Milwaukee Brewers vs Cincinnati Reds – July 15, 2023

Last night the Brewers outlasted the Reds in a 1-0 win. That victory put the two teams in a tie atop the National League Central division at 50-42. If the weather cooperates, the two clubs get back in action this evening for a contest that will determine who sits in first place all by themselves. First pitch is tentatively scheduled for 7:10pm ET. Tonight’s game has been delayed by weather.

Starting Lineups

Starting Pitchers

Andrew Abbott

In his final start before the All-Star break Andrew Abbott faced off against the Brewers and it wound up being, by far, the worst start of his career. He allowed six runs – more than he had allowed in his other six career starts combined – in just 4.1 innings. The lefty will be looking for a bit of redemption

Left-handed hitters have not been able to do much of anything against Abbott this season. They are 5-31 against him with no walks and no extra-base hits. Right-handed hitters have found more success, but not a whole lot. They are hitting .200 against him, but are hitting for good power when they do pick up hits.

Splits

Pitch Usage

Freddy Peralta

After a good start to the season where he posted a 3.32 ERA in his first seven starts of the year, Freddy Peralta has run into some struggles since then. His final three starts in May resulted in 19 runs – 13 of which were earned – in just 13.2 innings. Things have been better since June began, but his 4.78 ERA in those seven starts aren’t much to write home about, either.

Teams have stacked their lineups with lefties against Peralta this season, but it hasn’t been a good plan as they’ve hit worse against him than righties have. It’s a strange tactic given that the only season in which lefties hit better against him than righties have was in 2018 when he was a rookie. Not shown in the splits below is that Peralta is much worse on the road. His ERA away from Milwaukee is nearly two full runs higher (5.82 to 3.88) and the OPS against him is 138 points higher.

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: 77°, cloudy, 40% chance of rain

News and Notes

Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo updates

David Bell provided an update of sorts on starting pitchers Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo. Bell noted that Greene was throwing off of a mound out in Goodyear at the team’s complex (this is where players go to rehab for most injuries) and that he was expected to return “sometime in August”. That leaves a pretty wide open range of possibilities given that it’s an entire month. But he also noted that Lodolo was a bit behind him, was also throwing, and could also return in August.

Bally Sports Ohio to retain the Reds broadcasts

Today was the deadline for the network to pay the Reds in order to keep the broadcasting right, and it was reported that they had plans to make that payment on time. While no official word has come that it went through, if it did, it seems it would cover the relationship for the remainder of the season.

Standings