The Reds are back in the kind of stretch that can tell you a lot about a team, and maybe even a little about what comes next.
Cincinnati enters its three-game set with the Cleveland Guardians on a good run, fresh off a 5-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.
That victory gave the Reds their third straight series win and pushed them to 49-55. The timing matters, too, with the trade deadline looming and the front office facing some big calls.
Standing in the way is a Guardians club that arrives at Great American Ball Park with the upper hand in the Ohio Cup race. Cleveland is 54-53 and already took two of three from Cincinnati in May in Cleveland. If the Reds want to come out on top in this rivalry, they’ll need to sweep this series.
Monday night’s opener brings a strong pitching matchup, with Reds rookie All-Star Chase Burns set to face Guardians right-hander Slade Cecconi. Burns is 12-1 with a 2.42 ERA, while Cecconi is 4-7 with a 4.60 ERA. There has been plenty of discussion about when Cincinnati might shut Burns down for the season, and while that seems likely, this could be one of the last chances for fans to watch him work this year.
Tuesday’s game shifts to Guardians right-hander Gavin Williams against Reds starter Brady Singer. Williams is 10-5 with a 3.78 ERA, while Singer is 5-9 with a 4.53 ERA.
Singer’s season hasn’t gone the way anyone wanted, but he has looked much sharper in his last three starts. In his most recent outing against the Seattle Mariners, he battled through 6.2 innings and helped Cincinnati secure a big road win.
The series wraps up Wednesday with Guardians starter Joey Cantillo against Reds right-hander Rhett Lowder. Cantillo is 8-6 with a 4.02 ERA, and Lowder comes in at 3-7 with a 5.61 ERA.
Lowder has made two starts since rejoining the rotation. The first was rough, as he gave up eight runs against the Colorado Rockies.
His second outing was more in line with what Cincinnati needs from him, and that final game could carry real weight for the Reds.
It’s a big week for Cincinnati in more ways than one. The games against Cleveland open the door to a statement series, while the deadline pressure keeps building behind the scenes.
The Reds have started to look different since the All-Star Break. Now they get another chance to show whether that change is real.
In Other News...
Joey Votto Just Reopened One Of Reds Fans Deepest Wounds
Joey Votto has been making the media rounds lately, and for Reds fans, it has been a reminder of just how intertwined his legacy is with some of the franchises most painful modern moments. On MLB Networks MLB Now and NBCs Sunday Night Baseball, the former Cincinnati star looked back on his Reds career and acknowledged the way the teams struggles have shaped how people remember him on a national stage.
Votto also used the appearances to point out a young hitter who brings him to mind, naming Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony as a player with some of the same qualities. It was the kind of reflection that comes naturally from a veteran still close enough to the game to see himself in the next wave, even if the larger conversation around his Cincinnati years still carries the weight of unfinished business and old frustrations. [Read more 🡒]
Joey Vottos Cooperstown Reflection Says Everything About His Reds Legacy
Joey Vottos first turn as an NBC analyst on Sunday Night Baseball came with the kind of reflective edge that has long defined his Reds career. During the broadcast, he talked about why he has never made a trip to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, saying he was too busy playing the game and never wanted to seem presumptuous about walking those halls. He also spent time admiring the stars and Hall of Famers who shaped him, a reminder that even after all those Cincinnati seasons, Votto still sounds like a player who sees the sport through a students eyes.
He also let a little of his trademark wit show when he discussed how fans remember him and the Reds, including the possibility that some Phillies followers know the club for the wrong reasons. It fit the broader tone of the night: part broadcast debut, part baseball meditation, part self-scouting session from a player whose reputation has always been bigger than any one box score. Votto later said the experience was really fun, and for Reds fans, it was another glimpse of the same thoughtful voice that made him such a singular figure in Cincinnati. [Read more 🡒]
Reds May Be Facing The Matt McLain Decision Fans Dread
As the trade deadline chatter starts to sort contenders from sellers, the Reds are at least being forced to think about an uncomfortable kind of infield math. Houston is holding firm on Jeremy Pea, the Angels sound reluctant to part with Zach Neto, and that leaves Cincinnati weighing its own middle-infield picture with Matt McLain back on a rehab assignment and working toward a return.
McLains name has surfaced as a possible change-of-scenery candidate because the fit is no longer as simple as it once looked, even if the Reds have not been said to be shopping him. He was struggling before the calf strain, and the club also has to balance his remaining control, his salary, and the fact that there are other roster paths to consider, which is why this is the kind of decision that can linger well past the first wave of deadline rumors. [Read more 🡒]