After an opening series against the Cubs, the St. Louis Cardinals are in a potential letdown series against a Cincinnati Reds team that had an impressive game on Wednesday night with great pitching performances giving fans a peak into what could be a very bright future. For today, however, the Reds may have a rude awakening this weekend as they head to Busch Stadium for a three game set against what is ultimately a much better and deeper ball club.
This series will be contested from Friday, April 7, 2017 through Sunday, April 9, 2017 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
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Pitching Matchups
The Reds’ rotation for this series has a bit of everything: the up-and-coming youth, a ghost of Cincinnati past and a journeyman starter adding a veteran presence to yet another team on the mend.
Given all of that, it’s pretty easy to given the rotational advantage to the Cardinals who themselves have a few question marks with Mike Leake and Michael Wacha each coming off struggles in 2016 before wrapping up the weekend with their newly crowned ace: Carlos Martinez.
For Cincy, rookie southpaw Amir Garrett gets the ball in his major league debut on Friday. Garrett is one of the team’s top prospects heading into the season after a strong showing in spring. The 24-year old is ready for the chance after a break out 2016 in his first year above A-ball. He absolutely dominated Double-A with a 1.75 ERA in 13 games and more than held his own in the International League. He was just 2-5 in Triple-A, but had a 3.46 ERA and 1.67 WHIP.
For Garrett, control will be key. He did walk 4.1 batters per nine innings with Louisville last year and big league hitters are much more selective. If he can keep the ball in the zone, he could find success, but he’ll be challenged by a Cardinals lineup that showed a good deal of power in 2016.
After Garrett, it’ll be 40-year old Bronson Arroyo making his first big league start since 2014 and first start for the Reds since 2013. He’s recorded 105 wins in a Reds’ uniform and has been a consistent innings eater in his lengthy career, but expecting anything out of him after two years off and a Tommy John surgery is asking a lot. He’ll be matched up against a pitcher with some questions of his own, but at least Wacha pitched last year, even if not overly effective, and is just a year removed from a 3.38 ERA.
As for Sunday’s matchup, Martinez will go against the Reds’ Opening Day starter: Scott Feldman.
Feldman is not an ace. He’s a serviceable back-end starter at best and really shouldn’t be much more than starting depth on a good team. Unfortunately for the Reds, they’re not a good team.
His experience granted him the Opening Day nod and he lasted just 4.2 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits, including a pair of home runs.
Martinez, meanwhile, was phenomenal in his first start of the season, holding the defending Champion Cubs scoreless over 7.1 innings, inducing 15 swing-and-misses on the changeup as he kept the best lineup in the sport completely off-balanced.
Who's Hot?
Yadier Molina delivered three hits in the team’s first two games against the Cubs and added a pair of walks, getting on base more than 55-percent of his plate appearances in the Cards’ first two games.
It’s been quite a strong last month or so for Molina who led the Puerto Rican team to a World Baseball Classic final and recently inked a lucrative new contract, making him the highest paid catcher per season in the sport.
The veteran backstop is still the heart of this team and he’s crucial to the Cards’ way. Two years ago, this team won 100-games and did so thanks to great starting pitching, excellent defense and timely hitting. Molina was at the forefront of all three of those aspects of the game.
For the Reds, what is hot is the stuff coming out of Raisel Iglesias’s hand. The 27-year old flamethrower out of Cuba is turning into Aroldis Chapman 2.0 for the Reds and gives Cincy at least one strong answer out of the pen. If the Reds can get to the ninth inning, Iglesias is there to shut the door.
Who's Not?
Of course it’s still ridiculously early, but Joey Votto hasn’t gotten off to a good start. He slammed a monster home run, but is just 1-for-7 overall.
Meanwhile, for the Cards, Matt Carpenter has just one hit and closer Seung-hwan Oh struggled in his debut. Fortunately for St. Louis, the team was able to pick him up and get the win over the Cubs anyway.
Manager Mike Matheny went to Oh for an inning and two thirds in the season opener, showing a lack of confidence early in the rest of his bullpen. Oh, however, gave up three runs, including a home run, while the rest of the pen has combined for four scoreless innings.
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