Cincinnati Reds: Scooter Gennett inches closer to NL batting title

After going 2-for-3 last night against the Marlins, Scooter Gennett is closing in on the NL batting title. Will the Cincinnati Reds second baseman win it?

Christian Yelich and the Milwaukee Brewers were off last night, and that boded well for Scooter Gennett. The Cincinnati Reds second baseman went 2-for-3 last night with 4 RBIs and inched closer to the National League’s batting title. Will Scooter overtake Yelich down the stretch?

The Reds have eight games left in the 2018 season. With the chances of a playoff run well out of sight for Cincinnati, the fans have only one thing to cheer down the stretch; Scooter Gennett’s pursuit of the NL batting title.

According to MLB.com, Yelich is outpacing Gennett for the National League lead in batting by .001. Yelich is hitting .319, while Gennett is hitting .318. However, a closer look at the numbers will show you just how close Gennett and Yelich are. If we take the stat line out by one more place value, we’ll see that Yelich is actually hitting .3186 and Gennett is batting .3184.

So, the two All-Stars are actually separated by two one-thousandths of a point. That is so incredibly close. So close, in fact, if Gennett gets a hit in his next at-bat he’ll surpass Yelich in the race for the batting title. By the same token, if Yelich doesn’t get a hit in his first at-bat tonight against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he’ll drop behind Scooter.

Looking ahead to the pitching matchups for Scooter Gennett doesn’t give us much insight. Gennett has yet to face any of the pitchers that the Marlins will send to the mound over the next three games, nor has he gone head-to-head with the two pitchers that the Kansas City Royals will run out on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

Yelich has a favorable matchup against the Pirates pitcher this Friday. He is hitting .500 (3-for-6) with 1 home run and 2 RBIs off starter Ivan Nova. However, Trevor Williams, Saturday’s starting pitcher for Pittsburgh has shut down Yelich during every plate appearance this season. Joe Musgrove, Sunday’s starter for the Buccos, hasn’t had much success though. Yelich has a 1.167 OPS against the right-hander this season.

The race for the National League batting title will, no doubt, come down to the last handful of at-bats for both Scooter and Yelich. After struggling at the plate recently, Gennett appeared to get back on track at Marlins Park last night. Let’s hope his hot streak continues through the weekend in South Beach.