San Francisco Giants vs Cincinnati Reds – July 17, 2023

The Cincinnati Reds will look to turn things around tonight as they welcome the San Francisco Giants into town to begin a new series. And Cincinnati’s getting a reinforcement from Triple-A, calling up Christian Encarnacion-Strand in an attempt to strengthen and lengthen the lineup. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10pm ET.

Starting Lineups

Starting Pitchers

Brandon Williamson

When it comes to weather, Williamson has had some bad luck lately as he’s seemingly caught up in any and all rain storms that happen to catch a series with the Reds involved. Two of his last three outings were cut short due to rain, including his last one in Washington prior to the All-Star break on July 6th – meaning he will have had 11 days between starts.

Left-handed hitters have hit for a solid average against Williamson this season. What they haven’t done is walk often or hit for any power – they have yet to pick up an extra-base hit against him this year in the big leagues. Teams aren’t sending many lefties out there to match up against him. Right-handed hitters get far more chances. They aren’t hitting for as high of an average, but they walk at a good rate against him, make plenty of contact, and hit for a lot of power.

Splits

Pitch Usage

Logan Webb

The last time he took the mound, Logan Webb threw a complete game shutout with no walks and with 10 strikeouts. That came on the back of an 11 strikeout, 2-run performance in his previous start. To say he’s on a roll would be an understatement.

While his splits aren’t big, Webb does have some reverse splits. Right-handed hitters have a 71 point OPS advantage compared to lefties. Righties make a little more contact, walk more often – though still not much – and hit for a little bit more power. Not shown below in the splits are the home and road numbers. Webb has been dominant at home and merely solid on the road, where his ERA is 4.24 (2.02 at home) and hitters have a .707 OPS against him (.613 at home).

Pitch Usage

When and Where

• Game time: 7:10pm ET
• Where: Great American Ball Park
• Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv, MLB Network
• Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
• Forecast: 80°, partly cloudy, 15% chance of rain

News and Notes

Kevin Newman to the IL

You’re probably fully aware that the club called up Christian Encarnacion-Strand today. We found that would be happening last night. But we didn’t know what the other side of the transaction would be….. well, Kevin Newman is heading to the injured list with gastritis.

The Reds have signed more draft picks

Cincinnati’s 2nd round pick Sammy Stafura was the biggest signing of the day that featured two other draftee signings and a non-drafted free agent signing, who have no signed 14 of their 21 draft picks. The club has signed 10 of the 11 picks that they had in the first 10 rounds.

Standings