RC+ Recap: A Walloping in Washington

Let’s just all pretend that never happened, okay?

The Nationals scored 16 runs over the course of two innings against Trevor Bauer and Sal Romano, completing their sweep over the Reds in a 17-7 beatdown. Both pitchers gave up an average exit velocity of at least 90.0 mph. Romano was bashed for an average of 96.0 mph. Woof.

The Reds now sit seven games back in both the NL Central and Wild Card races after losing their fourth straight game. The playoff outlook is growing bleaker by the day. FanGraphs gives the Reds just a 2.7% chance of making the postseason.

On the bright side, Aristides Aquino homered again, his ninth in 14 games. No other player has done that in MLB history. Freddy Galvis had a solid debut, going 4-for-5 with a home run. All five of his batted balls had an expected batting average of at least .490. Jared Hughes also stopped the bleeding with three scoreless innings to close out the game.

But none of it ever happened anyway.

Reds Most Valuable Players

  • Eugenio Suarez: .116 WPA (Win Probability Added) | 1-for-4, R
  • Jesse Winker: .040 WPA | 1-for-3, 2 BB
  • Tucker Barnhart: .008 WPA | 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, BB

Reds Least Valuable Players

  • Trevor Bauer: -.327 WPA | 4.1 IP, 9 ER, 8 H, 2 HR, 2 BB, 4 K
  • Joey Votto: -.082 WPA | 1-for-4

Play of the Game

  • Eugenio Suarez: .092 WPA | Scored on wild pitch in 4th inning to tie game at 1-1

Hardest-Hit Balls

  • Aristides Aquino: 106.6 mph single in 9th inning
  • Freddy Galvis: 103.3 mph home run in 9th inning
  • Freddy Galvis: 102.2 mph single in 2nd inning
  • Aristides Aquino: 101.8 mph home run in 7th inning

Luckiest Hit of the Day

  • Jose Iglesias.360 xBA, 96.7 mph, 19° LA; Single

Unluckiest Out of the Day

  • Phillip Ervin: .700 xBA, 101.7 mph, 23° LA; Flyout

Highest Pitch Velocities by Pitcher

  • Sal Romano: 97.2 mph two-seam fastball
  • Trevor Bauer: 96.4 mph four-seam fastball
  • Jared Hughes: 92.3 mph four-seam fastball

Links

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.