What should Reds fans expect from Lyon Richardson in his first major league start?

It has been a long and winding road for Lyon Richardson, but the former second-round draft pick is set to make his major league debut for the Cincinnati Reds this afternoon at Great American Ball Park.

Richardson will get the ball in the Reds series finale against the Washington Nationals. Cincinnati has surprisingly dropped the first two games of the series and is on the brink of being swept by one of the worst teams in the league.

Will Richardson be able to stem the tide? Richardson has made just one start at Triple-A after spending most of the season in Double-A Chattanooga. So what can fans expect from Richardson this afternoon in the Queen City?

What should Reds fans expect from Lyon Richardson in his first major league start?

A product of Jensen Beach High School in Florida, Lyon Richardson was taken with the 47th pick in the 2018 MLB Draft. After the cancellation of the 2020 season and Tommy John surgery in 2021, Richardson hasn't seen a lot of in-game action this season.

The 23-year-old has been brought along slowly, as is the case with most pitchers who are recovering from major elbow surgery. Richardson has yet to go more than four innings on the season, and his season-high of 76 pitches thrown came on June 17th against the Rocket City Trash Pandas.

Richardson ranks as the 25th-best prospect in the Reds farm system according to MLB Pipeline and has four-pitch mix with a fastball, two breaking balls, and a changeup. Richardson can certainly rack up the strikeouts with 81 across 58 innings of work this season.

Richardson displays decent command as well, keeping the base paths rather clear. With a 10-percent walk-rate and 3.57 walks per nine innings, Reds manager David Bell is hoping for an efficient outing from the right-hander this afternoon.

Look for Lyon Richardson to go three or more innings today and then hand the game over the bullpen. Derek Law is likely to be unavailable, but Alex Young, Sam Moll, Fernando Cruz, Buck Farmer, Ian Gibaut, and Lucas Sims have not seen the mound since Thursday.