Cincinnati Reds: Eugenio Suárez and Pete Alonso to meet as Mets visit

Previewing the pitching matchups

While Eugenio Suárez and Pete Alonso will garner most of the attention this weekend, don’t sleep on the pitching matchup Friday night. Luis Castillo (15-6 3.22 ERA) faces 2018 NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom (9-8 2.61 ERA) of the Mets. This has the potential of being one of the best pitching duels of the season.

La Piedra currently ranks within the top 10 in the NL in wins, strikeouts and ERA. He’ll be making his second start against the Mets this season. Castillo fanned seven in 6.2 innings allowing five hits and two runs against the Mets earlier this season. Pitching at home has been to Castillo’s liking with a 2.85 ERA while limiting opponents to a .192/.259/.299 slash line.

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Even though deGrom probably won’t win the Cy Young Award this year, he will once again be in the discussion. deGrom leads the NL in strikeouts and WHIP, while ranking third in ERA and fifth in innings pitched. Lifetime, deGrom is 2-1 with a 1.74 ERA in five starts against the Cincinnati Reds. Tossing 31 innings he’s fanned 40 Redlegs and surrendered only one home run.

Anthony DeSclafani (9-9 3.93 ERA) opposes New York’s Zack Wheeler (11-7 4.09 ERA) Saturday afternoon. Disco has been closing the 2019 campaign on a high note. Over three starts, he’s tossed 20 innings and allowed just seven hits, while holding opponents to a .104 batting average.

DeSclafani has struggled in his career against the Mets. Throwing 22.2 innings he’s allowed 30 hits and compiled a 6.75 ERA in addition to dropping all three decisions. Let’s hope Disco keeps the September music rolling and captures his first win against the Mets.

Wheeler has been a workhorse for the Mets this year. Tossing 180.1 innings, he ranks eighth among all NL hurlers. Like DeSclafani, Wheeler has been at his best in September. Fanning 19 in as many innings, he’s produced an impressive 1.42 ERA. The 29-year-old right-hander has dominated the Reds in two starts at GABP. He’s allowed just two runs in 12 innings with 13 strikeouts.

Sunday’s series finale has Trevor Bauer (11-12 4.41 ERA) battling the Mets Steven Matz (10-9 4.16 ERA). Bauer is coming off an excellent outing against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Going eight innings, the right-hander allowed just one run on four hits while racking up eight strikeouts. The punchouts are nothing new. Bauer’s 245 K’s rank third among all MLB pitchers.

Bauer will be making his first career start against the Mets, however, there is one Met he and Reds Country are quite familiar with. Former Reds star Todd Frazier is 7-for-22 lifetime against Bauer with a homer, a double and 3 RBIs. I’m sure the Toddfather would like nothing more than to jog around the bases at GABP this weekend.

Southpaw Steven Matz has not enjoyed pitching outside of Gotham City. The 28-year-old New York native has compiled a frightening 6.62 ERA and 1.58 WHIP away from Citi Field. His only carer start at GABP was an interesting outing. Even though he fanned eight in 5.2 innings, Matz also allowed three runs and a whopping 10 hits.