Terry Francona’s Plan For Zack Littell & Nick Lodolo: Cincinnati Reds vs Los Angeles Dodgers Preview

Terry Francona’s Plan For Zack Littell & Nick Lodolo: Cincinnati Reds vs Los Angeles Dodgers Preview

I believe we have Trace Fowler here joining in. It’s the boss. And you know what, Trace? I don’t know if you know this, but uh our crack producer Stone, he’s never done an interview. So, I said, I love that. I said, “Hey, we’re going to bring on an interview and we’re going to do it with the boss. So, uh you better not mess it up.” And he was very, very nervous, but I hear you. I see you. So, it’s uh it’s all working good. Hey, we’re both wearing our Hamilton shirts, by the way. That we are. Yeah, we’re representing well there. Representing well. Uh yeah, tough night, Reed. Tough night. Um, I mean, realistically speaking, I I I guess where I’m at is is like at some point sometimes if you get beat up enough or if you you just get so far down the pike to where you felt like you never really felt competitive in a game, you kind of sometimes feel better about it. I I I went to bed feeling like we were completely outmatched. I woke up thinking the same, and now it’s like you get another opportunity to to fight a fight at zero to zero. And I I don’t think that anybody in their right mind would suggest that that’s that you’re that you’re in a good spot having to win two games in a row in LA against a Dodgers team who has the capabilities of really going all out in a game and making it extremely difficult to win. But you get a chance and I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times. I think that I just I just had this team dead so many times this year that at some point you have to at least look at yourself in the mirror and say maybe you’re not the guy that’s right. you’re maybe you’re not the guy that should say that they’re dead. So, I’m not gonna say they’re dead. I’m here to watch them tonight. Uh I I again, Zack Latell, I think he’ll throw about three or four hitters. So, I’m not overly concerned about the fact that we have Zack Latell going against maybe arguably one of the best Well, he’s one of the best pitchers in baseball. I don’t know if he’s the best, but I don’t know. I uh I I guess I’m I’m at a point now where I even looked up the lyrics for the the old Hamilton lyrics that that I I was thinking of and it’s uh we were outgunned, outmanned, outnumbered, and outplanned. And I feel like that’s the that’s the truth of the nature that we find ourselves in. Trace doesn’t like to think of himself as a cultured guy, but he is a big Lynn Manuel Miranda fan. He’s a big Well, Hamilton’s an alltimer, man. It’s an alltime in Hamilton. Shout out to Hamilton, Ohio, too, as well. Why not? But uh anyway, Reed, go ahead. Well, I was going to say so this there was this idea going into this postseason that the biggest advantage that the Reds had was that they were playing with house money, that they were playing loose, that they had nothing to lose. My takeaway watching the game last night was that clearly wasn’t the case with the way that the players played. Hunter Green obviously see was very tight, didn’t pitch well. I thought he was overthrowing, he was missing locations. I thought there was a lot of bad swings early on in the game, which you know, as you played baseball, sometimes you get too amped up and you just want to make a play and and you’re swinging at terrible pitches. That was the one advantage that I had. Do you feel like that portrayed itself on the field last night? And I don’t know your opinion on how they played in that regard. I I feel like uh there was really house money for everybody but Hunter Green. He had something to prove, unfortunately. And maybe that was the the the downfall or the missing link that we didn’t see. It was that yeah, he he did have something to prove because I think for a long time this town, their narrative around Hunter Green has always been, yeah, he’s a good pitcher, but he’s not an elite pitcher. He’s had elite moments, though, and he he’s looked like he’s elite multiple times. I I still stand on the fact that I’m not going to let one outing judge or or or portray my overall perspective of of what I think about Hunter Green. If he went out and threw nine innings uh yesterday of shut out baseball, of course, the whole entire city would be talking about how, you know, he’s basically a Sai Young type pitcher. And I think that he’s not that far away from that. The truth is, though, is he pitched in his hometown, I do think that there was some 100% nerves associated with this. And as much as we’d like to think that the regular season and the postseason or or I should say meaningful baseball down the stretch and postseason are the same, clearly they’re not. I I think that there’s a whole another level to this that you got to try to you got to try to rank up. And unfortunately, I I felt like he was one of the few guys personally that probably was a little over amped and and just didn’t perform well. The the the lineup, I mean, not to try to sound crass or or or or be overly funny, but that’s who they are. I mean, they they’re going to have some bad swings. They’re going to have some bad at bats. They’re not going to look good at times. That’s just who the Cincinnati Reds offensive baseball team is. Um, but it was nice to see them get on the board. I mean, that’s and maybe maybe there’s stupid moral victories you take and it means nothing, but genuinely speaking, them getting shut out would have been yet another talking point, yet another opportunity to just jump down, I guess, the the the throat of the organization and talk about how it’s unserious and all these types of things. And, you know, did five runs mean anything from an actual competitive standpoint last night from from the the chance to win? No. But, you know, I take that back a little bit. I keep thinking back on the game. Tyler Stevenson, if he’s capable of hitting having a big swing there, maybe it changes the dynamic of it all. But truth is that they were just they were just playing a team that was better than them and I think Hunter Green tried to do too much. You’re right. Take us through, you know, your you me you talked about that eighth inning where you you bring three runs, you had the bases juiced with one away. Tyler Stevenson’s kind of having a long at bat. take us through where your headsp space was cuz I’m sure it was already written off when it was 8 to nothing and then it was 10 to2 and then you’re like did you start to get back into it? Take us through your head space through that eighth inning. Yeah, I felt I I I felt like we were completely obviously out of it like every other Reds fan. But then, you know, they they let us back in and I felt like that was the only chance that the Reds really had to get back in the game was that the Dodgers did something unorthodox. Everybody talked about before the game, you know, the one weakness that this Dodgers team had was their bullpen. And I kind of I kind of to be honest, Reed, like I just I kind of jokingly smirk at those types of remarks because the truth is is they’re just so damn good that you know if if you took if you took whatever they had that you said isn’t good and you put them on the Reds, I think that the Reds fans or us collectively would be like, “Yeah, that’s a pretty solid part of our team that that the the Dodgers led us back in the game last night in the eighth inning and it was a little disheartening or disappointing, whatever term you’d like to use. I’ve been in I’ve played baseball long enough. You’ve played baseball long enough and I’m not trying to say that I’ve played major league baseball, but I think I’ve played high enough of a level to know when you’re in an at batten, Reed, that you’re trying to battle and you’re you’re kind of just touching pitches and you’re trying to basically make sure that you protect the plate, you can kind of get into swing mode sometimes. And I think that unfortunately happened to Tyler. I’m not saying he would have swung at anything at all, but when folks are like, well, he swung at ball, you know, four, five, six, and seven, he did. But he also had like a 12, what, I don’t know, 12 or 13 pitch at bat. That is a great at bat. And I’m not going to sit here and be like, “Oh my god, I can’t believe Tyler Stevenson swung at ball four. He he was doing a good job.” They had some really good at bats in that inning as well. They they laid off some really tough pitches. Um, and and it was unfortunate that he, you know, obviously swung at the pitches. And I guess semi- disappointed at this point. I’m just kind of like ready to be done with the whole thing with Tito and whether he should pinch it for certain guys or not pinch it or whether they should have brought up somebody with some power that came off the bench instead of Santiago Espanol. And I don’t know, you guys, if we want to sit here and fight about those things, we can. But it was, I guess, a little disheartening that you had Cabrian Hayes come up in a spot like that and and and obviously hit a weak ground ball to second base and that ended the threat and that was for that was pretty much it. But we got outplayed, man. I mean, it feel it feels like in a way if we’re going to get frustrated or upset that we that we had a chance last night, it’s almost like I don’t know. We we went down the field and we scored a touchdown to make it a 10-point game late and then we we we we muffed the onside kick that to possibly get us the ball back to to to have a chance to go and maybe make it a one-sore game. Like I don’t know how close we really were, but I guess it makes us feel better. So, we’ll we’ll talk about it. It got you on the edge of your seat maybe not yelling at the TV like it got you back in a little bit. You’re like there’s there’s a path here and then you’re just like, “All right, that’s what I thought was going to happen.” You don’t want to get over too too over excited. Uh you mentioned, you know, pulling guys off the bench, uh kind of power bats. Tonight, there’s going to be a right-hander on the mound, Yamamoto, in the presumed lineup. If if the Reds are going to do this, they’re gonna there’s going to be some hero, right? There’s going to be some guy that’s going to have a big at bat. There’s going to have a big swing, home run, double, basis, whatever it is. Is there anybody that you think might be in the lineup tonight that you’re kind of eyeing like, I think this guy might might have a big game or might have a big swing tonight. Is there anybody that you’re thinking like he might do it tonight? No, I mean the obvious with a right-handed hit with a right-handed pitcher, they’re going to stick Gavin Lux in the three hole. He’s going to have to play well in order for this team to get scoring opportunities because you just don’t you just don’t come across those a ton, I think, uh, from this lineup in general on a night in night out basis. Ultimately, there’s only so many guys that can kind of make that big swing and get the ball quite literally over the fence. Um, I I’d like to think and I I hope and pray that Stephvenson’s continues to play. I I don’t think that I I don’t see any scenario in the world where where Trevvinho could possibly be in the lineup. So, I hold my breath a little bit there, but I think Stevenson’s seeing the ball well right now. I do. I I think that he’s a guy that that, you know, for all intents and purposes, it was very confusing. He didn’t play two of the three games in Milwaukee when you felt like you needed to have a sweep. Um, so Stevenson’s probably the guy that sticks out right now. I think he’s having really, really a lot of quality at bats. Ellie’s going to be the X factor as he always is. is if he’s capable of getting on base three, four times in a game, it just changes the dynamic of your scoring opportunities because as you seen last night, he gets on first base via a walk. Stevenson hits one down the line. I’m not suggesting that he’s the only guy in the league that could have scored there, but he’s one of the few. Um, and realistically speaking, whether or not they turn into the running red legs again, I don’t know. But it would be nice, it would be nice to see them kind of put some pressure on the uh the Dodgers, but they’re going to have to hit the ball either in the gaps or over the fence. And I would say Stevenson’s the one guy that I would hope could kind of provide that opportunity for them at least down lower into the lineup. You’ve already mentioned Zack Latell. You don’t expect him to go very long in in the game. Um, what do you expect from Latell and who do you think that first guy out of the pin’s going to be? Who do you think they’re going to be going to early on in that game if they do pull him after, you know, an inning or two? I think it’s Lollo. And I think the reason that they made this move personally is because they don’t I I don’t want to say they don’t trust. I think Nick Liddolo also doesn’t totally trust the situation that he has from a health perspective. I think that he he got pulled out of a game where he was in a must-win game for the Cincinnati Reds. He had a career-high strikeouts with 12. He looked absolutely dominant. that the Pittsburgh Pirates looked like they had zero chance to score off of him. And then all of a sudden, Trevinho sees something uh with with him and he’s not totally sure what was going on. So, Trevvinho goes out there, he mentions that he’s got a little bit of a groin situation going on. Tito goes out there. Uh it’s rumored or it’s said in the media that he basically stated that he was going to try to finish the game. he was not going to come out and Tito said, “Nope, you got to come out because ultimately, you know, there might be more meaningful baseball games and I can’t have you obviously u exacerbate the problem here as we sit uh in basically a one-run lead against the Pirates.” So, he comes out of the game and I think from that point forward, uh, they had made a decision internally that they were not going to start him for the mere fact that they wanted to make sure that if he does have another instance or or a situation to where he gets hurt, they can get themselves in a part of the game where they can turn to relievers that I think that they trust and also are familiar with that role. You start Lollo tonight, let’s just say for instance, you start him, he goes out there and next thing you know, his groin’s causing him problems within the first five hitters. Well, now you’re now you’re rushing a guy out there personally that either is a starter, right? Like like a Latell or someone else that’s never come out of the pin or if they have, it’s been, you know, relatively infrequent. And then on top of that, you got a spot where you’re going to ask Chase Burns to come into a game super early. So I think ultimately that’s what this is about. If Ledo’s really good tonight and he throws the ball like he did against the Dodgers the last time, I think that he goes six, seven innings, eight innings if if he’s if he’s throwing the ball really really well, but they’re going to ride him until he’s until he’s either not effective or he gets hurt again. And I think that that’s the whole reason as to why they decided to start Latell is because they wanted to make sure that they gave, I guess, for lack of a better term, a chance for them to give Leolo an out to to get hurt. Um, I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong on that, but I feel like that’s really the only reason that they’re doing this. And they can, you guys, everyone’s gonna say, “Well, they’re they’re trying to play 3D chess.” Don’t give me a break. I mean, do you think for a single second that a that a baseball team that you watched all year long from an analytics perspective, from a let’s try to win on the margins perspective with Tito Francona is is what they’re going to do against the Los Angeles Dodgers? I mean, you think the Dodgers don’t think that, oh, we’re going to put a lineup out there for a righty and then all of a sudden they’re gonna really get us with with with a left-hander coming in. I mean, no. No, they’re not going to do that, Nick. Like, I don’t want to say Nick uh Reed. Uh they’re not going to do that. Yeah, I they’re not going to do that. Sorry, it’s bad habit. I sit here in front of the screen too many times a year, but I would just say ultimately that’s that’s that’s the plan. I I could be completely wrong and I I if I am wrong, I hope I’m wrong in the direction that Latell goes out and throws four shutout innings, but he’s going to throw to like four or five five hitters and that’ll be that. So, you don’t think that the the Reds are trying to go the Dodgers into uh putting in a righty centric or a left eentric lineup against a right-handed pitcher? You think they If they are, if they are, if they are, the Dodgers aren’t idiots enough to to fall for that trap. Like with all due respect, like would you rather would you would you rather hit some guys maybe that have a slight disadvantage because there’s a right-hander on the mound and keep your traditional lineup that you would against a left-handed pitcher and have Zack Latell try to go an extra couple innings. I mean, yeah, I would personally if the Dodgers want to take uh uh Yamamoto out of the game and throw some opener as a as a left-handed opener and we have to somehow Oh, we can’t play Gavin Lux now. I actually would say we’ll just hit Gavin Lux against the left-handed pitcher and we’ll allow the rest of the lineup to hit against a far far far inferior pitcher than the better one. So, no, I don’t think for a single second the Dodgers are going to fall for anything. Uh it’s more or less I think just a a it’s just a cover up for the fact that Ledo’s hurt and or not totally sure if he’s capable of throwing for more than an inning, maybe two innings max. Final thing I’ll ask you is it seemed like every path to victory that the Reds had of winning this series was taking game one with your ace on the bump. Hunter Green that was that was kind of thing that you kind of breathed. Any optimism going down to Chavez Ravine and taking two of three from the Dodgers. Does it feel like it’s dead with Hunter Hunter pitching like you did yesterday? Well, I mean certainly you’re behind the eightball. I I I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s dead. I I feel like whenever you play a three game set, the only reason I feel like it’s not dead is cuz anybody can win on any given day just based off of luck. I mean, we might run out there and have two or three or four guys just run into some baseballs and it’s pure luck that you score six, seven, eight runs tonight. Is that likely? Of course, it’s not likely. But if but if I know one thing that can happen, there’s a small chance and the only real reason that this team is in the postseason at all is because we have a major market that felt some pressure and that major market team kind of crumbled under that pressure. Uh am I suggesting the Dodgers are going to crumble under pressure? Maybe not as much as I would the Mets, but I do think that if you can get it to a game three, crazy stuff can happen. I mean, it’s a nine- ining game and you and it’s for your entire season and the Reds somehow find a way to score maybe a run or two runs earlier in the game. I do think in game three, you could put a lot of pressure on them and they could maybe make some kind of non-traditional Dodger errors or plays. So, uh, it’s not dead to me. I really know that that might sound oxymoronic because I’ve called the season dead thousands of times, but but the truth is is that they have a put it this way, they have a significantly higher chance to win this series than they did to make the playoffs at the beginning of September. So, you know, take that for what it’s worth. And if you’re a Reds fan, I I would just say I’m not saying that you you don’t care about the game or the outcome. Of course, we all do. But I mean, you know, why why wouldn’t you want to be excited about tonight? Why wouldn’t you want to watch? Why what’s the point of being a fan is if the first time and how many ever years, and I know we can count 2020, but realistically speaking, the first time they’ve been in the postseason since 2013, uh, with a full regular season, why not get yourself in a spot where you feel good? And I personally, for whatever dumb reason, as much as I’ve put time, effort, and energy into this this franchise and this baseball team this year, I feel good. I feel like, you know what, why not? Why not go out there and just have fun and play loose and see what happens? Now, if the players don’t have that mindset, well, then I guess it doesn’t matter, but we’ll see ultimately what happens. I guess it’s probably a better question for uh your your co-host, Nick Kirby. What did what did Chatterbox Reds have in store for today? Uh well, we have a pregame show that’s going to go on at 8:30 and then we will obviously go live in the in the uh uh beginning of the game at 9:08, I think, is this official start time yet again. But, you know, with ESPN uh and the whole situation at hand, who knows really what happens. Don’t want to get into the fact that we switched over to WNBA coverage in the middle of me trying to watch a show Otani hit first inning and then he proceeds to hit a home run that I didn’t get to see. I get that they told me three, four, five times when my Well, first of all, my television’s muted because I’m doing a show, so I can’t hear it. I get relatively that they might have told everybody to switch over. But you mean to tell me that you couldn’t have just waited maybe four or five more minutes there and just cut it over in the middle of the commercial break? You just had to get to that WNBA coverage that quite frankly, I’ll say it, nobody really cared about at that time of day. Um, I don’t know what a dumb move by ESPN. So, we’re going to go live in the ninth and uh or we’re going to go live in the in the uh at 9:08, not the ninth, but at 9:08 or whenever the uh I guess first pitch is and then we’ll take it all the way through and then we’ll do the postgame show directly after the game like we always have and hopefully it’s a winning edition so we can find a way to do it again the following day. Yeah, I was uh I was watching the ESPN broadcast and you got to see a Raldis Chapman shut down the Yankees bases juiced three consecutive outs and then he goes straight into it and they’re like, “All right, here’s the Reds game.” And then show hey goes de like well that stinks. Uh so it it got that was probably cool to the national audience. Well it was really correct. It was it was it was pretty neat. If you’re a baseball fan that was pretty neat but uh as someone who was pulling for the Reds that was not what you wanted uh not what you wanted to see. Trace thanks so much for for hopping on today. Good luck to the Reds later on today. Chatterbox Reds. I they did a live show with the lineup yesterday. I don’t know if Craig and Kirby are doing that again. Um but you never know with Kirby. He he he just he’s a he’s a content machine. Yeah. He’s a grinder. The the guy might be working on some kind of extra edition show as we speak. Um but I’ll leave him be to that. He’s he’s he does quite literally um maybe more work for Chatterbox Reds than humanly possible. So um and he’s got like six kids. By six kids, maybe four, but you get the point. Four. Thanks so much, Trace, for for hopping on. All right, man. See reader.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, fresh off a commanding 10-5 rout of the Cincinnati Reds in Game 1, eye a series-clinching victory in Game 2 of their best-of-three NL Wild Card Series on Wednesday, October 1, at Dodger Stadium. The defending World Series champions, who finished 93-69 and captured the NL West, unleashed offensive fireworks Tuesday night, belting five home runs—including two from Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández—against a battered Reds pitching staff. Starter Hunter Greene surrendered three long balls in a brutal five-run first inning, while LA’s Blake Snell spun six scoreless frames before the bullpen wobbled, allowing three late Cincinnati runs on walks and a Tyler Stephenson RBI double.

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Now on the brink of elimination, the 83-79 Reds—making their first playoff appearance since 2020—must channel desperation. Trade-deadline pickup Zack Littell (2-0, 4.39 ERA in 10 starts) takes the hill for Cincinnati, facing a Dodgers lineup that torched him for three runs over 4.2 innings in August. Littell’s command will be key against LA’s stars: Ohtani (.282 BA, 55 HRs), Mookie Betts (.951 October OPS career), and Freddie Freeman, who added a solo shot in Game 1.

Countering is Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12-8, 2.49 ERA), LA’s ace-in-waiting, who dazzled in September with a 0.67 ERA over four starts and limited the Reds to one run in seven innings earlier this year. The Dodgers’ taxed bullpen—four arms used in a 59-pitch eighth Tuesday—offers Cincinnati a sliver of hope, but manager Dave Roberts can lean on fresh options like Evan Phillips or Roki Sasaki if needed.

Elly De La Cruz’s speed sparked Cincinnati’s late rally with a hustle double-play breaker, but the young phenom (22 HRs, 86 RBIs) must ignite earlier against Yamamoto’s splitter. For LA, a win propels them to the NLDS versus the Phillies; for the Reds, it’s force Game 3 or bust. Odds heavily favor the Dodgers (-250 moneyline), but October magic favors the bold—can Cincinnati’s fire upset the dynasty?

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