CINCINNATI REDS NOTES:
RED HOTS
• The Reds bullpen in the last 10 games has a 2.32era (1-1-1, 42.2, 11er, 42k, 15bb).
TONIGHT’S GAME
• Is Game 4 (0-3) of a 4-game road trip, all at Pit’s PNC Park…the last time the Reds were swept by the Pirates in a 4-game series in Pit was 4/4-7/2019.
• The Reds are coming off a 3-4 homestand vs the defending National League champion Phillies (2-2) and Rays (1-2).
• Following tomorrow’s game the Reds return to Great American Ball Park for a quick 3-game homestand vs the Rangers before heading out to face the Athletics (3g) and Padres (3g) in the first of their 3 trips to the West Coast.
SERIES NOTES
• The Reds earned a 2-1 series win vs Pit in the series that opened this 2023 championship season.
• The Reds went 14-29 at Pit’s PNC Park the previous 5 seasons, including an 11-game losing streak spanning 2018-2019 and an 8-game losing streak there to begin the 2019 season.
• Beginning in 2021 at Great American Ball Park, the Reds are 14-8 vs Pit with a 134-78 advantage in runs scored…the Reds have won 19 of the last 28 games vs Pit at GABP.
RANGERS UP NEXT…
• The Redlegs are 9-10 all-time vs the Rangers, including 6-5 at Great American Ball Park.
• Beginning Monday the Reds and Rangers will meet for the eighth time overall and for the first time since 2019, also at GABP.
• The Reds haven’t played in Arlington since 2016.
• The Reds are coming off their only interleague series of the season, a 1-2 series loss vs the Rays at Great American Ball Park.
• From 1997-2022 the Redlegs went 188-247 vs the American League, at .432 the lowest interleague winning percentage of any Major League team…in 2022 the Reds went 12-8 vs AL teams (0-2 vs Cle, 2-0 at Cle, 1-2 at Tor, 1-1 at Bos, 3-0 vs TB, 2-1 at NYY, 2-1 vs Bal, 1-1 vs Bos)…last season’s was their first winning record vs the American League since 2013 (11-9)…in the 8 seasons between the 2013 & 2022 season series wins, the Reds went 61-99 vs AL teams (.381).
…FOLLOWED BY THE ATHLETICS
• Following the upcoming 3-game home series vs the Rangers and Thursday’s off day in the Bay Area, beginning Friday night the Reds and Athletics will meet for their ninth series during the regular season and for the first time since 2019, also at Oakland Coliseum.
• The Reds are 9-13 during the regular season vs the Athletics, 5-9 at Oakland Coliseum.
• In 2013, Oak became the last current Major League team to visit Great American Ball Park…they last played in the Queen City in 2016.
• The Reds and Athletics met twice in the World Series…Oak won in 7 games in 1972, while Cin capped its wire-to-wire season with a 4-game sweep in 1990.
LEADING OFF
• In the first inning, Reds batters rank 10th in the Major Leagues in batting average (.297), fifth in on-base percentage (.381).
• When leading off the Reds’ half of the first inning, Jonathan India is hitting .353 (.476obp, .647slg, 6-17, 3bb, 2 2b, 1hr, 6r).
• India’s 17 runs scored are rank in the top 5 in the Major Leagues.
• India’s 6 runs scored in the first inning are tied for fourth-most in the Major Leagues (NYY’s Aaron Judge, 9r).
Today’s Pitcher – #21 Hunter Greene, RHP
• On 4/18 signed a $53 million contract through the 2028 season that includes a $21 million club option, with a $2 million buyout, for 2029.
• In just his second season, this afternoon is making his 29th Major League appearance and start…will be his first appearance since Mon, 4/17 vs TB, when he suffered a right tibia contusion on a Yandy Díaz comebacker.
• Will be his fourth career appearance vs the Pirates, his second of this season.
• In the 1-0 loss on 5/15/22 at Pit threw 7.1 no-hit innings, the furthest a Reds pitcher ever has gone without allowing a hit before he was removed from a game…Art Warren finished the eighth inning without allowing a hit…was the first game in Reds history in which they used multiple pitchers to hold the opponent to 0 hits.
• Was the Reds’ 2023 Opening Day starting pitcher.
• At age 23 years, 236 days became the first pitcher age 25 or under to start for the Reds on Opening Day since 1980, when at age 22 years, 232 days RHP Frank Pastore beat Phil Niekro and the Braves, 9-0… courtesy @EliasSports.
• Became the first second-year pitcher to start for the Reds on Opening Day since 26-year-old RHP Raisel Iglesias started the 6-2 win vs the Phillies in the 2016 season opener…courtesy @EliasSports.
• In his age 22 season, in 2022 led the Reds’ staff in starts, innings pitched and strikeouts.
• Last season ranked among qualified National League rookie pitchers in starts (1st, 24), innings pitched (2nd, 125.2), strikeout rate (2nd, 30.9%), whiff rate (2nd, 32.0%), opponents’ BA (2nd, .222), fWAR (3rd, 1.6), rWAR (3rd, 2.2), opponents’ OPS (T3rd, .725), FIP (6th, 4.37) and ERA (6th, 4.44).
• In 2022 posted a strikeout rate of 30.9 percent…since 2000 and with a minimum of 100 innings pitched, no pitcher age 22 or younger has posted a higher strikeout rate in a Major League season.
• Last season’s average fastball velocity of 98.9 miles per hour ranked highest among all Major League pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched.
• Was 1 of only 7 pitchers in the National League and 16 pitchers in the Major Leagues to throw a shutout.
• Was the National League Player of the Week for 6/6-6/12, the only Reds player so honored in 2022 (2gs, 1-0, 0.75, 12ip, 3h, 1er, 2bb, 15k, .079baa).
• In 2022 became the only Major League rookie since 1900 to produce in a season at least 3 apps in which he threw at least 6.0 innings with at least 8 strikeouts and no more than 1 hit (5/15 at Pit, 6/6 vs Ari, 8/1 at Mia)…no pitcher in modern history, regardless of rookie status, has produced more than 3 such games… in his final start of the season, in Game 160 vs Cubs, recorded 6.0 innings and 8 strikeouts but allowed 2 hits.
• From 8/5-9/16 missed 43 days and 40 games while on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder strain…went 4-12, 5.26 in 20 starts prior to the injury and 1-1, 0.78 in 4 starts after he came off the 15-day IL.
• Following his 2022 rookie season was the Reds’ nominee for MLB’s prestigious Lou Gehrig Memorial Award for exemplary contributions to his community.
• Was selected by the Reds in the first round (2nd overall pick) of the June 2017 first-year player draft…was rated by MLB.com the best overall prospect and by Baseball America the best high school player in that draft…the Twins selected high school SS Royce Lewis with the No. 1 overall pick.
• Heading into the 2017 draft, became the 13th high school athlete ever to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
• Missed the 2019 season while recovering from 4/9/19 “Tommy John” surgery.
PITTSBURGH PIRATES NOTES:
THE PIRATES:..Have won a season-high six straight games and seven of their last eight contests…Have not lost back-to-back games since dropping the final two contests of their season-opening series in Cincinnati…Their 15-7 record is their best start since going 16-6 to begin the 1992 season.
ROSTER MOVES: Prior to today’s game the Pirates selected the contract of infielder Drew Maggi from Double-A Altoona… Bryan Reynolds was placed on the MLB bereavement list, while Ji Man Choi was transferred from the 10- to the 60-day injured list to make room for Maggi on the 40-man roster…Maggi will wear uniform No. 39.
THIS MAGGI MOMENT: The Pirates originally selected Drew Maggi in the 15th round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft… The 33-year-old Maggi has played in more than 1100 games in his minor league career but has never appeared in a big league game…Maggi did have his contract selected by Minnesota in 2021 on September 18, but did not appear in a game before being optioned back to Triple-A on September 20.
CHECKING THE BROOM CLOSET: This afternoon the Pirates will look for their third sweep of the season and second in a row after also sweeping the Rockies in three games at Colorado earlier this week…The last time the Pirates had back-to-back sweeps happened from September 3-8, 2018, in a three-game sweep of the Reds and a two-game sweep against the Marlins (both came at PNC Park).
RAISE IT: The Pirates enter today with a season-high six-game winning streak (the longest active one in MLB), which is the longest for the Bucs since racking up 11 straight victories from July 11-24, 2018…The Pirates have outscored their opponents 43-15 during their current six-game winning streak.
CASHING IN AT PNC: Today the Pirates will look to beat the Reds for the 100th time in PNC Park history…Pittsburgh opened the “Best Ballpark In America” on April 9, 2001, against the Reds, losing 8-2 in a game where Upper St. Clair native Sean Casey hit the first home run in the ballpark’s history…Two days later, the Pirates recorded their first win at PNC Park by beating the Reds 6-5 with Jose Silva earning the win in a game started by Jimmy Anderson.
MEN AT WORK: This afternoon the Pirates will wrap up a stretch of playing in 17 straight days that began on April 7… Pittsburgh has gone 11-5 in that time, which is the fourth-best record in MLB…The only three teams with a better record in that time are the Rays (12-3), Mets (11-4) and Orioles (10-4).
LEGGING IT OUT: Last night Ke’Bryan Hayes led off the home half of the first inning with his second triple of the year, which was also Pittsburgh’s fifth since April 15…The Pirates are tied with the Phillies for the Major League lead in triples with seven.
START ME UP: Pittsburgh’s streak of starters pitching at least 6.0 innings ended at 11 games last night after Rich Hill worked 5.0 innings while allowing one run…Since April 11, Pittsburgh’s starting rotation has the third-lowest ERA (2.90) in all of MLB behind the Marlins (2.32) and Astros (2.82).
PEN POWER: Pittsburgh’s bullpen has recorded a Major League-leading 11 saves (the Blue Jays are second with nine)… Individually, David Bednar’s seven saves are tied for the most in MLB along with Toronto’s Jordan Romano and San Diego’s Josh Hader…The Pirates bullpen has also surrendered just three home runs this season, which are the fewest in MLB.
THE ARMS RACE: Pittsburgh’s pitching staff comes into today fourth in the National League in ERA (3.80), tied for third in fewest home runs allowed (20) and tied for fourth in strikeouts (189).
ABOUT TODAY’S STARTER: Vince Velasquez takes the mound for the Pirates today as he looks to pick up his third straight win…Velasquez has tossed 6.0 innings in each of his last two outings, while allowing a total of three earned runs…He also recorded the 800th strikeout of his career in his last outing when he struck out former Pirate Elias Diaz leading off the fourth inning.
DODGERS ON DECK: Pittsburgh’s homestand will continue Tuesday with the beginning of a three-game series against LA… The Pirates went 5-1 against Los Angeles in 2022, including a three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium from May 30 to June 1.
PICKING UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF: Robert Stephenson has tossed 3.2 scoreless innings while allowing just two hits in 14 at-bats in his first five appearances since being reinstated from the injured list on April 14…Since being claimed off waivers by the Pirates from Colorado on August 27, Stephenson has produced a 2.65 ERA (17.0ip/5er), 22 strikeouts, 0.82 WHIP and .197 batting average against in 22 appearances with Pittsburgh.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – 27 – RHP VINCE VELASQUEZ
VINCE VELASQUEZ: The 30-year-old righthander is making his fifth start of the season…Won a 5-3 decision (6.0ip/3er) in his last start Tuesday at Colorado.
vs. CINCINNATI: 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA (18.0ip/12er) in six career appearances (three starts)…Allowed three runs in 4.2 innings while losing a 3-1 decision in his Pirates debut earlier this year on 4/2 at Great American Ball Park.
