Reds news: Rotation set if play resumes on Tuesday

David Bell chose Luis Castillo to lead things off for the Reds.

David Bell has chosen who he’ll send to the mound on Tuesday if the Cincinnati Reds are able to resume play. The team’s series against thee Pittsburgh Pirates was postponed after one of the Reds players tested positive for COVID-19. There was hope that a doubleheader between the Reds and Pirates would have occurred today, but MLB decided against it.

According to Mark Sheldon of MLB.com, Luis Castillo will lead things off against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday. Castillo will be followed by Trevor Bauer, Sonny Gray, Anthony DeSclafani and finally Wade Miley.

Castillo has already faced the Royals once this season. During a game at Great American Ball Park last week, Castillo went six innings and showed improvement from his previous start. La Piedra gave up seven hits and struck out just five batters, however, he allowed just one run to cross the plate after surrendering eight earned runs in the previous two contests.

Following Castillo will be Bauer. Thee right-hander was originally scheduled to face the Pirates on Saturday, but that game was postponed and will likely be made up at a later date. Instead, the free agent to-be will get to battle the Royals.

Bauer did not face his former NL Central foe when Kansas City came to town, but he has plenty of familiarity with them. Bauer is 5-5 in 17 starts against KC with and a 3.69 ERA. Bauer has been on fire of late, striking out 12 batters during his last outing.

If all goes according to plan, Sonny Gray will get the ball to open the four-game series in St. Louis against Cincinnati’s division-rival, the Cardinals. If any team knows how quickly a season can be turned upside down by COVID-19, it’s the Cardinals. St. Louis has only played just eight games while every other team in the NL Central has played at least 18.

Hopefully the Cincinnati Reds return to action on Tuesday night. If so, Reds Country will excited to know that Mike Moustakas will most likely be back in the lineup, as the team’s second baseman is now eligible to return from the 10-day injured list.