Skip to main content

Series Preview: Reds at Phillies 7/8-7/11


The National League Central Division leading Reds (49-37) visit Philadelphia to start a 4-game series against the NL East's third place Phillies (43-40). The Reds have won 7 of their last 10 games, while the Phillies have dropped 7 of their last 10 games.

Philadelphia has struggled with injuries all season long. The expected potent offense, that experts were convinced would return them to a third straight World Series, has only taken the field together 5 times in 83 chances. Currently, 3 of the Phillies' 8 projected everyday offensive stars are on the disabled list. The Reds, on the other hand, have suffered injuries to their pitching staff, seeing 3 of their 5 starters miss time. Homer Bailey and Aaron Harang have been sidelined recently, while another starter Edinson Volquez, who won 17 games for the Reds last year, is to miss the entire season following elbow surgery. Somehow, Cincinnati has stayed afloat, while the Phillies have sunk in the standings.

Kyle Kendrick, fresh off his first career complete game, will get the start in game one for the Phillies. The Reds will counter with Johnny Cueto, who came out on top with a win, when these two pitchers met in Cincinnati last month.

Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups and plenty more information on this series.


Thursday, 7:05pm. Johnny Cueto (8-2, 3.56 ERA) vs. Kyle Kendrick (5-3, 4.70 ERA). Cueto earned a win against the Phils on June 28th when he allowed just 1 earned run over 8 innings. In 9 road starts this season, Cueto is 4-1 with a 3.42 ERA. Cueto has posted a 2-1 record and a 0.70 ERA over his last 4 starts. Cueto has a 7-1 record in 13 night starts this season. Ryan Howard is 3-for-7 (.429 avg) against Cueto with a double, a triple and a homerun. Kendrick has posted a 4.13 ERA over his last 5 outings. In 4 career starts against the Reds, Kendrick is 3-1 with a 6.75 ERA. Kendrick has a 3.75 ERA since the start of May. Brandon Phillips is 5-for-11 (.455 avg) against Kendrick.

Friday, 7:05. Mike Leake (6-1, 3.38 ERA) vs. Joe Blanton (3-5, 6.27 ERA). Leake is 1-1 with a 6.35 ERA over his last 5 starts. In 6 road starts this season, Leake is 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA. Blanton is 2-0 with a 4.55 ERA over his last 4 starts. In 3 career starts against Cincinnati, Blanton has a 2-0 record and a 3.92 ERA. In 6 home starts this year, Blanton is 2-2 with a 4.93 ERA.

Saturday, 7:05pm. Travis Wood (0-0, 3.86 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (10-7, 2.33 ERA). Wood, a lefty-handed rookie, will be making just his third Major League start. Wood has not had a decision yet, in 2 road starts against the Cubs and Metropolitans. The 23-year-old posted a 5-6 record, a 3.12 ERA and struck out 97 batters in 98 innings in 15 starts at Triple-A Louisville, prior to his promotion to the Majors this season. In 10 home starts this year, Halladay is 6-4 with a 2.09 ERA. In Halladay's 4 home losses, the Phillies have scored a total of 5 runs. Brandon Phillips is 4-for-10 (.400 avg) with 2 doubles against Halladay in his career.

Sunday, 1:35pm. Matt Maloney (0-1, 4.76 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (6-7, 4.05 ERA). Maloney, the former Phils prospect who was traded for Kyle Lohse in 2007, has a 2-5 record with a 4.86 ERA in 8 career Major League starts. Maloney served up Johan Santana's first Major League homer in a loss to the Metropolitans this week. In 6 career starts against Cincinnati, Hamels is 5-0 with a 1.26 ERA and a .150 batting average against. Hamels has posted a 1-2 record with a 4.22 ERA over his last 5 starts. Lefty batters are hitting .170 against Hamels this year, while righties are hitting .282 against him. Brandon Phillips is 2-for-18 (.111 avg) against Cole Hamels in his career.


In 15 career games at Citizens Bank Park, Scott Rolen is 22-for-63 (.349 avg). In his career, Rolen is a combined 4-for-37 (.108 avg) against Jose Contreras, Brad Lidge, Joe Blanton, Roy Halladay, Danys Baez and Kyle Kendrick.

When the Phillies visited the Reds last month, Joey Votto went 6-for-13 (.461 avg) in 3 games with a double, 2 homers and 3 runs scored. The lefty batting Votto is hitting .347 against right-handed pitchers this year, while his average against left-handers is .248.

Phillies reliever Ryan Madson has been activated from the disabled list for this series. Madson has a 7.36 ERA in 17 career games against the Reds.
Mike Zagurski was optioned to Lehigh Valley to make room on the roster for the Madson move.

Since the start of June, Ryan Howard has gone hitless in just 3 of his 33 games played. During that stretch, he is batting .322. In 41 games at Citizens Bank Park this season, Howard is batting .329 with a .947 OPS, compared to his .268 avg. and .786 OPS away from Citizens Bank Park.

Raul Ibanez is batting .246 in 41 home games this season. Ibanez has 7 homeruns in 81 games this season. He hit 7 homeruns in April last season.

Reds team batting avg.- .274
Phillies team batting avg.- .257

_______________________________________

Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

World Series Preview: Phillies vs. Astros

The Fall Classic is set to get underway on Friday with the Phillies opening on the road to take on the Astros in a best-of-seven series. This year marks 75 years since the first time a World Series was televised and this year each game will be broadcast on the FOX television network.  ESPN will have the radio broadcast and that feed can be streamed by using this link . Game 1 Friday, 8:03pm Eastern....in Houston.  RHP Aaron Nola (11-13, 3.25 ERA) vs. RHP Justin Verlander (18-4, 1.75 ERA).  In 16 road starts during the regular season this year, Nola notched a 5-9 record with a 3.00 ERA.  Nola has struck out 18 and walked three in 17 1/3 innings pitched this postseason.  Earlier this month, Nola tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings at Houston.  In 15 home starts during the regular season, Verlander sported a 10-1 record with a 1.64 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP.  Verlander has a 5.68 ERA and has not recorded a win in seven career World Series starts.  Verlander has...

PhoulBallz Interview: RHP Ben Brown talks TJ recovery, O'Hoppe, cancelled season

Image- MiLB.com Out of action since last May when it was determined he required Tommy John surgery, righty pitching prospect Ben Brown is using the downtime of the pandemic hiatus to continue his physical recovery.  A 33rd round draft selection of the Phillies back in 2017, Brown made his professional debut that same year, posting a 2.57 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP in 10 appearances in the rookie level Gulf Coast League.  The following season, Brown began to make a name for himself in the GCL, striking out 16 batters in one July appearance.  He would post a 3.12 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP in 10 games (eight starts) before earning a promotion and finishing the season with a pair of outings with Class A short-season Williamsport. Brown, a Long Island, NY native, opened last year with Class A Lakewood.  In four appearances with the BlueClaws, he struck out 20, walked four and allowed no runs in 13 2/3 innings and looked well on his way to making an impact on betting odds and avai...

2019 Phillies Prospects Countdown: #7 LHP JoJo Romero

JoJo Romero, image- Jay Floyd With a growing crop of very talented pitching prospects in the Phillies organization, left-hander JoJo Romero is certainly among the standouts. The five-foot-11 200-pounder was the Phils’ 4th round draft selection in 2016. That year he helped Yavapai College, the same school that the Phillies drafted Kenny Giles from in 2011, clinch the JuCo World Series, leading the way with an 11-5 record, a 3.64 ERA and a 10.2 K/9 mark. He also tossed a complete game gem to earn the win in their title game. After signing with the Phillies, Romero made his professional debut as a member of the short-season Class A Williamsport Crosscutters. There, he notched a 2-2 record with a 2.56 ERA while striking out 31 and walking 11 in 45 2/3 innings. In 2017, he got off to a terrific start with the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws. In 13 starts, Romero tallied a 5-1 record with a 2.11 ERA and a 9.3 K/9 mark and was honored as a South Atlantic League mid-season All-Star. R...