Reds vs. Diamondbacks: Pitching preview, prediction, and more

Home is where the victories have been for the Reds this season.

There’s no place like home for the Cincinnati Reds. After taking two of three from the Cleveland Indians this past weekend, the Reds (9-6) now find themselves with a 7-2 record at Great American Ball Park and are still sitting atop the National League Central Division.

Despite delivering a 10 run shellacking to the Tribe in the series opener, runs were hard to come by over the weekend against an excellent Cleveland pitching staff. The Redlegs were able to dent the dish just three times in both the final two games of the series and the struggle to score runs appears to be a trend.

Over their past nine games, the Reds have scored more than three runs just three times. A plethora of Reds players have seen their bats grow ice-cold, beginning with their April 9th road trip to Arizona.

The quartet of Nick Castellanos, Jonathan India, Nick Senzel, and Eugenio Suarez is hitting just .175 with seven extra-base hits in nine contests. As a team, Cincinnati has produced a paltry slash line of .226/.290/.380 over that timespan and bringing back painful memories of the dismal 2020 offense.

It’s yet another road series for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Through their first 16 games, the D-backs (6-10) have played only five games at Chase Field. Unfortunately for Arizona, the road has not been kind to them.

The Diamondbacks are 4-7 on the road this season and are already trailing the Los Angeles Dodgers by seven games in a brutally tough National League West. Losers of four of their last six contests, the D-backs already find themselves on the precipice of being out of contention by the end of April.

However, history may be on the Diamondbacks’ side this week. Lifetime Arizona is 40-36 when visiting the Queen City. Since 2015 the D-backs are 10-6 at Great American Ball Park. Cincinnati holds the distinction of being one of two visiting NL cities, with Pittsburgh being the other, where the Diamondbacks have a winning record.

Interestingly enough, this will be the last time the D-backs and Reds will face each other this season. Arizona took two of three from the Redlegs earlier this month in Phoenix, and when Thursday afternoon’s contest is completed, the two teams will not see each until the 2022 campaign.