Cincinnati Reds: Three takeaways from disappointing series loss to Tigers

The first Reds series shows reason for excitement and concern.

The 2020 Reds baseball season, which took so long to get here, is now three days old. The opening series versus the Detroit Tigers looked like a great opportunity on paper for the Cincinnati Reds to get off to a strong start. After all, the Tigers were coming off a 2019 season where they lost 114 games.

The Reds entered the start of the season as a trendy surprise pick to win the World Series. The starting rotation of Sonny Gray, Luis Castillo, Trevor Bauer, Wade Miley and Anthony DeSclafani had the ability to rival any team’s starting five.

With the additions of Mike Moustakas, Nick Castallanos and Shogo Akiyama, the offense looked to be much improved as well. Couple that with a perceived soft opening series and the Reds had a great chance to start 2020 stronger than they did last year, right?

Not so fast. When the final out was made on Sunday afternoon, it was the Tigers, not the Reds celebrating a big series win. The Reds start the season with a 1-2 record and are hoping to find a way to end their first two-game losing streak of the young baseball season.

Losing the first series of the season should not mean much in the grand scheme of things, but with only 60 games to play, each series takes on added importance. Now the Reds get ready to host the 2-1 Chicago Cubs in a big three-game series starting today. Before we move on to the upcoming series, let’s look at three takeaways from the Reds three-game set against the Tigers.

1. The Reds starting pitchers were impressive.

Coming into the 2020 season, the strongest part of this Reds team appeared to be the starting rotation.  Sonny Gray, Luis Castillo, Trevor Bauer, Wade Miley and Anthony DeScalfani have the ability to rival any team’s starting five. If the first three games of the 2020 season is any indication, the starting pitching might even be better than originally thought.

On Opening Day, Sonny Gray looked outstanding on the mound. He threw six innings, giving up three hits, one run and striking out nine Tiger batters. Gray earned the win and finished the game with a 1.50 ERA. This is great news for Sonny Gray, as he had a rough start last season before settling down and making the All-Star team.

On Saturday, Luis Castillo matched Gray’s outing and actually had a few more strikeouts. His stat line was just as impressive. He pitched six innings, giving up six hits, one run and striking out 11 batters. He also has a 1.50 ERA. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to earn the win.

Yesterday, Trevor Bauer didn’t want to be outdone, so he did a little better than his two teammates. Bauer finished the game going 6.1 innings, allowed just two hits, one run and racked up 13 Ks. His ERA stands at 1.42. Similar to Castillo, Bauer didn’t earn the win despite his lights-out pitching performance.

If you are scoring at home, that 33 total strikeouts by Reds starters, tying an MLB record previously set by the Texas Rangers in 2013. In 18.3 innings pitched, the trio of Gray, Castillo and Bauer only gave up 3 runs and four walks. That’s about as impressive as you can get to start the season.

If this keeps up, the Reds starting pitching staff could actually live up to the lofty expectations placed on them before the start of the season. Gray is expected to pitch Game 3 of the upcoming series against the Cubs. We’ll see if he can match, or even better his performance from Opening Day.

3. The Reds bullpen is struggling.

On Opening Day, staked to a 7-1 lead, the Reds bullpen of Lucas Sims, Nate Jones and Brooks Raley did a great job, giving up no runs over three total innings. This gave confidence to the thought the Reds bullpen could be counted on in 2020. That idea took a hit during the final two games against Detroit.

In Game 2, Luis Castillo left the game after six strong innings of one-run baseball, and a 3-1 lead. In the seventh inning, Robert Stephenson lasted only a third of an inning and accounted for two earned runs.

Michael Lorenzen pitched the final two-thirds of the inning and gave up one run, a two-run homer to Miguel Cabrera. The Reds tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh. The score remained tied until Raisel Iglesias entered the game for a non-save situation in the ninth. Iglesias couldn’t keep the Tigers off the board, giving up a two-run home run and taking the loss.

In Game 3, Trevor Bauer also pitched an amazing game, leaving after 6.1 innings, in a 1-1 tie. Amir Garrett and Pedro Strop pitched well out of the bullpen. Bell called on Lorenzen in the ninth inning and he promptly gave up a two-run home run to put the Reds down 3-1. Lorenzen was hung with the loss and the bullpen was all fans could talk about on Sunday afternoon.

That’s two loses for the Reds, both by relief pitchers. After three games, Lorenzen has given up three runs and Iglesias two runs. That doesn’t work in most years, but especially in the 60 game 2020 season.

If the Cincinnati Reds are going to have success this year, the bullpen has to pitch much better. It isn’t realistic to think the bullpen won’t give up some runs over the course of the year, but giving up two-run home runs in the ninth inning in back-to-back game isn’t acceptable. It will be interesting to see who David Bell turns to in the upcoming series against the Chicago Cubs.