The first week and homestand of the season are in the rearview mirror. The Reds sit at three wins and three losses and now look to hit the road to Texas to take on the Rangers.
Standout rookie Sal Stewart has lit the world ablaze in the first week of action. Earning NL player of the week, the first baseman stood out with a slash line of .700/.769/1.300 with three doubles, a home run, two RBIs, along with seven hits in 13 plate appearances.
Stewart leads the Reds in a number of offensive categories, including batting average, on-base percentage, and total hits.
The Reds will continue to be without their top two starters for at least the next week of the season, hoping to get Nick Lodolo back from the 15-day injured list.
Reds manager confirmed that Lodolo will pitch in Daytona over the weekend as he prepares to return from his stint on the IL.
Offensively, the Reds have left a lot to be desired. As a team, they are batting .193 and have struck out 52 times. The main source of the Redleg offense comes from Sal Stewart and a familiar friend, Eugenio Suarez.
Closer Emilio Pagan has struggled out of the gate this year. Appearing in three games, but allowing five runs and two home runs in 3.1 innings of work.
The young arms of Chase Burns and Rhett Lowder had great season debuts, each throwing five innings of work and less than 3 hits apiece.
Offseason pickup Pierce Johnson had a rough introduction to Cincinnati; through four appearances, the right-hander carries a 10.13 ERA heading into the second week of the season.
The Rangers (4-2) are next in line for the Reds. The Reds will have Brady Singer on the mound, while the Rangers will have MacKenzie Gore on the mound.
Gore carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning of his Rangers debut on March 29th and hopes to keep the momentum going heading into Friday.
Singer looks to improve on a start where he had to work himself out of some early jams.
The Rangers are coming off an 8-3 loss to the Orioles on Wednesday, but won the series, taking two of the three.
As the Reds head to Texas, they’ll look to build on the bright spots from opening week, especially the surge from rookie standout Sal Stewart, while tightening up their offensive approach and stabilizing the bullpen.
With reinforcements like Nick Lodolo on the horizon and young arms showing early promise, Cincinnati has plenty of reasons for optimism as they begin their first road test of the season.
