The Cincinnati Reds (29-31) are coming off a disappointing series loss to the Brewers. The Reds will look to rebound starting tonight at 7:10 PM against the Colorado Rockies (25-38). The Reds enter play 5.0 games back in the NL Central (4 games back in the loss column).
Starting Pitchers
Tyler Mahle has a carer 5.91 ERA in 4 starts against the Rockies. However, earlier this year he had a brilliant start at Coors Field: 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 4 K.
Kyle Freeland has only made 3 starts this season as he has dealt with a shoulder injury. Freeland started the wild card game in 2018 for the Rockies following a spectacular season. He has been anything but that since. Freeland’s 5.79 ERA since the start of 2019 is the second worst of any pitcher in baseball with 175+ IP. Freeland has a career 7.76 ERA in 4 starts against the Reds. His last start against the Reds came in 2019 when Phil Ervin had 6 hits in the Reds wild 17-9 win.
Starting Lineups
Reds
The bullpen without Captain Hook
I don’t have to tell you the Reds are in big trouble without their best reliever (and possibly their best pitcher overall) in Tejay Antone (who was placed on the injured list today). Believe it or not, there are actually two relievers with a better expected ERA (Statcast) than Antone:
Heath Hembree 2.45
Lucas Sims 2.63
Tejay Antone 2.70
The other peripheral numbers on Hembree are a mixed bag, but all you can do is hope that he can be effective. Sims is a really good RP, despite the 5.01 ERA. Reds will have to rely heavily on those two and hope the SP can go deep in games (which is a bad strategy normally). SP like Wade Miley’s numbers get pretty bad a third time through the order (.798 career OPS against, high as .874 against in his last full season in 2019)…..but the Reds RP average OPS against is .778, and that was with Antone. It will be crucial that David Bell picks the right spots to use those two, while also not overusing them in the process.
Conclusion
It was a tough day for Reds fans with the announcement of Antone being placed on the IL. It just adds to a brutal week with the Gray injury. The positive vibes from the 4-game sweep of the Cardinals have mostly evaporated. That being said, if there was one team in baseball that you would want to play right now, it would be the Colorado Rockies in your home ballpark. The Rockies are just 5-24 on the road. Go Reds!
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