Weekend and season series against the Mets on the line today

by — September 22, 2019 in Game/Series Preview

[If you were looking for us yesterday, the site was down. Sorry about that.]

The Reds (73-82) can win the weekend series with a victory over the New York Mets this afternoon. The season series between the two clubs stands at 3-3. The pitching matchup features two 2019 trade deadline acquisitions. The eyes of all Reds fans remain on Eugenio Suarez, who has 48 homers, two behind MLB leader Pete Alonso. Suarez and Alonso are batting third for their respective teams in GABP this afternoon.

Pitching Matchup

Trevor Bauer makes his tenth start for the Reds, his first against the Mets.

Bauer’s previous start in Arizona may have been his best of the year for the Reds. He gave up a run on four hits and a walk, with nine strikeouts, on the way to pitching 8 innings. In his other start on the road trip, in Seattle, Bauer gave up just two runs on three hits in 6.1 innings.

The Mets acquired Marcus Stroman from the Toronto Blue Jays at the 2019 trade deadline. It’s his tenth start for the NL club. He’s pitched well for the Mets, with a slightly higher strikeout rate than he had with the Blue Jays. That’s not surprising when you get to face the opposing pitcher a few times a game.

Reds Lineup

The Reds remain shorthanded with the flu running around the clubhouse. Josh VanMeter, who you would expect to lead-off against a right-handed starter, is out of the lineup. Jose Peraza is playing LF and Kyle Farmer is at 2B. Phillip Ervin leads off. He’s batting .240/.308/.390 (82 wRC+) in his career against RHP.

Here are the splits for Reds hitters against right-handed pitchers:

Mets Lineup

[Graphics: Baseball Savant]

Big thanks to Mike Hart, who contributed graphics and research for this post.

6.2.5

Tags:

Steve Mancuso

Steve Mancuso is a lifelong Reds fan who grew up during the Big Red Machine era. He’s been writing about the Reds for more than ten years. Steve’s fondest memories about the Reds include attending a couple 1975 World Series games, being at Homer Bailey’s second no-hitter and going nuts for Jay Bruce at Clinchmas. Steve was also at all three games of the 2012 NLDS, but it’s too soon to talk about that.

Subscribe to RC+ via Email

Get an email every time we publish a new post!

Reds Content Plus is a site for passionate fans of the Cincinnati Reds. Our staff of independent writers covers the performance of Reds players and the strategies of the Reds manager and front office. Our content builds on what you’ll find at other Reds fan sites. What separates RC+ is our use of (and explaining) advanced statistical measures. Whether it’s a sacrifice bunt, intentional walk, stolen base, bullpen use, pinch hitting or pulling the starting pitcher, we’ll dig into the numbers. If you want to support us, check out our Support Page.