Bad Luis Castillo reappears, Reds drop series finale to Brewers 9-4

by — May 23, 2021 in Game Recap

With a chance to get a big series win over the Brewers on Sunday, Luis Castillo and the Reds laid an egg in an 9-4 defeat. The loss drops the Reds to five games below .500 at 20-25. Lots of season to go (117 games), but this is a brutal stretch of baseball.

Offense

Jesse Winker stayed hot, hitting his fifth home run of the series in the third inning. Unfortunately, it was yet another solo shot, but it was arguably his most impressive dinger to date. It banged off the power stacks in right-center field, traveling an estimated 456 feet. Only Tyler Naquin has a longer home run (459 feet) this season.

The Reds struck again in the fifth inning. Pinch hitter Shogo Akiyama led off with an opposite field double that nearly went for his first MLB home run. Two batters later, Akiyama scored on a double by Nick Castellanos. With two outs, Tyler Stephenson drew an eight-pitch walk and Tucker Barnhart was hit by a pitch, but Eugenio Suárez struck out to end the inning.

Castellanos blasted a two-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, his 12th of the season (100.9 mph, 397 feet).

Overall, it was another weak performance from the offense outside of Winker (2-for-5, HR), Stephenson (two walks), and Castellanos (3-for-4, two doubles, HR, walk). The Reds only had eight hard-hit balls (95+ mph exit velocity), and five came from Winker and Castellanos. Winker and Castellanos combined for five of the Reds’ seven hits. The Reds’ #5-9 hitters — which included Barnhart, Suárez, Mark Payton, Max Schrock, Kyle Farmer, Castillo, Akiyama, and Alex Blandino throughout the game — combined to go 1-for-18 with a walk, HBP, and six strikeouts.

Pitching

Three steps forward, four steps back for Luis Castillo. He couldn’t build on his best start of the season, allowing five runs, five hits, and four walks in five innings. He struck out five.

Castillo had another rough first inning, putting the Reds in a 3-0 hole before they ever got to bat. Castillo allowed a weak single to Kolten Wong on a well-placed pitch inside (72.1 mph exit velocity). He then retired the next two hitters, catching a break when right fielder Nick Castellanos made a nice catch on a ball crushed at 114.9 mph by Christian Yelich. Castillo then allowed a single to Avisail Garcia (84.0 mph) and issued back-to-back walks to Daniel Vogelbach (84 wRC+) and Travis Shaw (80 wRC+) to make it 1-0. Newly acquired Brewers shortstop Willy Adames then hit a broken-bat single (76.3 mph) to score two more runs.

In the third, Castillo gave up a two-run home run to Avisail Garcia that just snuck over the right-field wall. Although it was certainly a GABP special, Castillo got behind in the count 2-0 and then left a cookie right in the middle of the plate.

That was the theme for Castillo throughout the day. He was consistently pitching from behind in the count, throwing barely half (57) of his 102 pitches for strikes and issuing a season worst four walks. When he did get the ball over the plate, it was often right down the middle.

While that didn’t result in a ton of hard contact (82.7 mph average exit velocity and only four hard-hit balls), it was enough to doom his start.

With the Reds down 5-2 — well within striking distance — and an off day looming tomorrow, David Bell didn’t use his best relievers and the game got out of hand.

Michael Feliz walked the first batter he faced, struck out the next batter, and allowed a single to put runners at first and second base. With three lefties due up, Bell went with Sean Doolittle over Amir Garrett and paid the price. Doolittle promptly allowed a two-run triple to certified Reds killer Kolten Wong. Doolittle struck out the next batter before allowing an RBI single to Christian Yelich.

Doolittle has inherited 12 runners this season and allowed 10 of them to score (83.3%). Among relievers with 10+ inherited runners and 15+ IP this season, only one pitcher (Duane Underwood Jr.) has allowed a higher rate of inherited runners to score.

Ashton Goudeau, who was recalled from Triple-A Louisville in a flurry of roster moves on Friday, recorded the last out of the sixth inning. Goudeau guided the Reds through the seventh and eighth innings without allowing a baserunner. Although he didn’t record a strikeout and only got two swings and misses, Goudeau generated several weak grounders. Four of the seven outs he recorded were ground balls.

Brad Brach pitched the ninth inning and gave up a solo home run to Yelich. Scrap-heap relievers, ladies and gentlemen.

Stats

Hardest-Hit Balls

  • Jesse Winker: 109.2 mph | Home run in 3rd inning
  • Nick Castellanos: 103.4 mph | Double in 5th inning
  • Tyler Naquin: 101.0 mph | Flyout in 5th inning
  • Nick Castellanos: 100.9 mph | Home run in 9th inning
  • Jesse Winker: 100.5 mph | Lineout in 7th inning

Unluckiest Out of the Day

  • Jesse Winker: .450 xBA | Lineout in 7th inning

Highest Velocities By Pitcher

  • Luis Castillo: 98.7 mph
  • Michael Feliz: 95.6 mph
  • Sean Doolittle: 93.6 mph
  • Ashton Goudeau: 92.7 mph

Highest Pitch Spins

  • Sean Doolittle: 2,556 rpm | Curveball
  • Brad Brach: 2,542 rpm | Slider

Most Pitch Movement

  • Ashton Goudeau: 64 inches vertical movement | Curveball
  • Luis Castillo: 20 inches horizontal movement | Sinker

Team Expected Batting Averages (xBA)

  • Brewers: .290
  • Reds: .206
What’s Next?

The Reds are off Monday. They’ll be back in action Tuesday in Washington D.C. as they take on the Nationals. Tyler Mahle is slated to start for the Reds. The Nationals have yet to announce their starting pitcher. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. EST.

Featured Image: Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire

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Matt Wilkes

Matt Wilkes got hooked on Reds baseball after attending his first game in Cinergy Field at 6 years old, and he hasn’t looked back. As a kid, he was often found imitating his favorite players — Ken Griffey Jr., Adam Dunn, Sean Casey, and Austin Kearns — in the backyard. When he finally went inside, he was leading the Reds to 162-0 seasons in MVP Baseball 2005 or keeping stats for whatever game was on TV. He started writing about baseball in 2014 and has become fascinated by analytics and all the new data in the game. Matt is also a graduate of The Ohio State University and currently lives in Chicago. Follow him on Twitter at @_MattWilkes.

2 Responses

  1. pinson343 says:
    May 23, 2021 at 10:40 PM

    Currently this is the worst IF in the major leagues. Over the last 2 days, not a single IFer got on base once, except for a catcher playing 1st base. Their defense is a liability.
    By the time the injured starters return, the Reds could be well under .500.

    And when those starters return, the Reds still do not have a SS. Alfredo Rodriquez is batting .292/.382/.417 at Louisville. He’s much better prepared than Jose Garcia was last year. And speaking of Garcia, he’s batting .323/.394/.645 at Chattanooga and is on the 40 man roster. And as we know, they can both play defense.

    During the off day tomorrow, time for the Reds to make some moves ?

  2. pinson343 says:
    May 23, 2021 at 10:52 PM

    Akiyama seems to have gotten his rhythm back, and he showed his on-base skills last September. It would be nice if by far the two best hitters on the team had someone on base when they came up, rather than hitting behind the number 8 spot and the pitcher.
    I know it’s hard to bench Naquin when he’s still hitting for power, but it would be nice if Bell experimented with a lineup starting with Akiyama/Winker/Catellanos now and then.
    The lack of a DH has hurt the Reds this year (not that I’m a fan of it).

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