The battle for the basement in the National League Central starts tonight in Pittsburgh. The Pirates will host the Reds for a 3-game series with Pittsburgh entering the day one game behind Cincinnati in the standings. The Reds will send Graham Ashcraft to the mound to face off against Bryse Wilson and the Pirates.
Starting Lineups
Here are the lineups for this tonight’s series opener:
Mike Moustakas gets activated from the injured list today and immediately jumps into the cleanup spot.
Starting Pitchers
Graham Ashcraft
It’s been a nice run of late for Graham Ashcraft, who has posted a 2.33 ERA in the last four starts, spanning 27.0 innings.
The splits for Graham Ashcraft are quite stark. His OPS against from left-handed hitters is .493. Right-handed hitters are slugging higher than that. Despite those facts, teams are still trying to stack left-handed hitters against him.
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 199 | 61 | 11 | 0 | 8 | 10 | 28 | .330 | .372 | .519 |
| LHH | 176 | 31 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 28 | .194 | .261 | .231 |
Pitch Usage
| 2-Seam | Cutter | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 97.0 | 97.2 | 85.6 | 89.8 |
| Usage | 20.2% | 51.0% | 28.0% | 0.8% |
Bryse Wilson
On June 14th Wilson allowed seven runs in 5.0 innings against the Cardinals and his ERA ballooned to 8.29 on the season. Since then he’s made seven starts with a 3.82 ERA, walking just five batters in 37.2 innings to go with 21 strikeouts.
Right-handed hitters are hitting for a solid average against Wilson and are showing a solid amount of power, but they don’t draw walks. Left-handed hitters, though, are putting up MVP caliber numbers against Wilson, with an OPS over 1.000. They make plenty of contact, hit for average, and tons of power.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 173 | 43 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 25 | .269 | .306 | .438 |
| LHH | 148 | 45 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 23 | .352 | .411 | .625 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Slider | Change | Curve | |
| Velo | 92.9 | 92.4 | 83.5 | 86.2 | 77.2 |
| Usage | 23.8% | 34.2% | 16.4% | 12.0% | 13.6% |
When and Where
- Game time: 7:05pm ET
- Where: PNC Park
- Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv (out of market)
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 82°, sunny, 0% chance of rain
News and Notes
Joey Votto’s surgery was more than expected
The surgery for Joey Votto took place today and according to Nick Krall it was “more than expected”. Votto has repair done to his left rotator cuff and bicep. He is still expected to be ready for the 2023 season.
Elly De La Cruz hit a 491-foot home run
It seems that every few days we get a report that Reds #1 prospect Elly De La Cruz has done something else that seems like it’s right out of a comic book and last night was once again one of those times. He got a green light on a 3-0 pitch in the first game of the Chattanooga Lookouts doubleheader and hit the ball over the batters eye against the Rocket City Trash Pandas with Trackman estimating it at 491 feet. You can check out the video of it here.
Tony Santillan likely out for the year
Reds reliever Tony Santillan, who is on the IL with a back injury, is unlikely to return this season. David Bell called it “a bit of a longshot.”
— Bobby Nightengale (@nightengalejr) August 19, 2022
