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Woeful Reds hope to jumpstart 2022 campaign with a return to Great American Ball Park

By Drew Koch |
Joey Votto of Cincinnati Reds vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Joey Votto of Cincinnati Reds vs. St. Louis Cardinals / Michael B. Thomas/GettyImages
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The Cincinnati Reds (2-11) return home after a disastrous road trip saw the team lose six consecutive games on the West Coast. The Reds are hopeful to jumpstart their 2022 campaign with an extended homestand.

The Reds, specifically the bats, have been horrendous. Cincinnati hitters have been about as cold Joey Votto's hometown of Toronto in the month of January. The Reds rank dead-last in the league in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and runs scored.

Furthermore, injuries have absolutely decimated this team during the early-going. Earlier this week, Cincinnati lost Mike Moustakas, Jonathan India, and Tyler Stephenson to the Injured List. They join Luis Castillo, Mike Minor, Jose Barrero, and Donovan Solano.

The Reds won last year's season series vs. the Cardinals.

One good piece of news is that the Cincinnati Reds will have the services of Lucas Sims back on Friday. The right-hander is expected to rejoin the club after missing the first two weeks of the season. Sims' addition should bolster a Reds bullpen that ranks 14th in ERA and has surrendered a league-leading seven home runs this season.

Strangely, according to Baseball Reference, the Cincinnati Reds still maintain a 7.7% chance to make a run at the postseason this year. Maybe Hunter Greene said it best, there's a lot of games yet to be played this season.

Still, if the Reds can't put runs on the board and the Cincinnati bullpen can't keep other teams from scoring, it's going to be a very long season along the banks of the Ohio River. However, let's not forget that after a red-hot start (6-1) to the 2021 campaign, the Reds went 3-11 over the next 14 games and lost seven straight games.

If the Reds are looking to get back on track, they'll have to start against the division-leading St. Louis Cardinals (7-4). Cincinnati won the season series with St. Louis last season including a 5-4 edge over the Cards at home last season. Let's breakdown the upcoming series.

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Hunter Greene.
Cincinnati Reds pitcher Hunter Greene. / Kevork Djansezian/GettyImages

Previewing the pitching matchups: Reds vs. Cardinals

Hunter Greene (1-1 4.35 ERA) makes his Great American Ball Park debut on Friday night after opening the first two games of his professional career on the road. Greene has caught the attention of fans throughout baseball with his 100-plus MPH fastball and calm demeanor on the mound.

Greene's fastball velocity is tops in Major League baseball, and his whiff-rate ranks in the Top 7%. Greene is must-see TV, so if you're not at the ballpark on Friday night, be sure to tune in to the most entertaining player on the Reds roster.

The Reds will have to tangle with Steven Matz (1-1 7.27 ERA), yet another left-handed starting pitcher. Cincinnati has been ambushed early this season with a flurry of left-handed hurlers, and the absence of Tyler Stephenson, Donovan Solano, and Jonathan India won't help.

Someone who's been swinging a hot-bat, however, is free agent signee Tommy Pham. After breaking his hitless streak last week, Pham has gone on a tear. Pham is 5-for-12 in his last three games with a double and two round trippers. Pham has performed well against Matz in the past, going 4-for-5 lifetime with a homer.

Saturday afternoon's contest will see the Cincinnati Reds Opening Day starter Tyler Mahle (1-1 7.82 ERA) return to the mound after getting rocked in his last start against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Mahle has struggled against the Cardinals in the past. In starts versus St. Louis, Mahle has gone 3-3 with a 4.60 ERA. Yadier Molina has been Mahle's biggest nemesis in the past. The Cards' backstop has hit .478 with three round trippers against the right-hander.

Dakota Hudson (0-1 7.71 ERA) toes the rubber for St. Louis in Game 2 of the three-game set. The Mississippi State product has started two games at GABP with a mixed bag of results. Hudson has 10 punch outs versus the Redlegs on the road, but has also allow 10 hits. We'll see if the Reds bats can come alive on Saturday.

Sunday's series finale will see the young upstart Nick Lodolo (0-2 8.00 ERA) go head-to-head with the cagey veteran Adam Wainwright (2-1 2.81 ERA). Lodolo looked much better in his second start. Staying in the strike zone, the southpaw did allow a home run, but also struck out eight Padres batters over five innings.

Adam Wainwright and Joey Votto have a long and storied history. The Reds first baseman has a .322 batting average against the Cardinals right-hander and has taken Waino deep on four occasions. Colin Moran has had decent success against Wainwright as well, so expect to see the former Pittsburgh Pirate in the lineup on Sunday afternoon.

Cincinnati Reds outfielder Tommy Pham.
Cincinnati Reds outfielder Tommy Pham. / Denis Poroy/GettyImages

Reds outfielder Tommy Pham brings his revenge tour to GABP

It was only a matter of time before Tommy Pham got off the schneid, and he did so in a big way earlier this week when the 34-year-old took aim at his former team. Pham took Padres' pitchers deep twice and posted a 1.417 OPS during the previous series.

I don't think that Pham won a lot of fans with his pre-season comments about "getting his numbers". While the fanbase may not like that type of selfish, me-first attitude, it appears to be working for Pham. Despite going 1-for-31 in his first eight games, he looks to have turned a corner after getting a late start to spring training.

Pham may be a difficult player for Reds Country to embrace, but right now, he's all we got. The rest of the Cincinnati offense is struggling mightily. After Joey Votto's resurgence last season, many fans expected the six-time All-Star to begin this season where he left off in 2021.

Unfortunately, Votto has crashed and burned in the early-going. The former MVP appears lost a the plate and has changed his batting stance repeatedly over the last week. The 38-year-old owns a 9.6% walk-rate and a 38.5% strikeout-rate so far in 2022. Votto is 2-for-23 in his last six games and has gone down on strikes 12 times during that stretch.

With Jonathan India, Tyler Stephenson, Mike Moustakas, Donovan Solano, and Jose Barrero out of the lineup, Tommy Pham and Joey Votto must come up big in the upcoming series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Prediction: Reds vs. Cardinals

Whew! The Cincinnati Reds have lost nine straight games. Something's gotta give, but I don't have the confidence to suggest that our beloved Redlegs will be able to turn the tide with the St. Louis Cardinals coming to town this weekend.

I think it's fair to say that the Reds have a decided advantage on the mound, but it's hard to depend fully on two rookies versus this St. Louis lineup. Look for the Reds to take just one game from the Cardinals with Saturday being perhaps their best opportunity.

Until David Bell has his full compliment of players, it's hard to forecast any series wins for the Reds. Instead of Jonathan India, Tyler Stephenson, Tyler Naquin, and Luis Castillo, Cincinnati is trotting out Aristides Aquino, Colin Moran, Reiver Sanmartin, and Mark Kolozsvary.

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