The 5-4 Reds will host the 6-2 Milwaukee Brewers in an early season critical Divisional matchup in a four-game series. This series will be a fun one to watch as both offenses have been scoring runs so far this offense with the Reds scoring 46 runs so far this year with a .422 slugging percentage. While the Brewers have scored 41 runs and are slugging .448 on the season.
Probable Starting Pitchers
Game One: Graham Ashcraft (0-1, 3.00 ERA) vs Aaron Ashby (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Aaron Ashby will make his first start of the year today against the Reds. He was just recalled from Triple-A and will have a tough first test against this tough Reds lineup. Graham Ashcraft went six innings, allowed three runs, two earned, on two home runs, one walk, and struck out five. His lone start came against the Philadelphia Phillies, the left-hand bats of the Brewers are the ones, I have my eye on in this matchup Brice Turang in particular who when on base is causing problems with seven steals already on the year.
Time 6:40 PM
Game Two: Frankie Montas (2-0, 0.77 ERA) vs Joe Ross (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
In game two the Reds will have their ace Frankie Montas on the mound looking to keep his strong start rolling. He has thrown 11.2 innings so far this year and only allowed nine hits on the year. Has given up three walks, one home run, and struck out nine on the year. He has an impressive 1.03 WHIP to start the season and will face a tough Brewers lineup in the tough divisional matchup. Joe Ross has only thrown 3.2 innings so far in his lone start allowing two hits, walking five, and striking out three. He will need to do a better job with his control with the Reds offense or he could see some crooked numbers go up in a hurry.
Time 6:40 PM
Game Three: Hunter Greene (0-0, 2.53 ERA) vs TBD
Hunter Greene will get the start in game three of the series looking for his first win of the season. He has pitched 10.2 innings so far this year in two starts allowing eight hits, five walks, and struck out 13 on the year. His counterpart has yet to be decided for the Brewers, so perhaps a pending move to bring someone up to make a spot start could be in order here, depending on how the first two games of the series go.
Time: 6:40 PM
Game Four: Nick Martinez (0-0, 7.20 ERA) vs Freddy Peralta (1-0, 3.09 ERA)
Game four will see Nick Martinez matched up against the Brewers ace Freddy Peralta. Martinex has not gotten off to a very good start allowing 14 hits over 10 innings of work while also issuing two free passes on the year. He has struck out nine over his two starts and given up one home run. On the flip side, Peralta has allowed only five hits and two free passes over 11.2 innings of work. Peralta has struck out 15 hitters and only one home run on the year. I see this game being the toughest of the four for the Reds as Peralta is a power arm and will miss plenty of bats.
Time: 1:10 PM
Things to Watch:
Can the Reds slow down the Brewers Bats? William Contreras has a .387 average on the year with two home runs and eight RBIs. Christian Yelich has three home runs, four RBIs and is hitting .308 on the year. Jackson Chourio, Willy Adames, and Brice Turang all are off to hot starts as well all hovering between .280+ in the average category. Turang leads all of baseball with seven steals, so keeping him off base has to be a priority for the Reds if they do not want to have him setting the table for the top of the order. This will be an interesting matchup for the Reds staff and I am interested to see their approach this series when attacking the Brewers hitters. Can Spencer Steer keep up his hot start for the Reds or can the Brewers staff silence his bat? Steer so far on the year has three home runs, 12 RBIs, and hitting .406 on the year. Can Elly De La Cruz get his first home of the season this series? Can Nick Martinez find his form and keep people off the base paths? Will Freddy Peralta strike out nine or more batters this time around? There are so many good inside matchups to watch this series, I am very excited to watch this series to see how these two teams match up with one another.
Wrap Up:
Who doesn’t like watching divisional matchups, especially when both teams are playing well? This series will be exciting and I expect plenty of offense from both teams except when each team’s ace is on the mound. I think Freddy Peralta will do a good job keeping the Reds bats at bay as long as he is in the game, it’ll be the true test for the Brewers bullpen who will have to keep them quiet for the rest of the game. Frankie Montas I expect to throw a gem against the Brewers in his matchup and keep being the best value free-agent pitcher signed this offseason. Two Predictions I have for this series, 1) Brice Turang steals four more bases. 2) Elly De La Cruz hits two homers this series one being a game-winner.
