Cincinnati Reds vs Chicago Cubs – June 2, 2024

Cincinnati Reds vs Chicago Cubs – June 2, 2024 – Last night was a heartbreaker for those of use who stayed up. Up by 4 early, giving up a grand slam, then Sims serving it up on a platter for Swanson to take the victory. It really felt like last night was the game to take the series and get things going. Let’s see how your Cincinnati Reds match up in today’s day game in Chicago.

Cincinnati Reds LHP Nick Lodolo

In the same amount of starts and just a bit more innings pitched than this point last season, Lodolo has less than half the ERA and almost 1 less WHIP. We’re finally seeing the real Nick Lodolo – an ace. He’s had a rough outing or two, but outside of getting knocked around early a couple of times, he has been dominant. Absolutely dominant.

He’s above average in every advanced metric except fastball velo. He has an 80th+ percentile rank in xERA, xBA, Chase %, Whiff %, K % and BB %. He’s an Ace ladies and gentlemen. All 4 homers he’s surrendered this year have been on his fastball though. His curveball is nasty – giving him a 3 Pitching Run Value, and his sinker is phenomenal when it’s on. Lodolo has the stuff to shut down any lineup.

Cincinnati Reds Lineup Card

TJ is going to break out soon. Hopefully it’s tonight, but he’s seeming more and more settled in. Elly needs to break out of his cold spell. .186 over his last 15 is not going to do it. Candelario and Stephenson have cooled down too which does not bode well. India and Benson, however, have both played very well over their last 7 – .286 and .364 respectively. Benson is still striking out a ridiculous amount, but he’s getting on base too. A team that regularly starts the two guys with the most strikeouts in the league (Elly and Benson) will find a hard time getting anything going.

Chicago Cubs RHP Ben Brown

Brown will be making his 14th career appearance in the bigs today. He’s found some solid early success in his young career to the tune of a 2.72 ERA. Notice I said appearance earlier – 8 of his appearances have been in relief. He has gone 6 innings once and went 7 his last time out in a phenomenal start against Milwaukee with no runs surrendered. He’s given up 11 runs across those appearances, but 6 were surrendered in his big league debut on March 30th against the Rangers.

He’s been on fire since, logging 6 scoreless appearances. As expected with such a young career, his advanced statistics are all over the place. He has a league worst average exit velocity of 93.4. Yet his pitching run value is 8. Wild. His batted ball profile shows that balls just get hit right at guys. All the time. He also strikes out quite a bit of batters – 29.9% of batters faced. Brown is a two pitch pitcher – a four seam and knuckle curve. His fastball is average, but his curve has a .120 batting average against.

Chicago Cubs Lineup Card