PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES NOTES:
GAME #14 RECAP: The Phillies defeated the Cincinnati Reds, 8-3, at GABP in Cincinnati … Taijuan Walker (W, 1-1) allowed 1 run over 6.0 innings with 4 hits, 2 walks and 4 strikeouts … The Phillies offense combined for 6 extra-base hits and four walks … Kyle Schwarber reached base safely four times and Jose Alvarado struck out the side in the 8th inning.
FEELING SLG-ISH: The Phils enter play today with 53 extra-base hits (34 2B, 6 3B, 13 HR) which ranks 3rd in MLB behind the Rays (63 XBH) and Dodgers (54 XBH) … Philadelphia’s .457 SLG ranks 4th in MLB behind the Rays (.563), Dodgers (.482) and Atlanta (.460) … Through 14 games, Philadelphia’s 53 extra-base hits are T-2nd most by a Phillies club at this point in a season in the modern era (since 1900) … Tied with the 1976 club, only the 2010 Phillies had more extra-base hits (55) through 14 games … The Phillies are up to 34 doubles this year which is T-1st in MLB with Seattle … Through 14 games, Philadelphia’s 34 doubles are T-3rd most by a Phillies club in the modern era (with 2007), trailing only 2010 (36 2B) and 1933 (35 2B) … The Phillies have hit at least one double in each of their first 14 games which is the third-longest streak to open a season for a Phils club in the modern era, behind only a 22-game double streak to open the 2002 season and a 15-game streak to open the 1916 season.
GREAT STOTT!: INF Bryson Stott has hit safely in all 14 games this year and he is two games shy of the Phillies modern day franchise record of16 games set by Puddin’ Head Jones in 1950 … This season, Stott has multiple hits in nine of those 14 games, including five of the last seven (since 4/8) … Stott is 8-for-24 off left-handers (.333 AVG) and 15-for-36 off right-handers (.417 AVG) … Additionally, Stott became the first MLB player with nine multi-hit games in his first 12 games of a season since Matt Carpenter did so in 2015 (also 9 of first 12) … Stott is the first Phillies player with nine multi-hit games in his first 12 games since Jeff Stone in 1984 (also 9 of 12) … Since last year’s All-Star break, Stott has played 78 games and is slashing .298/.343/.418 in 307 plate appearances.
CASTY’S BACK, TELL A FRIEND: In 111 career games at Great American Ball Park, Nick Castellanos is slashing .316/.372/.641 with a 1.013 OPS in 465 plate appearances … He has 65 extra-base hits (28 2B, 2 3B, 35 HR) and 97 RBI in those 111 games … There have been 49 major league players with at least 400 plate appearances in the history of Great American Ball Park (since 2003), and of those 49, Castellanos’ .641 SLG ranks 1st (next: Rich Aurilla, .559 SLG) and his 1.013 OPS ranks 1st (next: Shin-soo Choo, .960 OPS) … Castellanos has hit safely in nine straight games at GABP (since 9/24/21) and over his last 62 games (since 5/2/21), he is slashing .363/.412/.679 with 63 RBI in 260 plate appearances at GABP.
BBCIB: Today, Garrett Stubbs is scheduled to make his third start of the 2023 season … Since being acquired by the Phillies from the Astros on November 19, 2021 in exchange for OF Logan Cerny, Stubbs has started 34 games for the Phillies and is slashing .271/.350/.458 with an .808 OPS in 34 starts … Last season, Stubbs ranked 7th among 84 qualified catchers with an average pop time of 1.91 seconds from home to second base (best: Realmuto, 1.82 seconds).
STRIKE ONE, STRIKE TWO, GOOD LUCK: Wednesday against the Marlins at CBP, LHP Jose Alvarado became the first major league relief pitcher in the expansion era (since 1961) to strike out 11 consecutive batters in a single season … Eric Gagne (2003) and Chad Green (2019) were the only two to reach 10 straight, prior to Alvarado … Alvarado has multiple strikeouts in each of his last 13 appearances (since 9/13/22), and in that span, has 32 strikeouts to just one walk in 14.0 total innings pitched with a 65.3% strikeout rate (49 batters faced) … Alvarado has faced 23 batters this season – he has struck out 16 of them without allowing a walk.
SLAMMIN’ EDDY SOSA: Since joining the Phillies at last year’s trade deadline, INF Edmundo Sosa has played in 37 regular season games and is slashing .310/.333/.583 with a .917 OPS in 91 plate appearances with 14 extra-base hits (9 2B, 3B, 4 HR) … Sosa, who homered last night, has made 21 career regular season starts for the Phillies – they are 13-8 in those games and he is slashing .338/.356/.632 with a .989 OPS as a starter for the Phils.
50 SCHWARBOMBS: Thursday night, Kyle Schwarber hit his 50th career home run as a Phillie (regular season only) as he became the fastest in franchise history to reach 50, doing so in his 168th game … Schwarber eclipsed Jim Thome’s previous franchise record of 50 HR in his first 172 games with the club … Ryan Howard (50 HR in 182 G) ranks 3rd, Rhys Hoskins (50 HR in 192 G) ranks 4th and Chuck Klein (50 HR in 195 G) ranks 5th … Of Schwarber’s 50 regular season home runs with the Phillies, 47 have been hit with an exit velocity north of 100.0 MPH (94%) and 16 of those 50 have been hit over 110.0 MPH (32%) … Schwarber hit six home runs in the postseason last year which included a 119.7 MPH shot off SD’s Yu Darvish in Game 1 of the NLCS
TODAY’S STARTER – MATT STRAHM • LHP #25
LAST START: 4/10 vs MIA: W, 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, BB, 6 SO … Strahm vs Alcantara … The Phillies defeated the Miami Marlins, 15-3, under the lights at Citizens Bank Park … Tied at 0-0 in the 3rd, the Phillies plated five runs off reigning Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara … They had eight extra-base hits on the night and scored nine runs off Alcantara … Seven different Phillies had multiple hits on the night.
TODAY’S START:
• Going Streaking: Strahm has not allowed a run in 10.0 IP this season over 2 starts and a relief appearance, the 3rdlongest active scoreless streak in MLB behind Bryce Elder (12.1) and Shohei Ohtani (12.0) … Dating back to last year, his scoreless streak stands at 11.0 IP overall … Strahm is one of just 4 NL pitchers to have two scoreless starts through his first 2 starts this season, joining Marcus Stroman, Kyle Freeland and Bryce Elder … He is the only pitcher in the NL with 2 starts and a relief appearance thus far, and the only pitcher in baseball to do
so without allowing a run
• Not As Hard As It Looks: Strahm, who prior to this season had not made a start since August 2021, has both of the scoreless starts by any Phillies pitcher this season … In his 2 starts and 1 relief appearance, Strahm has held opponents to a .143/.189/.143 slash line, allowed only 7 baserunners in 10.0 IP (2 BB, 5 1B) and struck out 10 of the 37 batters he has faced
• Reverse Splits: 31 of the first 37 hitters Strahm has faced this season have been RHH … They are slashing .103/.161/.103 with 9 SO against him … Among all 85 pitchers with at least 30 RHH faced this season, none has matched or exceeded that OPP slash line … In his career, RHH are slashing .224/293/.385 as opposed to LHH slash line of .251/.328/.397 … Dating back to 9/11/22, the 44 RHH he has faced are hitting only .135/.237/.192 with 19 SO
• Good Memories: Nearly 4 years ago to the day, on 4/19/19, Strahm made the best start of his career against CIN, tossing 8.0 IP with 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 SO … It is to this day his only career start of more than 6.1 IP … Today will be his 3rd career start vs CIN, tied for his most against any team (also: ARI and ATL) … He has a 0.90 ERA (1 ER, 10.0 IP), 0 BB, 9 SO in the other 2 combined
• Welcome Aboard: Strahm is in his first year of a two-year contract with the Phillies after signing with the club as a free agent in December
• vs NL Central: 1-4, 2.68 ERA (12 ER, 40.1 IP) in 20 games (5 starts)
ROAD:
• 2023: 0-0, 0.00 ERA (5.0 IP) in 2 games (1 start)
• Career: 9-18, 3 SV, 3.64 ERA (73 ER, 163.1 IP) in 113 games (17 starts)
2023 SEASON:
• Tied his longest career scoreless start (5.0 IP) on 4/10 vs MIA (other: 4/13/19 at ARI)
• On 4/4 at NYY made his first start since 8/17/21 at COL (51 relief apps between)
2022 SEASON:
• Spent season with BOS as a relief pitcher
• Posted a 1.88 ERA (3 ER, 14.1 IP) over his first 17 appearances and a 2.95 ERA (13 ER, 39.2 IP) over his first 45
• On injured list with a left wrist contusion, 7/13-8/18; included rehab assignment to Worcester (AAA)
• Averaged 10.48 SO/9.0 IP (52 SO, 44.2 IP)
• Surrendered just one home run to the 57 LHH he faced
CINCINNATI REDS NOTES:
RED HOTS
• Today the Reds recalled from Louisville RHP Casey Legumina (#65, legguh-meena) and placed on the 15-day injured list RHP Connor Overton (right elbow strain).
• In his first stint at Class AAA, in 4 relief apps for the Bats Legumina posted a 1.59 ERA (5.2ip, 6h, 1er, 0bb, 5k, 1.06whip, .261baa).
• When he pitches, Legumina will become the first Reds player this season to make his Major League debut…12 Reds made their MLB debuts last year.
• Will be the fourth rookie to appear in a game for the Reds this season (IF Spencer Steer, RHP Fernando Cruz, RHP Kevin Herget)…23 rookies,
including 13 pitchers, appeared in at least 1 game for the Reds in 2022.
• Legumina was acquired from the Twins in November for IF Kyle Farmer.
TODAY’S GAME
• Is Game 3 (1-1) of a 4-game series vs Ruben Amaro’s Phillies and Game 3 (1-1) of a 7-game homestand that includes an upcoming 3-game series vs the American League East Division’s Tampa Bay Rays, who will play here for the second straight season.
• The Reds are coming off their first road trip of the season (1-5; 1-2 at Phi, 0-3 at Atl)…included Thu’s rainout of the Phillies’ home opener.
SERIES NOTES
• The Reds and Phillies are meeting for the second consecutive weekend.
• The Reds are 35-31 all-time vs Phi at Great American Ball Park.
• Last weekend at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies earned a 2-1 series win in their first home games of the season.
• With a minimum of 50 games played, the Reds’ .328 winning percentage at Phi’s Citizens Bank Park (21-43) is their lowest at any road ballpark.
• The Reds went 3-14-2 in their 19 previous series vs the Phillies at CBP, their only series wins there in August 2006, May 2017 & August 2021.
• Since May 2014, the Reds have lost 19 of their last 27 games at CBP.
RAYS UP NEXT
• The Reds are 13-5 all-time vs the Rays, including 3-0 here last season and 7-2 overall in Cincinnati.
• The Reds’ 18 games vs the Rays are tied for their fourth-fewest vs any opponent in the American League (Orioles 15, Angels 16, Red Sox 17,
Mariners 18, Rangers 19).
• Dating back to the 2014 season, the Reds have won the last 4 games vs TB at GABP, including last season’s 3-0 series sweep here in July.
• The Rays last won in Cincinnati on 4/12/14 (1-0 win).
• 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)…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).
LEADING OFF
• In the first inning, Reds batters lead the Major Leagues in on-base percentage (.459) while ranking second in batting average (.389) and T4th in runs scored (12).
• When leading off the Reds’ half of the first inning, Jonathan India is hitting .500 (6-12, 1bb, .538obp, .917slg, 2 2b, 1hr, 6r)…his 6 runs scored in the first inning tie Sea’s Julio Rodriguez for the most by a leadoff hitter in the Major Leagues… NYY’s Aaron Judge leads all batters, regardless of spot in the order, with 7 runs scored in the first inning.
REHABBING
• 1B Joey Votto is with Louisville on a rehabilitation assignment (10g, 9gs at 1B, 1gs at DH, 45pa, 7-38, .184, 2 2b, solo HR, 5rbi, 6bb, 21k)…began his rehab on 4/1 at Nashville and hit a solo HR off Caleb Boushley on the first pitch he was thrown…on 8/19/22 had surgeries to repair the torn left biceps and torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder.
• RHP Luke Weaver (right elbow flexor strain) is with Louisville on a rehabilitation assignment (2gs, 9ip, 3h, 3er, 4bb, 9k, 1hr)…started and threw 4.0 hitless innings in Sun’s 8-1 loss vs Indianapolis (2bb, 4k, 14bf, 61 pitches)…started last night’s 7-6 loss at Toledo (5ip, 3h, 3er, 2bb, 5k, Andy Ibáñez solo HR, 1wp, 19 batters, 79 pitches).
• RHP Lucas Sims (low back spasms) is with Louisville on a rehabilitation assignment (2g, 0-0, 0.00, 2ip, 1h, 0r, 1bb, 3k, .143baa)…threw a scoreless fifth inning in Sun’s 8-1 loss vs Indianapolis (1h, 0bb, 1k, 4bf, 12 pitches)…threw a hitless fifth inning in Wed’s 7-1 loss at Toledo (1bb, 2k, 4bf, 21 pitches)…is scheduled to pitch today and tomorrow at Toledo.
Today’s Pitcher – #51 Graham Ashcraft, RHP
• This afternoon is making his third appearance of the season and his first career appearance vs the Phillies…never has faced any of the Phillies’ hitters.
• Started the third game of the season and on 4/2 earned the 3-1 win vs the Pirates…following 2 rainouts, didn’t pitch again until 4/10 at Atl.
• In his last start of spring training, on 3/22 vs SD, allowed 1 hit while recording 10 strikeouts without a walk in 6.0 innings…time of game was 1:52.
• In 2022, in his Major League debut ranked among the National League rookie pitching leaders in starts (T3rd, 19gs), innings pitched (4th, 105.0), ERA (7th, 4.89), strikeouts (11th, 71), opponents’ BA (8th, .281) and WHIP (1.42, 8th).
• From 8/23-9/23 missed 32 days and 31 games while on the 15-day injured list with right biceps soreness.
• In 16 starts prior to the injury went 5-3, 3.97…in his last 5 starts prior to his injury went 1-1, 2.67 (33.2ip, 32h, 10er, 8bb, 24k, 3hr, .252baa), lowering his ERA from a season-high 4.70 to 3.97.
• After 2 rehab apps for Chattanooga and Louisville (5.2ip, 15h, 10r, 5er, 1bb, 11k, 123 pitches), finished the season 0-3, 12.00 in his last 3 starts for the Reds.
• Hunter Greene threw 7.0 scoreless innings (0bb, 8k) in the 7-0 win on 6/6 vs Ari and Ashcraft followed with 6.0 scoreless innings (0bb, 4k) in the 14-8 victory on 6/7 vs Ari…for the first time since 1900, Major League rookie starting pitchers in consecutive games threw at least 6.0 shutout innings without a walk.
• Greene & Ashcraft comprised the third set of Reds rookie pitchers since 1901 to make consecutive starts of at least 6.0 scoreless innings, joining Mike Regan & Hod Eller in 1917 and Sal Romano & Robert Stephenson in 2017.
• Made his Major League debut in the 3-2 win on 5/22 at Tor…replaced in the rotation scheduled starter RHP Connor Overton, who following the previous day’s game was scratched with a stress reaction in his lower back…Ashcraft already was with the team as a substitute player for the series in Toronto.
• In 2021 was an MiLB.com Organization All-Star, MLB.com’s Reds Pitching Prospect of the Year, the Reds’ Minor League Pitcher of the Month for June and a 3-time league Pitcher of the Week.
• His fastball, slider and curveball all have been rated by Baseball America the best among Reds minor league pitchers.
• Was selected by the Reds in the sixth round of the June 2019 draft…was signed by Jonathan Reynolds.
