Wednesday’s doubleheader is in the Cincinnati Reds wheelhouse

The Reds will send Luis Castillo (Game 1) and Trevor Bauer (Game 2) to the mound.

The Cincinnati Reds (9-11) return to action on Wednesday evening at Kauffman Stadium against the Kansas City Royals (9-14). While we don’t yet know which Reds player has tested positive for COVID-19, we do know who’ll be on the hill tonight for Cincinnati. That alone should give the team confidence that it can emerge with a two-game sweep.

The Reds will send Luis Castillo to the mound for Game 1 against the Royals which is lated to begin at 5:05 PM. Castillo appeared to bounce-back from his subpar performance against the Cleveland Indians on August 6th and allowed just one earned run versus these same Royals a little over a week ago.

Castillo went six innings in his previous start on August 11th, striking out five batters and waking just two. La Piedra’s five punch outs were a season-low, but after allowing eight earned runs in his previous two starts, allowing just one runner to cross the plate is an encouraging sign.

In Game 2, perhaps the game’s most dominant starting pitcher will go to work. Trevor Bauer, whom the Reds acquired at the trade deadline last season, has been on top of his game. The right-hander is 2-0 with 0.93 ERA and 32 strikeouts in just 19.1 innings of work. Bauer’s strikeout-rate is currently sitting at 46.4% according to FanGraphs.

The Cincinnati Reds should feel confident with both Castillo and Bauer toeing the rubber tonight. Bauer has pitched into the seventh inning during two of his three starts, including a complete game shutout of the Detroit Tigers. Remember, this season, when teams play a doubleheader, it’s only seven innings.

Add to the lofty expectations of two strong starts the addition of Mike Moustakas, and Cincinnati may be in business. Moustakas returns to his old stomping grounds, playing against his former team whom he helped lead to a World Championship in 2015. Moose has been out of the Reds lineup with a quad injury for about two weeks.

Reds Country has been on pins and needles over the past few days, waiting to hear when their beloved Redlegs would return to the field. Well, it appears as though the wait is over as the team touched down in Kansas City yesterday with their eyes on a two-game sweep of the Royals tonight.