Milwaukee Brewers vs Cincinnati Reds – July 14, 2023

After finishing up the first half with the Reds and Brewers facing off in Milwaukee, the two teams will begin the second half in Cincinnati taking on one another. The Reds have a 1-game lead over the Brewers as the 3-game series at Great American Ball Park begins. First pitch tonight is set for 7:10pm ET.

Starting Lineups

Andruw Monasterio was not originally in the lineup, but Brian Anderson was a late scratch for the Brewers and Monasterio is taking over at third base.

Starting Pitchers

Graham Ashcraft

After a dominant five weeks to begin the season, Graham Ashcraft’s season spiraled and he got hammered for the next month and a half. He spent a short period of time on the injured list before returning and struggling against Atlanta. But in his two starts since he’s allowed just two earned runs total in 12.2 innings.

Both lefties and righties have found success this season against Ashcraft – something that was not true for his career through the first week of May, but since then lefties have absolutely crushed him to the tune of .402/.450/.630 after hitting just .201/.270/.251 against him in his career up to that point. Right-handed hitters have always hit well against him in the big leagues and that’s still holding true this year. Not shown below are the splits for his home and road numbers. He’s been much better on the road, with a 152 point disadvantage in OPS against at Great American Ball Park.

Splits

Pitch Usage

Corbin Burnes

It hasn’t quite been the same for Burnes in 2023 as it has been the previous three seasons when he was one of the top pitchers in all of baseball. He’s still pitched well, but not the Cy Young caliber pitcher he’s shown to be in the past. In his final start before the break he allowed two runs in 6.0 innings against the Reds in Milwaukee while walking four and striking out six.

The splits against Burnes don’t paint a good picture. He’s been quite good against both lefties and righties, but right-handed hitters have found more success across the board. They make more contact, hit for a higher average, and hit for a lot more power. They still aren’t hitting well, but they do hit much better. Left-handed hitters walk more, but they don’t do much else – hitting for a sub .200 average and slugging .301 against him.

Pitch Usage

When and Where

• Game time: 7:10pm ET
• Where: Great American Ball Park
• Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv
• Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
• Forecast: 87°, cloudy, 5% chance of rain

News and Notes

Reds have called around about starting pitching

Jon Morosi reported that the Cincinnati Reds have been calling teams asking about starting pitching and he specifically mentioned the Chicago White Sox as one of the teams they contacted. They have several options that could be available in the next two weeks.

Jonathan India moves down the lineup

You probably took notice above that India has moved out of the #3 spot in the lineup – a spot he’s been in for the last seven weeks. At least for tonight’s game he’s down in the #5 spot. Since moving into the #3 spot he’s had hit .196/.288/.372 – showing off a little bit of power, but struggling to do much else at the plate.

The Reds had the best draft of anyone

Or at least that’s what MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis believes. Cincinnati’s 21 picks stand out above the crowd according to Callis, led by 1st round pitchers Rhett Lowder and Ty Floyd.

Standings