Cardinals vs. Reds: RHP Michael Wacha vs. RHP Mike Leake

St. Louis Cardinals (80-64) vs. Cincinnati Reds (67-77)

RHP Michael Wacha (5-5, 2.80 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, .223 OAV) vs. RHP Mike Leake (10-11, 3.59 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, .261 OAV)

Tuesday, September 9, 2014: 7:10 p.m. at Great American Ball Park

* * *

Having already pitched in two World Series games at the age of 22 (he just turned 23 two months ago), many may be pressed to remember that Wacha is a fairly new commodity. The Cardinals have treated his right shoulder like precious cargo—much like they should.

Wacha has tossed only 93 innings in 2014, meaning two things: a.) he has undergone some shoulder issues that have limited him, and b.) he will be fresh as a daisy come October as the Redbirds look to make another run to the Fall Classic.

His first start of the season was his best, and that came against Cincinnati. In fact, his first two starts came against the Redlegs, in which he would pick up the victory in the latter.

September 4 marked his return from the disabled list and he pitched all of three innings against the Milwaukee Brewers as a tune-up of sorts. He may not throw anywhere near 100 pitches or seven innings of work no matter how well he may pitch on Tuesday night.

Here is the lineup he will face via the team’s Twitter account:

CF – Billy Hamilton (1-for-6, 1 2B, 1 K)

1B – Brayan Pena (2-for-5, 2 2B’s, 1 K)

3B – Todd Frazier (0-for-8, 1 BB, 3 K’s)

C – Devin Mesoraco (yet to face Wacha)

2B – Brandon Phillips (0-for-10, 3 K’s)

LF – Ryan Ludwick (3-for-9, 1 K)

RF – Chris Heisey (yet to face Wacha)

SS – Zack Cozart (2-for-8, 1 K)

P – Mike Leake (yet to face Wacha)

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The logic of the situation may just be dawning on some Reds fans—Mike Leake may not have very many starts left in Cincinnati. Due to contract situations for both himself, and teammates Johnny Cueto and Mat Latos, Leake may be the odd-man out when it comes to getting paid by the mid-market club.

Barring an unforeseen injury, Leake will reach the 200 innings mark for the first time in his career this season. He currently sits at 190.1.

For his career, Leake’s 4.75 ERA in 11 starts against the Cardinals is nothing to write home about. But each time before the start that has been mentioned in 2014, Leake continues to go out and pitch well against St. Louis. This year, in 21 innings pitched, he has allowed only five runs.

The St. Louis Cardinals are synonymous with working the count and running up a pitcher’s pitch count, but tonight, Leake will have to be careful they don’t jump all over the first pitch of the at-bat. This year, hitters are batting .346 off the first pitch Leake throws of an at-bat, with 14 extra-base hits sprinkled in.

Here is the lineup he will face via the team’s Twitter account:

3B – Matt Carpenter (4-for-20, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K’s)

CF – Jon Jay (7-for-27, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BB’s, 6 K’s)

LF – Matt Holliday (12-for-30, 3 2B’s, 1 HR, 7 RBI’s, 3 BB’s, 2 K’s)

1B – Matt Adams (6-for-15, 3 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 K’s)

SS – Jhonny Peralta (0-for-8, 1 BB, 4 K’s)

C – Yadier Molina (5-for-20, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 6 K’s)

RF – Oscar Taveras (1-for-3, 1 K)

2B – Kolten Wong (3-for-11, 1 RBI, 1 K)

P – Michael Wacha (yet to face Leake)

* * *

Despite Monday evening’s miserable offensive performance, the same old cast of characters is back in there on Tuesday (minus Jay Bruce, who is 0-for-11 with seven strikeouts in his career against Wacha). No longer can manager Bryan Price even claim there is some semblance of hope left, but is rather hanging onto the tired rhetoric of “playing his best players against contenders,” which is a way of saying he doesn’t want to embarrass his highest-paid players. With 18 games remaining, the time has come to cease watching the painful at-bats of the same players over and over.