Tonight the Cincinnati Reds (41-37) head to Baltimore for an interleague matchup with the Orioles (47-29) at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Orioles have cooled off a little bit recently, with a 5-5 record in their last 10 games, but are still trying to keep pace with the division leader Tampa Bay Rays. They are currently 4.5 games back in the AL East, and come into this series sixth in the AL with a team OPS of .746 and sixth in the AL with 94 home runs.
First pitch has been pushed back to 7:20pm ET.
Lineups
Cincinnati Reds
|
Baltimore Orioles |
| 1B Kevin Newman | DH Austin Hays |
| SS Matt McLain | C Adley Rutschman |
| 2B Jonathan India | 1B Anthony Santander |
| 3B Elly De La Cruz | RF Aaron Hicks |
| LF Spencer Steer | 3B Ramon Urias |
| RF Nick Senzel | CF Cedric Mullins II |
| DH Tyler Stephenson | 2B Jordan Westburg |
| CF TJ Friedl | LF Ryan McKenna |
| C Curt Casali | SS Jorge Mateo |
Jordan Westburg is the Orioles’ #3 prospect. He is making his MLB debut tonight.
Starting Pitchers
Brandon Williamson
Left-hander Brandon Williamson is coming off a start against the Rockies where he allowed three runs on six hits with five strikeouts in five innings. He’s walked zero batters in ten innings in his last two starts, an improvement from walking 13 batters in his first five starts (14.1 innings).
Williamson started throwing a cutter at Triple-A Louisville in April, and when he debuted in May, he was throwing it about 31 percent of the time. However, in the month of June, he’s thrown the cutter much less (21.7% compared to 31.6% in May), and he’s gone back to throwing his four-seam fastball and curve ball more often (36.2% and 10.0%, respectively). This is more in line with his pitch selection before adding the cutter.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB% | K% | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 128 | 29 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 9% | 16% | .250 | .320 | .543 |
| LHH | 31 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6% | 19% | .321 | .355 | .321 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | Cutter | Curve | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 92.4 | 87.9 | 73.2 | 81.5 | 84.3 |
| Usage | 33% | 26% | 8% | 18% | 15% |
Cole Irvin
Left-hander Cole Irvin has been in the league since 2019, but he really got most of his big league experience in 2021 and 2022 with the Oakland A’s. After pitching a limited number of innings for the Phillies in 2019 and 2020, he pitched 178.1 innings in 2021 and 181.0 innings in 2022 for Oakland. Irvin is not a huge strikeout guy, as he struck out only 125 and 128 each season. He did, however, have a 4.24 ERA/4.30 FIP in 2021 and a 3.98 ERA/4.21 FIP in 2022, which is pretty good considering how bad the A’s have been.
The A’s traded him to Baltimore in January, and he started the season on the Opening Day roster. Irvin struggled in his first couple of starts and was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk, where he pitched 42.0 innings and had a 3.21 ERA. He’s made seven appearances at the MLB level, with five of those being starts, and has given up 20 earned runs in just 23.1 innings. After his decent performance in Oakland for two seasons, I’m sure that Irvin’s struggles have been frustrating for both him and the Orioles.
He used to throw a curve ball very sparingly, but has not thrown it at all in 2023, choosing instead to focus on a cutter that he added into his repertoire last season. Irvin has also increased his four-seam fastball usage from a year ago, while significantly decreasing his sinker usage (19.9% compared to 24.9% in 2022). He’s also throwing his slider and his change up more this season.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB% | K% | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 92 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 9% | 22% | .321 | .380 | .593 |
| LHH | 19 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11% | 21% | .294 | .368 | .294 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Cutter | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 91.9 | 91.7 | 87.2 | 77.2 | 83.9 |
| Usage | 37.5% | 19.9% | 2.9% | 17.8% | 21.7% |
Details:
- When: 7:10 pm EDT
- Where: Oriole Park at Camden Yards
- Forecast: 78 degrees, mostly cloudy with thunderstorms, 56% chance of precipitation
- TV: Bally Sports Ohio
- Radio: 700 WLW
News and Notes
Levi Stoudt Optioned; Randy Wynne DFA’d
NL Player of the Week
It should come as no surprise that Elly De La Cruz was named NL Player of the Week after hitting for the cycle Friday night.
*acts surprised*
Elly De La Cruz has been named the NL Player of the Week! ?? pic.twitter.com/PRZTqJbpDa
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) June 26, 2023
Pitching Problems
Down on the Farm
In case you missed it, the Reds promoted a couple of players from Double-A to Triple-A yesterday.
This Week’s MLB Power Rankings
Power Rankings mean nothing, especially in June, but it is fun to see the Reds in the top 10.
The @SFGiants and @Reds surge into the Top 10 in https://t.co/Z3s2EpgF39‘s latest Power Rankings. pic.twitter.com/i19dR0ocAX
— MLB (@MLB) June 26, 2023
