Series Preview: Cincinnati Reds @ Milwaukee Brewers

So, last week we talked down the Pittsburgh Pirates, calling them the worst team in the majors — if you could even call them a Major League team.

They then proceeded to sweep the Brewers over the weekend at PNC Park.

We’ll take the blame for that. With that in mind, we’re going to take a different tact with this Cincinnati Reds series preview.

Cincinnati comes into this series tied with the Brewers at 11-15 after losing 4 of their last 6 games, including their last 2 to the St. Louis Cardinals. Their offense has struggled to score runs, but they’ve tried really hard and are due for a big week at Miller Park.

Nicholas Castellanos and Jesse Winker both have great beards and have carried the Reds offensively to this point, with Castellanos hitting 9 home runs through his first 95 at-bats and putting up a .944 OPS and Winker carrying a 1.077 OPS as part of a hot streak that started the last time these teams faced eachother.

Eugenio Suarez is hitting .149/.282/.310 but has historically killed the Brewers and is undoubtedly due for a huge series. Joey Votto is hitting .207/.337/.354 but is still the Canadian God of Walks and an all-time great that deserves our respect and admiration.

Mike Moustakas is hitting .212/.357/.424 in just 33 at-bats but has valiantly fought through injuries early this year. He’s 2-for-12 since returning from the Injured List but will certainly feel at home returning to Miller Park.

Pitchers, Probably

Monday, August 24th - 7:10 p.m. CDT
Trevor Bauer vs. Brett Anderson

Tuesday, August 25th - 7:10 p.m. CDT
Luis Castillo vs. Brandon Woodruff

Wednesday, August 26th - 7:10 p.m. CDT
Sonny Gray vs. Adrian Houser

Thursday, August 27th - 7:10 p.m. CDT
TBD vs. Josh Lindblom

Castillo has worse numbers than you’d expect at this point in the season with a 4.44 ERA through his first 26.1 innings, but a lot of that damage was done in his second start of the year against Detroit, when he gave up 5 earned runs in 6 innings. He still has one of the best changeups in the game, though, and we’ve seen how the Brewers can struggle with changeup specialists. He only lasted 3.1 innings in his last start on August 19th, so he should be well-rested.

Gray has long been the one that got away for the Brewers, and he’s been excellent since being reunited with his old college pitching coach, Derek Johnson. He’s put up a 2.21 ERA in 6 starts so far this year, with a league-leading 51 strikeouts in 36.2 innings, only giving up 3 runs despite playing in Great American Ballpark. He’s carrying a career-high 12.5 K/9 and comes into this start with a 221 ERA+.

Sorry, I can’t say anything nice about Trevor Bauer. He’s pitched well this year, though, coming into this series with an 0.68 ERA in 4 starts, striking out 41 in 26.1 innings.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference