Reds schedule: Will the hits keep on coming in Motown vs Tigers?

Only be a week into the season, the Reds have revenge on their mind.

The schedule appeared to set up perfectly for the Cincinnati Reds (2-4) to storm out of the gates to begin this season. Opening with seven home games, including three against a Detroit (4-3) squad that dropped 114 games in 2019, the stars seemed to be aligning for the Redlegs. However, someone forgot to tell the Tigers.

Following Sonny Gray’s dismantling of the Detroit lineup on Opening Day, the Tigers took their turn by hammering the backend of the Reds bullpen in the final two games to capture the series victory. What the Tigers exposed during their visit to the Queen City has been a source of contention among Reds Country all week.

Through the first week of the 2020 campaign, the Reds bullpen hasn’t provided anything close to relief. The numbers for the bullpen have been atrocious. Tossing 23.1 innings through six games they are 0-3 with 7.71 ERA. Even more distressing is the unit has given up a whopping nine home runs and issued 10 free passes.

Especially troubling has been the outings of setup man Michael Lorenzen. Mikey Biceps has allowed three round-trippers in just 2.2 innings of work covering three outings. To put this in perspective, Lorenzen allowed just two homers during the second half of the 2019 season in 33 appearances. A return to form from the Zen Master is much needed.

However, there have been some bright spots in the bullpen. The right-handed trio of Tejay Antone, Lucas Sims and Pedro Strop have combined to allow just one run on two hits while fanning 12 batters in 9.1 innings of work.