The longest day off of the year, also known as the day between Opening Day and Game 2, is finally over and the Cincinnati Reds are ready to get back on the field. They will try to recover from the opening day loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday. We hope the first inning goes a little better today.
First place takes place at 4:10 EDT from the Great American Ball Park. You can watch Bally Sports Ohio (formerly Fox Sports Ohio) or listen to 700 WLW. The weather seems to be absolutely glorious 61 degrees and sunny at playtime.
Start pitchers
RED
Tyler Mahle gets the ball for the Reds in his first start of the season. Last year he posted an ERA of 3.59 in 47.2 innings. He was added to the rotation after Wade Miley was injured early in the shortened season and was well placed for a fifth starter. It was good enough to secure a spot in the 2021 rotation.
Mahle uses four pitches: Fastball with four seams, Slider, Split Finger and Curveball. His four-seater is the pitch he relies on the most, but something happened to his pitching pitches last year. In 2019, he didn’t throw the slider at all and the curveball was his secondary pitch after the fastball. However, in 2020 he threw his curveball only 0.9% of the time, while throwing his slider 32.4% of the time and getting a whiff rate of 41.5%. It’s by far the highest puff rate on any of his pitches in his career.
CARDINALS
Yes, Adam Wainwright still plays in the big leagues. At 39, he signed a $ 8 million one-year deal with the Cardinals for the 2021 season. And for the most part, Wainwright is still decent. In 65.2 innings last season, he had a 3.15 ERA and a 1.05 whip. The ERA is a little deceiving, however, as its FIP was above 4.00. One thing that Wainwright has continued to do well throughout his career is limit walks. He only went 15 Batters in 2020, which resulted in 7.6 BB% and the 1.05 WHIP. In 2019, he was one of the top pitchers in the league on limited walks, giving up just 64 in 171.2 innings.
Wainwright has five pitches (curve ball, sinker, cutter, four-seater, and change) but mainly throws his curve ball, sinker, and cutter. Usually he saves the fastball with four seams and the change for left-handers. The curve ball is his best pitch. He had a whiff rate of 33.0% in 2020, but that’s probably because it’s so slow that thugs are always one step ahead. It drove in at 73 mph last year. If he finds it, it’s usually right-handed.
Statistics from 2020
| Surname | IP | EPOCH | FIP | xFIP | WHIP | K% | BB% |
| Tyler Mahle | 47.2 | 3.59 | 3.88 | 4.59 | 1.15 | 29.9% | 10.4% |
| Adam Wainwright | 65.2 | 3.15 | 4.11 | 4.23 | 1.05 | 20.6% | 5.7% |
Statistics of the day
Statistics of the day: Adam Wainwright starts today for the Cardinals against the Reds. He is a very good pitcher with a career of 3.38 ERA over 15 years.
But in 34 career games against the Reds, Wainwright has an ERA of 5.12, the highest for any team he’s faced more than twice.
– Charlie Goldsmith (@CharlieG__) April 3, 2021
Start starting grid
Messages and Notes
Nick Senzel isn’t on the line-up tonight but he’s apparently available to score. This seems like a good sign after his Thursday dive. Redleg Nation kept you informed of all the updates, including quotes from David Bell.
The Reds picked up catcher Beau Taylor today because of exemptions and to make way for him on the 40-man squad, they have chosen catcher Deivy Grullón for use. We wrote about it here shortly after the game’s live preview.
Shogo Akiyama started the season on the 10-day injured list with a thigh load. Although it still looks like it will take at least a few weeks, he reports to the alternate location in Louisville. That’s a good sign.
#Reds Shogo Akiyama reports to the team’s Alternative Training Site in Louisville. He played catch. He ran and ran with machines. He said the process is going well.
– C. Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent) April 3, 2021
Jonathan India was on MLB Network Radio after his appearance on the opening day talking about his goals for the year.
Get excited @ Red’s fans. Your new second baseman has big plans. @ JonathanIndia: “I want to be a big part of this team and push these guys and I want them to push me to be the best that I can.” # Reds | #ATOBTTR pic.twitter.com/FSCv8uTCvl
– MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) April 3, 2021
Finally, here’s a clip from last night’s Rays Marlins game because I can’t stop watching this playing field and the beat of the bat. Baseball is back and so are these highlights.
Chaz Roe: big frisbee guy. ? pic.twitter.com/zSUa0hijcJ
– MLB (@MLB) April 3, 2021
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