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

The Reds have enjoyed home cooking this year.

Even though Cincinnati lead the National League in hitting entering play today, Reds Country knows those numbers are deceiving. When the Reds travel, unfortunately, their bats fail to do the same.

The Redlegs have been shutout four times this year, and as a surprise to no one, each of those occasions has occurred on the road. However, when the Cincinnati Reds get a good night’s rest in their own beds, the results are much different.

When playing at Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati slashes a blistering .290/.373./.534 with a whopping 25 home runs in a dozen games. The Reds have scored at least three runs in each of their home contests while denting the plate six times or more on seven occasions.

Cincinnati has six players with at least 20 at-bats hitting over .300 at home. The duo of Nick Castellanos and Tyler Naquin has been a wrecking crew at GABP. Between the two of them, they have 11 homers and 29 RBIs.

Prediction

Like most prognosticators, my predictions are not always accurate. However, the one thing I’m entirely confident about this weekend is that Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo will run his mouth and stick his nose in a situation that doesn’t concern him in the least.

No matter how exhausting three days of Rizzo’s antics will be, it won’t be enough to alter the outcome as the Reds take two of three from the Cubbies and prepare for a visit from their crosstown rivals, the Chicago White Sox, beginning Tuesday at Great American Ball Park.