Cincinnati Reds: Three takeaways from doubleheader vs KC Royals

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - AUGUST 19: Starting pitcher Trevor Bauer #27 of the Cincinnati Reds is congratulated by catcher Curt Casali #12 after the Reds defeated the Kansas City Royals. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - AUGUST 19: Starting pitcher Trevor Bauer #27 of the Cincinnati Reds is congratulated by catcher Curt Casali #12 after the Reds defeated the Kansas City Royals. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
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KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – AUGUST 19: Shogo Akiyama #4 of the Cincinnati Reds congratulates teammates after the Reds defeated the Kansas City Royals. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – AUGUST 19: Shogo Akiyama #4 of the Cincinnati Reds congratulates teammates after the Reds defeated the Kansas City Royals. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

The Reds won one and lost one on Wednesday night versus the Royals.

The postponement of Tuesday’s game resulted in a seven-inning doubleheader on Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium. The Cincinnati Reds dropped the first game versus the Kansas City Royals by a score of 4-0. However, the Redlegs rebounded to take the nightcap from KC behind a masterful performance from Trevor Bauer. What did we learn?

It was a night of give and take for the Reds. Poor defense, a bloop single and a questionable strike zone put the Royals up early in Game 1 of the doubleheader and Brad Keller did what Brad Keller does – he stymied the Cincinnati offense. Keller went the distance and didn’t allow a hit until Tucker Barnhart found the outfield grass in the top of the sixth inning.

In Game 2, the story was Trevor Bauer. The Reds right-hander followed the lead of Keller from Game 1 and quieted the Royals bats. It wasn’t until a line drive to right field by Adalbereto Mondesi in the bottom thee fifth inning that Kansas City got its first and only hit of the night. The Reds blanked the Royals 5-0.

The Reds were playing their first game since Friday, after a player tested positive for COVID-19. Major League Baseball exercised an abundance of caution and kept Cincinnati off the field until last night in the Show Me State. Speaking of which, what did the Reds show us or not show us during last night’s doubleheader?

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – AUGUST 19: Curt Casali #12 of the Cincinnati Reds rounds the bases after hitting home run. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – AUGUST 19: Curt Casali #12 of the Cincinnati Reds rounds the bases after hitting home run. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

1. The long ball may be the Reds only means to score runs.

The Cincinnati Reds are third in the National League in home runs (37), yet 11th in runs scored (96). Is the long ball the only way the Reds can get on the board? Last night, it sure seemed that way, as all five of Cincinnati’s runs came via the big fly. If the Reds can’t figure out a way to manufacture runs another way, they may be in a bit of a pickle as the season progresses.

I’m not anti-home run. In fact, in today’s game, it’s quite affective. However, it cannot be the only method for scoring runs. As a team, the Reds are hitting just .219, third-worst in the NL. Their .324 on-base percentage, good enough for seventh-best in the league, is greatly helped by Jesse Winker’s MLB-leading .493 OBP.

The Reds were blanked in Game 1 against Royals righty Brad Keller, managing just three hits. Other than Winker, who drew three walks, the Cincinnati offense managed just three base runners off Keller. Tucker Barnhart, Shogo Akiyama and Mike Moustakas all reached base after the fifth inning, but no one advanced further than second base.

This Reds offense is built around the long ball, but that can’t be the only manner in which they score runs. Nick Castellanos leads the way after slugging his ninth homer of the season last night, and Eugenio Suárez broke out of his slump, going deep in the top of the third.

For the Reds to have success, the likes of Joey Votto, Shogo Akiyama and Nick Senzel, when he returns, must get on base. Votto went 1-for-6 leading off last night and going into the doubleheader was 10-for-60 (.167). I think it’s time for that experiment to be over and done with.

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – AUGUST 19: Starting pitcher Luis Castillo #58 of the Cincinnati Reds pitches during the first inning. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – AUGUST 19: Starting pitcher Luis Castillo #58 of the Cincinnati Reds pitches during the first inning. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

2. Luis Castillo is NOT the pitcher we thought he was.

A lot of fans, myself included, believed that following last year’s All-Star performance, the Cincinnati Reds had found their ace. Now, that statement is still very much accurate, but the title of ace belongs to Sonny Gray not Luis Castillo. Yes, Trevor Bauer is the most dominant pitcher in baseball right now, but it’s highly unlikely the Reds will retain him after this season.

Castillo came out flat in yesterday’s contest against the Royals. A relatively routine throw from shortstop Freddy Galvis to Joey Votto was mishandled by the Reds first baseman, allowing the Royals leadoff runners to reach base safely. Whether it was a good throw or not is debatable, but Votto still should have picked it cleanly.

After that, a series a misfortune continued for Castillo and he never seemed to recover from it. It took nine pitches for La Piedra to induce the light-hitting Nicky Lopez into a ground ball out, he then walked Hunter Dozier on six pitches. If you’re keeping track, we’re up to 19 pitches with only one out.

Jorge Soler battled Luis Castillo and rocketed a double into left field, scoring the runner from second and advancing Dozier to third base. On his 28th pitch of the inning, Castillo surrendered an RBI single to Ryan O’Hearn and the Reds fell behind 3-0 early. Castillo recorded the final out of the inning on his 37th pitch, a strikeout of Alex Gordon.

Lance McAllister of 700 WLW had a frightening observation during last night’s game. Luis Castillo, in 17 starts since July 26, 2019 has an ERA of 4.91. That’s not the makings of an ace. Blog Red Machine’s contributor Scott Boyken made his own observations regarding Luis Castillo’s struggles of late. This current trend is not promising.

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – AUGUST 19: Jesse Winker #33 of the Cincinnati Reds rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – AUGUST 19: Jesse Winker #33 of the Cincinnati Reds rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

3. The layoff did not hurt Jesse Winker one bit.

I was very interested to see how Jesse Winker would respond heading into last night’s doubleheader. Would we see the version of Winker that had been wreaking havoc on opposing pitchers over the past two weeks or the version of Winker who started the season 2-for-23 (.087)? Thankfully for Reds Country, it was the former.

While Jesse Winker didn’t hit the cover off the ball in Game 1, he was the only consistent presence in the Cincinnati lineup. Winker battled Royals starter Brad Keller on three different occasions and each time walked away with a base on balls. After Game 1, Winker’s average (.365) didn’t change, but his on-base percentage jumped from .484 to .507.

In Game 2, Jesse Winker went just 1-for-4, but that one hit was a two-run big fly in the top of the third inning that put the Reds on top of the Royals for the first time since Joey Votto’s walk-off double on August 11th at Great American Ball Park.

Winker is in the zone, and I don’t know when he’ll come out of it. The left-handed slugger is hitting .357/.493/.732 with six home runs and 10 RBIs through his first 22 games. Since breaking a six-game hitless streak on August 4th, Winker is 18-for-33 (.545) with an on-base percentage of .643 and an OPS of 1.825. Currently, Jesse Winker leads all of MLB with a 1.225 OPS.

Next. Reds Top 10 all-time leaders in doubles

The Cincinnati Reds sit in fourth place in the NL Central with a four-game set against division-rival St. Louis looming. The Cardinals are playing catchup after their season was paused due several players testing positive for COVID-19. St. Louis is sitting 4.5 games back of the division-leading Chicago Cubs, while Cincinnati trails the North Siders by five games. The upcoming series is huge.

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