Los Angeles Dodgers at Cincinnati Reds – May 24, 2024 – Another series done, another series lost. Rinse and repeat. The Dodgers are in town after the Reds visited Los Angeles last week. Honestly, I am looking past this series. After this series, the Reds have series against the Cardinals and Rockies in the next couple of weeks (with the Cubs in between). Those two series are winnable, and are truly the last chance to spark a turnaround. A couple of weeks after that, the Cincinnati Reds have two series against Pittsburgh and another series against Saint Louis. Let’s see how they matchup in today’s matchup even though it seems hopeless.
Cincinnati Reds RHP Graham Ashcraft
Starting pitching has not really been the issue this year. Ashcraft has given up 3 runs in his last 3 starts. The two starts before that stretch, he gave up 1 run to Texas and 0 in 6 IP to San Diego. The big thing for Ashcraft this season can be seen in his batted ball profile. He’s getting groundballs on 51% of balls put in play, but his weak contact percent is only 0.6% – by far the worst of his career. His ERA is the best of his career so far. Just a weird statline for Ashcraft this season.
Cincinnati Reds Lineup Card
| Batters | Average | |
| 1 | CF Stuart Fairchild | .222 |
| 2 | SS Elly De La Cruz | .254 |
| 3 | 1B Jeimer Candelario | .224 |
| 4 | LF Spencer Steer | .226 |
| 5 | C Tyler Stephenson | .263 |
| 6 | 3B Santiago Espinal | .194 |
| 7 | DH Nick Martini | .184 |
| 8 | 2B Jonathan India | .208 |
| 9 | RF Jacob Hurtubise | .214 |
Stu exactly where he should be against LHP. Expect him to be yanked for Benson if a RHP comes in. I see that David Bell remembered that Tyler Stephenson exists after a brief moment of dementia in last night’s 9th inning. Nick Martini in the DH spot isn’t ideal, but I will take it over Mike Ford seven days a week. Martini actually has better splits against LHP.
Los Angeles Dodgers LHP James Paxton
Paxton’s last time out he gave up 3 runs over 6 IP against your Cincinnati Reds. As noted in that game’s preview, Paxton’s advanced statistics are abysmal. The only thing he is not below average in is extension off the mound. Yet his pitching run values are positive. Simply put, guys are just hitting his stuff right at defenders. He’s getting hit hard, he’s not striking people out, he’s walking a ton of batters, and then he finds a way to get out of it consistently. The Reds will have to take advantage of the guys they get on base. At least we won’t have to worry about automatic out Mike Ford squandering runners on base tonight (hopefully).
Los Angeles Dodgers Lineup Card
| Batters | Average | |
| 1 | TBA | |
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