Will the Diamondbacks keep the momentum?
That was … unexpected.
Well, no one saw this coming, of course. Both teams shut each other out, both teams put up a slugfest…but in the end luck was on the Diamondbacks’ side and there you stand with your sweep after a few weeks of atrocious baseball and results. Let’s hope Arizona continues the trend of winning and gets above .500 once again after wrapping up this road trip in Cincinnati.
The Reds on their way to another anonymous season.
After the conclusion of the series against division rival Milwaukee Brewers, the Reds find themselves in 4th place in the NL Central, with a 30-33 record. You could say that they are unlucky, as their Pythagorean record is a wonderful 34-29, but while their pitching is pretty good, the offence is too weak this season to help the club battle for a playoff spot.
DH Austin Hays is having a career year this season and is by far the most dangerous batter with a .901 OPS, but injuries have kept him to just 31 games so far. He is currently on the 10-day IL but could be an option for the upcoming series. TJ Friedl has returned to his 2023 form after a disappointing 2024 season, Gavin Lux is contributing as well in his first season in Cincinnati, while Jose Trevino is providing value from behind the plate. Elly de la Cruz is doing fine as well and will always remain a threat on the bases with his speed. After that, though, there is a huge drop to Jake Fraley while Santiago Espinal (3B) and Spencer Steer/Christian Encarnacion-Strand (1B) have been bad, although the latter has been injured almost the entire season.
However, most eye-popping disappointment must be Matt McLain. The second baseman, who once snubbed the Diamondbacks (we got Blake Walston instead the next year lol), had a terrific BABIP-influenced 2023. However, after a shoulder injury that kept him sidelined in 2024, he has returned to the field but is currently hitting a terrible .175 while father BABIP has now taken the side of bad luck.
All in all, while the team’s performance might look like disappointment for both the club and former Cleveland-manager Teddy Francona, who has returned to a major league bench, the Reds were twice 3 games above .500 this season. Mid May they were able to climb above .500 after falling 4 games behind.
According to a stat given by MLB.com, the Reds are now 0-25 when trailing after six innings, 0-27 after seven and 0-28 when trailing after eight, while losing 10 of their 15 one-run games. That certainly gives hope for the Diamondbacks and our bullpen, but the Reds sure are not a team who will give up on the season already.
The Reds have split a season series with the Giants (3-3), while they swept the Rockies (3-0). They haven’t played the Padres or Dodgers yet.
Wade Miley just signed a major league contract with the Reds after Hunter Greene hit the IL. We won’t see him in this series though. Garrett Hampson, who was recently DFAd by the Diamondbacks, caught up with the Reds.
Arizona is 87-86 all time leader against the Reds and was 5-1 over them last season.
Matchups.
Game #1 Fri 06/06 4:10 PM MST, Nick Lodolo (CIN) vs Eduardo Rodriguez (ARI).
- Nick Lodolo. 12 GS, 69.2 IP, 4 W-4 L, 3.10 ERA, 3.61 FIP, 1.11 WHIP, 60/14 K/BB.
- Eduardo Rodriguez. 9 GS, 44.2 IP, 1 W-3 L, 7.05 ERA, 4.28 FIP, 1.70 WHIP, 52/18 K/BB.
Nick Lodolo is at the moment enjoying his best season in the majors to date as a 27-year old. Except for a stinker against Washington, when he gave up 7 runs in 5.1 innings, he has been pitching good indeed. Amongst his better outings this season were 7 shutout innings at Coors Field and 6 shutout innings at Wrigley Field, his latest pitching performance. Lodolo has never faced the Diamondbacks. The lefty averages 93-94 on his 4-seamer and throws a curve, changeup and sinker as well. He has lost a bit of velocity on his fastball, but his changeup is working perfectly this season. Lodolo has excellent command as well.
Eduardo Rodriguez will return from the IL for this game. Last time we saw him was on May 14, when he gave up 4 runs in 4 innings against the Giants. Rodriguez made one rehab appearance, in the ACL. He struck out 9 kids there but also gave up 3 homeruns. Sounds like the one we know from the major leagues.
Game #2 Sat 06/07 1:10 PM MST, Nick Martinez (CIN) vs Ryne Nelson (ARI).
- Nick Martinez. 12 GS, 69.1 IP, 3 W-6 L, 3.89 ERA, 3.58 FIP, 1.17 WHIP, 47/15 K/BB.
- Ryne Nelson. 13 G, 3 GS, 42.0 IP, 2 W-1 L, 3.43 ERA, 3.26 FIP, 1.00 WHIP, 35/11 K/BB.
With Corbin Burnes out, Ryne Nelson can continue his run in the starting rotation. Ryne struggled twice, in both occasions against the Cubs, but in the rest of his appearances he has provided value in pitching multiple innings. The last time was against the Nationals on May 31, when he pitched 4 mop-up innings and allowed no runs. His last start was the week before against the Pirates, when he led the Diamondbacks to a win, pitching almost 7 shutout innings. Ryne Nelson has never faced the Reds in his career, as a starting pitcher nor as a reliever.
Nick Martinez had mighty problems in his first 4 games, but pitched to a 2.27 over his next 7 starts until he found his nemesis against the Cubs last week and gave up 5 runs over 4.2 innings. After opting out of his contract with the Padres when the 2023 season reached its end, Martinez signed with the Reds and he is in his final year of that 2-year contract. This year he has been deployed exclusively as a starting pitcher and the Reds will be happy it is working out so far. It will be Martinez’s first start since 2015 against the Diamondbacks, although he obviously faced us frequently as a reliever in the past.
Game #3 Sun 06/08 10:40 AM MST, Brady Singer (CIN) vs Zac Gallen (ARI).
- Brady Singer. 12 GS, 63.2 IP, 6 W-4 L, 4.66 ERA, 4.31 FIP, 1.34 WHIP, 53/26 K/BB.
- Zac Gallen. 13 GS, 73.2 IP, 4 W-7 L, 5.13 ERA, 4.54 FIP, 1.33 WHIP, 70/33 K/BB.
Zac Gallen will try to impress again after 7 great innings in Atlanta. Let’s hope he is able to string together more than just one impressive outing. It will be Gallen’s 4th start against the Reds. Last year he allowed just 1 hit and 3 walks in 6 innings in Cincinnati and took the win.
Brady Singer was traded from the Kansas City Royals to the Reds in the past off-season. The Reds were looking for innings and a ground-ball specialist and were prepared to give up their long-time 2B Jonathan India for that; Kansas was looking for a lead-off hitter. Both players are not living up to expectations so far. India is hitting an 86 OPS+ in Kansas and Singer has worked with an ERA closer to 5 than 4. However, the righty has been performing well at Great American Ballpark, where he has a 3.62 ERA and a .164 batting average against (.169 BABIP). His struggles have been in away games, especially in a game against Houston where he gave up 7 runs over 2.1 innings. Singer has pitched twice against the Diamondbacks, in 2023 and 2022, and won both times, giving up just 2 runs over 13 innings.