Cincinnati Reds battle Washington Nationals for Wild Card positioning

After splitting a four-game series with the Chicago Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds visit the nation’s capital for a series with Wild Card implications on the line.

Ladies and gentleman, your Cincinnati Reds (56-60) have positioned themselves right in the middle of the playoff hunt.  Entering play on Monday, the Reds are just five games back in the Wild Card race with plenty of games remaining against those in front of them in the standings.

Just how did the Reds climb back into contention? It starts with an offense that has been lighting up the scoreboard, as well as a starting rotation that has provided excellent outings on a nearly nightly basis. Over their past 12 games entering play on Sunday, the Redlegs are slashing .290/.354/.512 and are averaging 5.8 runs a contest over that stretch.

In those 12 games, the Reds have blasted a whopping 23 home runs and 21 doubles. While “The Punisher”, Aristides Aquino, has been rightfully receiving many of the headlines, Eugenio Suárez, José Iglesias, Tucker Barnhart and Joey Votto have also hit at least three round trippers over that span.

The Reds rotation has been fantastic over the past 12 games as well. Beginning play Sunday, the rotation has fanned 69 against 21 free passes. The trio of Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray and Trevor Bauer dominated the Cubs over the weekend. Tossing 19.2 innings, the Reds three-headed monster allowed just 4 runs on 12 hits, while compiling 26 strikeouts.

It’s that type of production, both offensively and pitching wise, that has led to six victories in their past 10 games. That type of balance has eluded the Reds all season. Through much of the first four months of the season, Cincinnati had to rely heavily on their pitching staff, however, if they continue to receive this type of support from the offense, the sky’s the limit.

Previewing the pitching matchups

Anthony DeSclafani (7-6 4.20 ERA) battles Erick Fedde (2-2 4.20 ERA) in Monday night’s opener. While he may be considered the Reds fifth starter, Disco has pitched like anything but over his past seven outings. During that stretch, DeSclafani has compiled a 3.23 ERA, while striking out 43 in 39 innings.

In his career, Disco has been excellent against the Nationals. Over seven games, including four starts, he’s 2-0 with a 2.17 ERA in 29 innings. DeSclafani is also one of the few pitchers in the league to have success against Anthony Rendon. The Nats third baseman is hitless in seven at-bats when facing the Reds right-hander.

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Fedde will be making this second start against the Reds this season. On June 1st, he went  four innings, allowing two runs on six hits while recording three strikeouts and three walks in a Washington 5-2 victory. Left-handed hitters have given Fedde fits this season. Slashing .325/.381/.491, expect to see Jesse Winker and Josh VanMeter get starts Monday night.

Cincinnati Reds left-hander Alex Wood (1-0 5.65 ERA) faces Joe Ross (2-3 6.75 ERA) of the Nationals in the middle of the three-game set. Wood had a tough outing against the Chicago Cubs in his last start. Going just three innings, he allowed five runs on eight hits and walked a batter.

Wood no stranger to the Washington Nationals. Lifetime, Alex Wood is 5-3 with a 2.59 ERA in 12 starts against the Nationals. Wood will have to tread carefully around Nationals All-Star Anthony Rendon, who’s is slashing .571/.609/.714 in 21 career at-bats against the Reds southpaw.

Joe Ross, a former first-round pick of the San Diego Padres in the 2011 draft, has been pitching much as of late. In his last two starts, he has not allowed a run over 11.1 innings, while only being touched for four hits. However, he has walked seven in that stretch. If Reds hitters can show some patience at the plate, they’ll have an opportunity to put some runs on the board.

Wednesday’s late afternoon finale will be must-see TV, as Trevor Bauer (10-8 3.74 ERA) opposes Stephen Strasburg (14-5 3.72 ERA). Bauer was everything the Reds envisioned in his last trip to the mound when he shut down the Chicago Cubs.

Tossing seven innings of one-run ball, Bauer whiffed 11 batters in leading the Reds to a 5-2 win. The California native will be making just his second career start against Washington. He earned a victory over the Nats in 2016 by throwing 6.1 innings of shutout baseball. Let’s hope the Reds receive a similar performance on Wednesday.

It’s hard to believe that Stephen Strasburg is 31-years-old and in his 10th year with the Nationals. The three-time All-Star and former No. 1 overall pick in 2009 has lost to the Cincinnati Reds only once in nine previous starts.

If Reds manager David Bell is considering giving Eugenio Suárez and José Peraza a day off, Wednesday would be the perfect opportunity. The two Venezuelans are a combined 4-for-24 lifetime against Strasburg with seven strikeouts.

Soto making fans forget about Harper

Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr. deserves all the praise he receives, however, Washington’s Juan Soto has been nearly every bit his equal. Slashing .288/.402/.540 with 24 homers and 77 RBIs, Soto ranks in the NL Top 10 in walks, OBP and OPS.

The left-handed hitting slugger is pulverizing right-handed pitching. Producing a .291/.413/.571 slash line with 19 round trippers, Reds starters Anthony DeSclafani and Trevor Bauer will need to treat Soto with kid gloves. By the way, the young Dominican loves hitting at Nationals Park.

Soto has been a much more dangerous hitter at home as opposed to the road. Even though he’s hit a couple of more homers on the road, Soto is hitting .318 with a .413 on-base percentage in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial.

You want speed? Soto can provide that as well. He’s been successful 10 times in 11 stolen base attempts and according to Baseball Reference, his 14.1 power-to-speed (an advanced metric that rates power and speed based on home runs and stolen bases) ranks 10th in the league.

It’s obvious the Nationals front office places great emphasis on this combination. Juan Soto is joined by teammates Victor Robles and Trea Turner in the Top 10 in this category. Nick Senzel‘s 9.5 is the best among the Reds in that category.

If you’re looking for weakness in his game, there isn’t one to be found. Perhaps the worst thing you can say about Juan Soto is that he’s an average fielder, but take that with a grain of salt. His range factor in left field pegs him as average, but even with that being said, he leads NL left fielders in putouts and has yet to make an error in 2019.

As a late note, Soto was removed from Sunday’s game with New York Mets in seventh inning. He’s been diagnosed with mild right ankle sprain after rounding third base awkwardly. Currently, the Nationals have listed his status as day-to-day.

Rookie has electrified the Queen City

What more can you say about Aristides Aquino? Entering play on Sunday, the Cincinnati Reds rookie right fielder is slashing .464/.500/1.250 with 7 homers and 13 RBIs in 9 games. “The Punisher” hit five home runs, including three Saturday night, against the Cubs during their four-game series.

The 25-year-old slugger tied the Rockies Trevor Story with a MLB record of seven long balls in a players first 10 games. He is also the first rookie and 12th player in MLB history to homer in three consecutive innings as he did Saturday night.

You want more Aquino record setting numbers? We got ’em. Thursday night, Aquino equaled the record for the hardest hit homer in the Statcast era with a 118.3-MPH laser off the Cubs Cole Hamels. In the same contest, he unleashed a 101.5-MPH throw from right field which established the mark for fastest throw by an outfielder.

Obviously, there’s no way Aristides Aquino can maintain the pace he’s currently setting. However, he has more than made the most of his opportunity. Smashing 28 homers in Triple-A Louisville understandably garnered the Reds attention, but there’s no way they could have anticipated the production they are receiving from right field following the trade that sent Yasiel Puig to Cleveland.

Prediction

This is a major series for both teams. The Nationals trail the Braves by 6.5 games, while the Reds sit 7 games behind the Cubs. If either team is going to make the postseason the Wild Card appears to be the more advantageous route.

Washington currently occupies the first Wild Card position by a mere half game. Cincinnati is only 5 games off the pace. While neither team can afford to be swept, expect the Redlegs to take 2-of-3 in DC before heading home for another huge series versus the St. Louis Cardinals.