After an exciting 9th-inning comeback Sunday afternoon against the Phillies to avoid a sweep and pull even at 4-4, the Reds continue their week-long road trip with NL East teams as they get ready to start a three game series with the Atlanta Braves.
When and Where:
- Game Time: 7:20 pm ET
- Where: Truist Park
- Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv
- Listen: 700 WLW (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: partly sunny, 61 degrees, 0% chance of rain
Lineups
Cincinnati Reds
|
Atlanta Braves |
| 2B Jonathan India | RF Ronald Acuña Jr. |
| CF TJ Friedl | 1B Matt Olson |
| RF Jake Fraley | 3B Austin Riley |
| C Tyler Stephenson | C Sean Murphy |
| DH Wil Myers | 2B Ozzie Albies |
| 1B Jason Vosler | DH Eddie Rosario |
| 3B Spencer Steer | SS Orlando Arcia |
| LF Will Benson | LF Kevin Pillar |
| SS Jose Barrero | CF Eli White |
Starting Pitchers
| Name | IP | ERA | xERA | FIP | xFIP | WHIP | K% | BB% |
| Graham Ashcraft | 105.0 | 4.89 | 4.02 | 4.21 | 4.09 | 1.42 | 15.3% | 6.5% |
| Bryce Elder | 54.0 | 3.17 | 4.25 | 3.78 | 4.16 | 1.24 | 20.7% | 10.1% |
**Stats are from 2022 season.
Graham Ashcraft
Ashcraft couldn’t have started the season much better than his start last Sunday against the Pirates. He pitched seven innings of one-run baseball, while giving up only four hits. He struck out six batters and walked only one.
It’s only one start, but there were promising signs that Ashcraft will improve his strikeout rate in 2023. He still pitches to contact, with his GB% being near 50% for his first start, but against the Pirates, his K% was 23.1%. Yes, it is an incredibly small sample size, but his career strikeout rate is 15.7%, so even increasing that slightly will make him a better pitcher overall.
Bryce Elder
Elder, a fifth round draft pick by the Braves in the 202o draft, made his MLB debut last year after pitching 105 innings at Triple-A Gwinnett. He bounced back and forth between Triple-A and the big leagues, but pitched a total of 54 innings for Atlanta. In the month of September, He allowed only five runs in 25.2 innings. Four of those five runs came in his last start of the season against Miami. 2023 has started well for Elder. In his first start of the season, he allowed just two hits and no runs while walking three and striking out six in six innings against St. Louis.
The 23-year-old right-hander has four pitches in his arsenal, but relies heavily on his fastball and slider. He is not a high-velocity pitcher, with his fastball topping out at 91.5 last season and 90.4 mph through one start this season. His slider is almost as fast as his fastball at 89-90 mph.
News and Notes
Will Benson earned MLB’s Play of the Week for his leaping catch against the Cubs.
Will Benson made the leaping grab to earn Play of the Week presented by @Chevrolet! pic.twitter.com/AFm6p9aqXS
— MLB (@MLB) April 10, 2023
