The Reds are back at Great American Ball Park on Monday night after a 10-day road trip, and they’ll open the homestand against a Padres club trying to stop the slide. San Diego comes in at 72-65, sitting a half game behind the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL Wild Card race, but it has dropped three straight and four of its last six.
First pitch is set for 6:40 PM EDT, with Michael King on the mound for San Diego and Brady Singer starting for Cincinnati.
King has put together a solid year for the Padres, his best since 2024, when he posted a 2.95 ERA over 173.2 innings in his first season with the club. He’s coming off a sharp seven-inning shutout against the Pittsburgh Pirates in his last outing, even though San Diego lost that game 1-0. The right-hander has kept his numbers fairly steady against both sides of the plate, though walks have been an issue all season with a BB% near 10% against both lefties and righties.
Against right-handed hitters, King has allowed a .212 average with six homers in 243 plate appearances. Lefties have hit .220 against him with 12 home runs in 393 plate appearances. His pitch mix is built around the two-seamer and changeup, with the sweeper also playing a major role.
Singer’s profile looks much different. His splits are sharply tilted depending on the handedness of the hitter, and lefties have done the most damage.
They’re batting .303 with a .501 slugging percentage and 19 homers against him in 396 at-bats. Right-handed hitters have been much quieter, hitting .220 with seven home runs.
The odd part is that Singer has actually walked lefties less than righties and struck them out at a higher rate, even though the damage has been far worse.
Cincinnati is also managing some health and workload issues as it heads into the series. Reds manager Terry Francona said in his pregame media session that De La Cruz will continue to play despite a minor quad strain, with the caveat that if it gets worse, De La Cruz will say something. He is the designated hitter in the lineup tonight, with Matt McLain at shortstop.
Francona also said today that the Reds will start limiting Chase Burns even more than an 100-pitch limit, including pushing his next start back to Monday. Fox19 contributor Charlie Goldsmith wrote an article on Friday talking with Burns about what the plan was for the rest of the season.
The Reds also arrive home after a 7-5 win over Chicago on Sunday night, a game in which the young core of the club made some history.
In the division picture, Milwaukee leads at 85-52, Chicago is second at 77-60, and St. Louis sits at 68-70. Pittsburgh is just behind at 67-71, while Cincinnati is 65-72 and listed at 0.0% playoff odds by Fangraphs.
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What stood out in his remarks was the clarity about what comes next. Votto said he wants any future role in baseball to matter, whether that eventually leads to operations or coaching, and he is not interested in a limited advisory gig that leaves him on the margins. For Reds fans who spent so long watching him shape the middle of their lineup, it was another reminder that if Votto does return to the game in a different capacity, he wants the assignment to be a real one. [Read more 🡒]