Offensive revival gets Reds back on track in blowout win

by — April 16, 2021 in Game Recap

A little home cooking was apparently what the Reds needed to get back on track.

Following a disappointing 2-4 road trip, the Cincinnati offense came back home to Great American Ball Park and came back to life, blowing out Cleveland 10-3 to take game one of the Ohio Cup.

Offense

Nick Castellanos and Joey Votto led the way, each homering while picking up two hits. They entered the night tied for the team lead for the most hard-hit balls (95+ mph exit velocity) this season at 22, and they went pound for pound to earn sole possession of the lead (see the exit velocity leaderboard below). Castellanos ultimately got the edge with three 100+ mph batted balls, while Votto had two.

Every player in the Reds lineup except for Nick Senzel had at least one hit on Friday. Kyle Farmer, a late addition to the lineup when Mike Moustakas was scratched with a non-COVID illness, reached base four times, all in different ways (error, HBP, walk, single). With the game well in hand, late substitution Max Schrock also picked up his first hit in a Cincinnati uniform with a single to right field. He was called up today when Aristides Aquino hit the injured list with a fractured hamate bone in his left hand.

The scoring started in the third inning, when the Reds plated five runs as the first seven hitters reached base. Farmer started the inning by reaching on an error, and Tyler Stephenson was hit by a pitch. Both moved up a base on a wild pitch, which allowed Farmer to score on a bloop single by pitcher Jeff Hoffman. Jesse Winker knocked in another run with a ground-ball single up the middle, and Castellanos followed with another RBI base hit. Eugenio Suárez then cleared the bases with a two-run double.

Not to be outdone, cleanup hitter Votto then hit a two-run, opposite-field home run to left field (103.6 mph, 381 feet), his third dinger in the last four games. He nearly added another homer in the sixth inning when he doubled off the top of the left-field wall.

Cincinnati tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning. Suárez walked to lead off the inning, and the Reds loaded the bases on a two-out single by Jonathan India and a walk by Farmer. Stephenson came through with a two-run single, driving a 3-2 fastball up in the zone into center field to make it a 9-1 game.

Castellanos continued his big game in the sixth inning, blasting an opposite-field homer into the moon deck (105.2 mph, 383 feet) to push the Reds into double digits. That was his fifth homer of the year, which ties Tyler Naquin for the team lead.

Pitching

We saw the good and the bad from Jeff Hoffman in his third start as a Red. Given a big lead, the right-hander cruised through six innings, allowing one run on seven hits and three walks. He piled up swings and misses, setting a new career high with 17 whiffs. Ten of those swings and misses came on his four-seam fastball, four on the slider, and three on the changeup.

Unfortunately, that only translated into four strikeouts.

The biggest downside to Hoffman’s outing: when he wasn’t getting the heater up and the off-speed pitches down — which happened a little too often for comfort — they got crushed. Hoffman gave up eight 100-mph+ batted balls, including a solo home run by Amed Rosario in the second inning, for an average exit velocity of 92.8 mph on the evening.

Cionel Pérez pitched a scoreless seventh inning, but he did issue another walk. The lefty has six walks in 5.1 innings (24% walk rate), which could make him a candidate to get optioned when the Reds activate Sonny Gray tomorrow.

Carson Fulmer pitched a scoreless eighth, allowing just a two-out single.

Cam Bedrosian allowed two runs in the ninth inning on two hits and a walk. The right-hander gave up a home run to Jordan Luplow on the first pitch he threw in the inning. It was certainly a GABP special (.070 xBA, 349 feet), but it’s another mark against Bedrosian so far in this short season. His pitching line so far: 5.2 innings, seven earned runs, 10 hits, six walks, seven strikeouts. Along with Pérez (and Sal Romano), Bedrosian is also a candidate to get designated for assignment tomorrow.

Stats

Most Valuable Players

  • Jeff Hoffman: .163 WPA (Win Probability Added)
  • Kyle Farmer: .102 WPA
  • Tyler Stephenson: .085 WPA

Hardest-Hit Balls

  • Tyler Stephenson: 105.9 mph | Single in 5th inning
  • Nick Castellanos: 105.2 mph | Home run in 6th inning
  • Joey Votto: 104.3 mph | Double in 6th inning
  • Joey Votto: 103.6 mph | Home run in 3rd inning
  • Nick Castellanos: 103.5 mph | Lineout in 1st inning

Luckiest Hit of the Day

  • Jesse Winker: 82.8 mph, .070 xBA | Single in 3rd inning

Unluckiest Out of the Day

  • Nick Castellanos: .680 xBA | Lineout in 1st inning

Highest Velocities By Pitcher

  • Cionel Perez: 97.5 mph
  • Jeff Hoffman: 96.8 mph
  • Carson Fulmer: 93.8 mph
  • Cam Bedrosian: 92.4 mph

Highest Pitch Spins

  • Cionel Perez: 2,773 rpm | Slider
  • Jeff Hoffman: 2,638 rpm | Slider

Most Pitch Movement

  • Jeff Hoffman: 66 inches of vertical movement | Curveball
  • Jeff Hoffman: 16 inches of horizontal movement | Changeup

Team Expected Batting Averages (xBA)

  • Cleveland: .319
  • Cincinnati: .303
What’s Next?

The Ohio Cup continues on Saturday at 4:10 p.m. EST. Sonny Gray will make his season debut, facing off against young right-hander Triston McKenzie.

Featured Image: Keith Gillett (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.

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