Series Preview: Cincinnati Reds vs Cleveland Indians

The Tribe and Cincinnati Reds renew their annual battle for bragging right in the state of Ohio.  It will be a home and home affair, the first two at Progressive Field, with the final two at Great American Ball Park.

• Monday's game is at 7:05 PM (Simon vs. Kluber) [MLB.TV free game of the day]
• Tuesday's game is at 7:05 PM (Cueto vs. Tomlin)
• Wednesday's is at 7:10 (Salazar vs. Latos)
• Thursday's is at 7:10 (House vs. Bailey)

Right after the Thursday matchup, the team flies off to New York to visit the Yankees to conclude the short five game road trip. The Diamondbacks then visit Progressive for a pair, wrapped by a pair of off days.

Division Watch: Tigers at Yankees, Royals at Diamondbacks, Rangers at White Sox, Padres at Twins.

Team in a Box

Although the Reds sit in fourth place of their division, they have an identical record to the Tribe and sit just 3.5 games from a playoff spot. They just took three of four from Miami over the weekend.

The Reds are another team where you can specify why they are a .500 ball club. The hitting is very poor overall, bottom third in most categories. The lone bright spot is in stolen bases, but when you have a player like Billy Hamilton, that will happen. Even if both Brandon Phillips and Joey Votto were healthy, there are still too many offensive holes in the lineup. Where they excel is in the pitching staff. The starters have very good WHIPs due to their ability to limit the number of hits given up. And defensively, they have the fewest errors and best fielding percentage in the NL.

Projected Roster

Thankfully we catch the Reds without two of their best hitters, Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips. Votto has a lifetime 1010 OPS and driven in 27 in 32 games against the Tribe while Phillips has 933 OPS and nine homers and driven in 32 in 45 games. As it is, the Indians pitching staff will need work around Mesoraco, who is having a phenomenal season. Frazier has also been hot. The pitchers better hope to keep speedster Hamilton of base as he had 43 swipes already. Bruce was recently activated off the DL, hopefully he is still a bit rusty. And old friend Hannahan should make an appearance this series.

Projected Staff

Good news, good news. Not a single lefty in the rotation. Bad news, bad news. Cueto and Simon have both been awesome and Latos has come on strong since coming off the DL. Simon, the former Oriole, has made a superb transition out of the pen. He pitched decently in June, 2.97 ERA in 30.1 IP. Cueto had a slightly better July, 2.58 ERA in 38.1 IP. He is 3-0 in five career starts against Cleveland, 2.10 ERA, 0.990 WHIP and 7.3 K/9. Latos has a 3.55 ERA in his past five starts and a 1.000 WHIP and 6.0 K/9. Bailey hasn't really lived up to that fat contract extension as he is by default, the #5 on this staff right now. But his last five starts have been pretty good, 2.38 ERA, 0.970 WHIP and 5.8 K/9. The Indians have hit him hard in the past though, 6.55 ERA in seven starts.

The offense better score early, because I don't like the odds if Broxton and Champman come in for the eighth and ninth innings. With Chapman as the closer, Bryan Price will have to be judicious when using Parra, as he the only lefty besides Chapman.

On the Shelf

• 2B Brandon Phillips [15 day DL], possible late August return
• 1B Joey Votto [15 day DL], possible late August return
• RP Trevor Bell [60 day DL], out for season
• RP Sean Marshall [60 day DL], no timetable for return
• RP Logan Ondrusek [15 day DL], no timetable for return
• P Raisel Iglesius [restricted list], visa issues

Almanac

*Does not include 2014 stats

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