Written by: Kenta Hagiwara
Reds August Update:
(8/17/23)
NL Central Standings:
Milwaukee (65-56, .537)
Chicago (62-58, .517) – 2.5 GB
CINCINNATI (63-59, .516) – 2.5 GB
Pittsburgh (54-67, .446) – 11.0 GB
St. Louis (54-67, .446) – 11.0 GB
NL Wild Card Standings:
Philadelphia (66-55, .545) – +3.5 WCGB
San Francisco (64-57, .529) – +1.5 WCGB
Chicago (62-58, .517) – 0 WCGB
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CINCINNATI (63-59, .516) – 0 WCGB
Miami (63-59, .516) – 0 WCGB
Arizona (61-60, .504) – 1.5 WCGB
San Diego (58-63, .479) – 4.5 WCGB
Current Team Leaders (8/17):
BA: Friedl (.280)
HR: Steer (18)
RBI: Steer (66)
OBP: Steer (.352)
SLG: Steer (.465)
OPS: Steer (.817)
ERA: Ashcraft (4.89)
SO: Greene (100)
WHIP: Ashcraft (1.40)
Upcoming Week:
8/18-20 vs TOR
8/11 PP: Brett Kennedy (1-0, 5.14 ERA) vs Jose Berrios (9-8, 3.53 ERA)
8/12 PP: Brandon Williamson (4-2, 4.33 ERA) vs Chris Bassitt (11-6, 3.95 ERA)
8/13 PP: Hunter Greene (2-4, 3.93 ERA) vs Hyun-Jin Ryu (1-1, 2.57 ERA)
8/21-23 @ LAA
The Cincinnati Reds are in the middle of a tight division and wild card race in mid-August. If you would have told me that before the season began, I would’ve laughed at you. The Reds now face an incredibly strong Toronto Blue Jays team before facing Shohei Ohtani.
The Jays, also in their own wild card race, will bring three starters to Cincinnati, all bolstering a sub-4 ERA this season. The Reds? Well… they’ll get one arm back in Hunter Greene – who threw 5.2 IP and struck out 9 without an earned run in his last start with Louisville on Tuesday.
The Angels during the week are a confusing team – offensively they’re always a threat with Shohei Ohtani (.306 AVG, 42 HR, 85 RBI, 1.071 OPS), but the bats around him have been nothing but inconsistent. The pitching has been a coinflip – with great arms like Ohtani, Detmers, and Sandoval, you’d expect better than a sub-.500 record. The Reds will certainly need to win that series, especially with the tough matchup vs Toronto over the weekend.
I’ve gone ahead and made a Team Leaders list for the Angels for those interested.
Angels Team Leaders (8/17):
BA: Ohtani (.306)
HR: Ohtani (42)
RBI: Ohtani (85)
SB: Ohtani (17)
OBP: Ohtani (.407)
SLG: Ohtani (.664)
OPS: Ohtani (1.071)
ERA: Ohtani (3.17)
W: Ohtani (10)
SO: Ohtani (165)
WHIP: Ohtani (1.06)
BAA: Ohtani (.185)
Whew.