The Reds come into Wednesday night’s matchup at Rate Field with some momentum after an extra-inning win, and they’ll try to carry that energy into the middle game of the three-game set against the White Sox. First pitch is scheduled for 7:40 PM EDT, with Cincinnati sending Rhett Lowder to the mound against Luis Castillo.
Lowder’s season has been uneven on the surface, but the right-hander has started to string together better work lately. He’s coming off back-to-back quality starts against the Pirates and the Athletics, and one of the biggest bright spots in his profile has been a stronger ground-ball rate. Lowder has pushed that number to 43.5%, up from 39.1% a year ago when he was just coming up, and that mark sits in the 54th percentile among MLB pitchers, according to Baseball Savant.
The bigger issue has been how left-handed hitters have handled him. Lowder has allowed 10 home runs to lefties and only one to right-handed hitters, even though he has faced left-handed batters 100 more times.
He’s also issued 25 more walks to lefties than to righties. Against right-handed hitters, he has limited opponents to a .259 average and a .338 slugging percentage.
Left-handers, though, have done more damage, hitting .265 with a .364 on-base percentage and a .474 slugging mark.
That challenge gets sharper against a White Sox lineup that has powered its way to 155 home runs, the third-best total in the American League. Lowder has had trouble at times keeping the ball in the park, so Chicago’s pop will be part of the test.
His pitch mix has been built around the 2-seam fastball and slider, with a heavy dose of each. Lowder has also leaned on his 4-seam fastball and changeup, while the curve and sweeper have barely shown up at all.
Castillo’s return to the White Sox has not gone smoothly so far. This will be his second start with Chicago after coming over from Seattle at the trade deadline, and his first outing last week was rough: five runs and six hits allowed in four innings at Fenway Park against the Red Sox.
July wasn’t much better overall. Over four starts, he posted a 5.48 ERA, gave up seven home runs, and struck out just 13 batters.
One of those July starts came against the Reds on July 21 in Seattle, and Cincinnati got to him there too. The Reds scored three runs on four hits in seven innings, with Elly De La Cruz and Eugenio Suárez each leaving the yard.
Castillo’s splits show a tougher path against left-handed hitters, who have produced a .288 average, .355 on-base percentage, and .533 slugging percentage against him. Right-handed hitters have been quieter, batting .253 with a .368 slugging mark. His pitch mix has been led by the 4-seam fastball, followed by the slider, with the 2-seam fastball and changeup also part of the package.
In the standings, Milwaukee sits on top at 74-46, with Chicago four games back at 70-50. St.
Louis is at 60-60, Cincinnati is 57-61, and Pittsburgh is 58-63. The Fangraph’s playoff odds listed Milwaukee at 99.9%, Chicago at 98.9%, St.
Louis at 9.1%, Cincinnati at 0.7%, and Pittsburgh at 4.8%.
The Reds also got some minor league movement on Tuesday, with 2026 first-round draft pick Justin Lebron making his professional debut at Dayton and Jay Allen getting promoted to Triple-A Louisville.
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