Friday, May 6, 2011

5/6 Reds @ Cubs

Behind some solid starting pitching, the Reds have finally gotten a win streak and it was the first time since April 12th vs the Padres where the Reds won 2 games in a row. Today will also be the third straight day game for the Reds, who will play 5 day games in a row - this has to be some kind of record in the modern era for the Reds? I can't remember anything like that, but I'm only 20. Matt Garza (1-3, 3.96) will be facing off vs Edinson Volquez (2-1, 5.67) at 2:20pm today from Wrigley Field.

We'll start with Garza, who very few Reds have experience vs. because he's from the AL Tampa Bay Rays. His last start was very impressive where he went 8 innings and gave up 3 runs on 6 hits with 10K's in a win vs the D'Backs. Here are his stats vs the 4 Reds who have faced him.
  • Garza has interesting splits, because LHB only bat .239 while RHB are at .268.
  • To make it even more confusing, because of his tendency to walk LHB, they have a higher OBP than RHB. He has a 2.90 K/BB ratio vs RHB, and only a 2.00 vs LHB which leads to a .321 OBP for LHB and a .317 vs RHB. Very weird to see such an average discrepancy being cancelled out by walks.
  • An interesting note on Garza: he has given up 0 home runs this year, and is a fly ball pitcher...last year he gave up 28 home runs.
  • His highest inning ERA is 5.37 in the 3rd inning, so he may have trouble with batters adjusting.
  • 12-15 with a 3.61 ERA - he's better in day games.
  • 0-1 with a 1.89 ERA at Wrigley.
Pick to Click: Drew Stubbs

Now, onto Volquez..who went 5 innings last time out vs the Marlins only giving up 1 run on 2 hits. I'd love for him to go 6-7 IP, but after his early struggles I'll take the 5 innings of 1 run at this point. Here are his stats vs the Cubs.
  • .300 team average, 12-40, only one homer which belongs to Jeff Baker.
  • If you've read this blog before, you know Volquez is just as good vs righties as he is vs lefties.
  • May is Volquez's month, where he is a lifetime 2.44 ERA with a 4-2 record.
  • 2-0 with a 0.96 ERA vs Cubs lifetime.
  • 10-4 during day games in his career with a 4.54 ERA.
  • 1-0 with a 1.54 ERA at Wrigley Field
Pick to Click: Jeff Baker (5 career hrs vs Reds)

Looks to be a fairly even matchup, but the Reds are riding some momentum so let's get another quality start and get Volquez some runs because the wind is blowing out to right field!

Off-topic:
-Just one cool thing I found here, how cool is this beat writer for the Royals?

@EricLilly7

2 comments:

  1. Alfonso Soriano is gonna light up the Reds. He's gonna hit 50 bombs this year.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That is a good point Parris. He definitely is going to do that.

    ReplyDelete