
It was a strike. Slider down and away. Pitcher’s pitch.
Power plays and why isn’t Hinds up here and in the lineup against a lefty?
Welcome back CES!!
How about that Redleg fans …. CES homers to tie it up in the 6th !
Trevino keeps on hitting. BA over .300 again.
He’s been super impressive this season. Both offensively and handling the pitching staff.
If we’re keeping track, Apple feed isn’t good from where I sit.
It sucks.
I can feel myself getting dumber by the second.
And now Trevino, who needs more at bats, is standing on 2nd, and Benson comes to the plate.
Was watching a little bit on MLB earlier and can’t remember who said it but they said Reds need to build this team on power because of GABP.Now what an idea to ponder and we keep probably the guy with the most power at AAA and he is an outfielder that hits right handed.
Our guys better not get hurt because of this weather and bad field conditions. We’ve got enough injuries already.
Espy rewarding Tito’s faith with a 1 for 28 streak. My buddy and I want to come over for a game, but I’m not budging til he’s out of the starting lineup. Not 2nd, not 8th, not anywhere. Its not all on him, but its the same doo doo they’ve done since Dusty
And they walk McLain on 4 pitches to face Lux ! Ha !
The count goes to full … but a ground out ends the threat.
Reds can’t find the way to bring in runs with RISP over and over again …it’s frustrating
It’s tough to watch their ineptitude with RISP. Boggles my mind.
Yep! Reds are now 0 for 8 with RISP thru 6 innings!
Now the Reds need the pen to hold em and the hitters to come alive and get this win tonight.Nick was good enough and TJ and CESV get us even so lets get it done.
Will the rain allow to finish this tonight?
No TV here, but I saw CES jacked one. Our only shot to really improve is for some of the 2023 young guns to take off! They’re too cheap to pay for more then the Hays & Candy lottery tickets. I wanted to try for a guy like Jazz Chisholm, but he’s always hurt as well. Idk? Nick Martinez was a good idea, but he’s too old for our rebuild. His grandkids will see the next winning Reds team and I’ll be subterranean
Crazy how much money the Dbacks are spending on Montgomery, Rodriguez, and Burns. 72 million. Montgomery didn’t pitch at all this season because TJ surgery, Burnes now having TJ surgery, and Rodriguez pretty bad overall. You wonder if that will have long last effects the next few years on the Dbacks unless they just have tons of money to make mistakes on signings. I can see why Reds and teams are hesitant to make the big free agent splashes sometimes. Candelario hasn’t worked out, but at least it wasn’t big time money for those guys.
I hate it for Burnes but if I am Krall I am talking to the Dbacks and see what they would give me for Martinez or Singer or even Lodolo right now today.Reds need hitters and I have no idea what they have in the minors or what players they may be willing to part with but I sure go and ask.Second in homers and OPS is who they are so maybe we can make a deal.
Jordan Lawler, the #4 prospect in baseball who plays SS/2B/3B. He came up in 23, missed nearly all of 24, and had another cup of coffee this season.
He has had zero production on the MLB level, but again it’s only been two cups of coffee. He’s crushing AAA with a slash line of .339/.419/.583.
I don’t know if Lodolo could get it done, but I’m pretty sure Martinez or Singer would fall well short. That doesn’t mean we couldn’t add to the deal with the right MLB’er/Prospect package.
They don’t seem to be good trading partners if we are looking for someone near MLB ready if they are not willing to trade Lawler, and I’d guess they are not wanting to trade the #4 prospect in baseball.
CES with a HR tonight and EDLC looks to be back in the lineup tomorrow. Hays most likely activated on Sunday. I’m thinking Joe gets sent down because he has options and Espinal and Fraley move to the bench. Friedl, Lux, EDLC, Hays, CES, Stephenson, Steer, Benson and MM is my lineup with CES at 3B, Steer at 1B and Lux the DH.
Game suspended. It will be resumed tomorrow afternoon. Thanks to CES tying-game homer in the 6th the Reds didn’t lose but they also could win a rain shortened game if Benson or Lux would have brought in home Trevino …