Must Keep Winning! Cincinnati Reds begin series at Washington Nationals LIVE MLB Pregame Chatterbox

Must Keep Winning! Cincinnati Reds begin series at Washington Nationals LIVE MLB Pregame Chatterbox

12 in a row. The oldest team in professional baseball has its fifth ever winning streak of a dozen straight. Our job every day is to try to kick somebody’s ass. I mean, that’s why we’re here. You don’t choose this life, it chooses you. Cincinnati Reds, heartbreaking hope in one jersey. Let’s talk about it. Every April starts fresh. We believe again. Young guns on the rise. Feeling hop in the wind. But by June we slipping. Watch the season decay. And by August I’m just praying we don’t fade away. They say next year. Man, I’ve heard that for life. Like a broken record echoing through Queen City nights. They trade our stars. Keep pinching those dimes. Rebuild on repeat like it’s stuck in rewind. Still I show up. Red hat on my dome. Walking in the GABP like it’s my home. Even when they lose, I ain’t losing my soul. Cuz this team, this pain, it’s what makes me whole. Yeah, it sucks to be a Reds fan. I won’t lie, but I stay loyal. Even when the hope runs dry. From Dorado, from Ellie to Mlan, I’ll be in that crowd singing through the rain. You can laugh, you can joke, you can call us curs, but I wear that red proud for better or worse. I don’t switch, I don’t quit, I don’t hang my head, cuz I’m red till I’m dead. Red till I’m dead. I remember Griffy and Center, that sweet left swing. Back when the city thought we might win a ring. Now it’s budget ball. Cut corners, trim hopes, selling dreams every season like it’s part of the joke. But this ain’t just baseball, it’s bloodline deep. My granddad wore red, now it’s passed down to me. Through the highs, through the lows, we still in the fight. We don’t chase easy, we built for night. I seen heartbreak and nings flat. I seen a no hit or wasted. Yeah, imagine that. But we keep riding. We don’t turn away. Since he faithful stay loud even when skies gray. Yeah, it sucks to be a Reds fan. That’s real. But I’d rather hurt with pride than fake what I feel. They don’t get it. This pain, this pride is the reason we show up. Even when dreams die. Laugh now, will rise when it’s least expected. Cuz loyalty like this can’t be neglected. I don’t switch. I don’t quit. I don’t hang my head. Cuz I’m red till I’m dead. Red till I’m dead. R E D S. Yeah, we go through stress, but we love this team. Through the winds, through the mess. From the bleaches to the streets. It’s a city that reps. Ain’t no love like this. No regrets, no steps. You ever love something that keeps letting you down. Still standing tall while the world calls you a clown. That’s Red’s life is scars and pride. It’s the fire in our chest that never dies. So keep the fake fans. We don’t need your cheers. We’ve been riding in the dark for a hundred years. And when the day comes that we rise again, we’ll remember who stayed, not just who pretend. Yeah, it sucks to be a Reds fan, but I ain’t ashamed. This love runs deeper than just wins in a game. No matter the record, the losses the spread. I’m dead. Yeah, I’m dead. [Music] Deep center field going back at the learning track. It’s gone. Joey B is delivered. What’s up, Reds fans? Welcome in to the Chatterbox Reds pregame show for today’s game against the Washington Nationals. Today is July 21st, 2025. Got another big series coming and I’m Mike and with me is somebody that knows that the Reds have signed all of their first round draft picks here in the past couple years unlike the Bengals. And uh we celebrate that here today. So uh Ricky, how are you doing today? Doing pretty well. And we got him under slot value. So it’s a win win win. I know for a high school guy. Who would have thought? But that’s enough. That’s enough Red’s draft pick. We got a game here for um uh uh today. The Reds obviously coming off of a a big series win against the New York Mets in New York. Now they head down the coast to the Washington Nationals to our nation’s capital. Um yeah, we got a big series here against a team that is really scuffling. Um so far, let me read off a little bit of uh stats about the Nationals. Uh two-10 in their last 12, fired their manager and GM two weeks before the draft, which they had the number one draft pick. Uh they are five and 14 against the NL Central. So this is a team they’re last in their division and that includes the Marlins and the Braves who are struggling. So that is they have really been scuffling. They just lost two out of three to the Padres’s. However, earlier this year they went uh they took two out of three from the Reds in Cincinnati. So that’s not great. Uh and the Reds are actually three and nine in their last 12 games against the Reds and have lost three of the last four series. In fact, last year the the Mets basically ended the Reds season by sweeping them out of the All-Star break. So, all that being said, Ricky, how are you feeling about this series coming up against the Washington Nationals? I feel a little bit better compared to the first time. Uh, the Nationals aren’t very good at home. They’re 19 and 39. Uh, 19 and 30 at home this year. And 19 and 39 verse teams that are above 500. If I remember, I think we were below 500 the first time we played them or really close to 500. So, uh, maybe we’re just playing to the stats there. And uh yeah, like they they fire their manager like you said, former Red Miguel Cairo as their new interimm manager. So, a lot of young guys, a lot of guys have made their uh major league debut since the last time we saw them. So, it’s a different team and I feel pretty good uh going against uh Jake Irvin today. Yeah, let’s hope so. Um we could talk a little bit about uh this lineup, but specifically there is an absence. Uh, we still see we have a right-handed pitcher that we’re going up against, Jake Irvin, like you mentioned, and there’s still no Will Benson in the lineup. So, um, couple thoughts on this. I figured we’d chat about it in what we, uh, in some of this time we have. Um, we see Jake Frillian right now. Obviously, Jake Frill has been hot. He went I think four for five or something like that in game two of the of the series, the um, Mets series. But, um, no, Benson. Uh, do you have any thoughts on why we might not be seeing Will Benson here? Is it just he’s in the doghouse or uh what are your thoughts on why uh we see keep seeing Freley out there instead of Will Benson? Yeah, I mean I think the popular notion is that he’s in the doghouse just based off of uh Tito’s comments after he really showed up that triple against Colorado. But he also won us the game and he won us the game but it granted I know that. Um, but he’s also has been struggling here lately. Uh, in his last 15 games, he’s batting .245, 245 on base. He does have two home runs, but in his last 30 games, he’s only batting 200 with 329 slug and 255 on base. So, he’s had his moments where he’s really, you know, pulled us through. But, he’s also been pretty fairly inconsistent. But, I agree with you. I think now’s the time where you say, “Hey, we need Will Benson in the lineup. He needs to face a righty and get get us going again.” Yeah. Uh the upside power-wise at least, you know, Will Benson just hits missiles even when his outs are like 100 mph balls to the second base or something like that. So, I I’m I’m with you. I I have, you know, we obviously don’t know everything. They don’t always tell us what’s going on. You never know. Maybe Benson is nursing something as well. there there’s just like people deal with injuries. I know we just had the All-Star break. You would think that that would have helped him get healthy, but you you never know. There may be some version of it where he’s healthy enough to go out and and maybe play a couple innings of defense or or get pinch hit, but you don’t want him playing the whole game. I don’t know if that’s the case, but you just got to keep that as uh just like Pagan and and Ashgraph were down last night even though they were there. Uh you never know. Um, but I what I think more likely than not is I I think they maybe just are showcasing Jake Freillley for a potential trade. Um, you know, Benson and Freillley, to be honest, are pretty redundant in what they do. They are, you know, only hit against right-handed pitching, do pretty well against right-handed pitching, play defense in the basically the same position. And um if we are going to be bringing in a right-handed bat to try to hit left-handed pitching, I could totally see how maybe in the process of buying and selling, they’re able to sell Freely while bringing in somebody uh who can hit left-handed pitching and have that just be your straight platoon out in in right field, right? Somebody uh I we keep saying Rob Reed, but it doesn’t look like the the Red Sox are going to sell. So that’s maybe not something that you would expect, but you know, maybe that’s has something to do it as we get further on in the season, you maybe would see more Will Benson there if that’s what they choose to do is and send off Jake Fra. Nick had mentioned earlier too that he’s a prime DFA candidate at the end of the year just because of how expensive he’s getting and and like I said earlier, how redundant he is with somebody like Will Benson. So, it may be interesting to see whether or not he gets especially if he kind of goes on a little bit of a tear here if we could do something, you know, uh who uh Tyler Nquin, right? He was somebody who we sold for Hector Rodriguez. Am I right? Yeah. Who is now in AAA and top 11 prospect? Top 11 prospect in the system. So, you never know. Sometimes you are able to send guys like this out with a for a lottery ticket that that hits. So, you never know. I the the hard part about it is it’s just like we we have to win these games, right? These are games. These are basically must-win games. It feels like, right, if we’re going to be buyers at the deadline, we need to win these games. And, you know, an argument could be made that uh Benson gives you the higher upside for um for winning these games now. So, you never know. Uh we’ll see how the game ends up shaking out. may not end up mattering, but and the other argument is you got two spots that you can place him, right? You can put him in right field, but you can also DH him, right? Gavin Lux is your other lefty bat, and you know, granted, he’s been good this year, uh, given a professional at bat, making sure he’s, you know, drawing walks and getting on base, but he hasn’t been recently. So it, you know, continuing to throw, you know, I could see what Benson in either one of those spots and the fact that Lux is out there means he’s probably got a little bit more leach leash, but um, you know, it’s, you know, Lux and Benson seem to be struggling. So, we we’ll see. I would love for Benson to kind of be given the reigns to get hot. Um, but we’ll see. Maybe he’s maybe he’s got an idea of bringing him off the bench as a super sub pinch hitter. Who knows? Um, but you know, either way, this is the lineup that we’ve been given and unfortunately I wish we had some better options, but you know, Lux or Benson to me is, you know, it’s kind of a toss up toss up for me based on how they’re both performing as of right now. Yeah, I agree. And I guess to kind of talk about Freley a little bit, in his last 15 games, he’s batting 368 with a 526 slug and 429 on base. So, he’s he’s done well. Um, and I think maybe they are showcasing him. And then, uh, David Bloom in the chat, uh, said, “Remember Freilene needs offseason surgery on his labum, too. So, that could potentially hamper his trade value as well.” So, I I don’t know, man. It’s tough. Um, it’s hard to justify keeping both of them because they both kind of do the same thing like you said. But, um, if I’m picking one, I’m picking Benson just b off one his age and two, his power potential. Yeah, I agree. I agree. Uh I don’t think a WTI trader says that still being punished. I don’t think that that’s the case. I don’t think he’s still being punished. I think this is just hey, you know, uh you he’s been struggling and so he’s going with the hot hand, Jake Frillley, who seems to not be at the moment. And whether or not there is any level of we could trade him, we’d want to showcase him, I think that maybe plays into the calculus a little bit. But, you know, uh you know, I we’ll see. We’ll see. Hopefully Jake Freley goes and rakes and then uh Will Benson comes in and hits a hits a a monster pinch hit home run as well. And you know, all will be well in the world. Um before we get into the specific lineup, I actually want to play one quick game with you. Um, I’m springing to this to you late, but the the the game is going to be who on the Nats roster would you want on the Red’s roster? And I don’t mean just like, well, of course I’d like James Wood on this roster, right? Uh, I mean who from the Nationals who are going to be sellers, would you want to trade for? So, who is your, you know, looking at what you’ve done, having done the research, who would you like to see if the Reds could pull a deal with the Nationals? All right, I got two and they’re both relievers. Um, okay. Andrew Chaffen, uh, he’s on the Nationals. He is on the national guy with his huge mustache. Yeah, he’s, uh, he’s 35. Uh, he is a lefty, and he’s got a 2.76 ERA, uh, 1.59 whip, um, 16 strikeouts. Trying to find his walk numbers. In his last seven games, a 1.50 50 RA in six innings, four hits, no walks, two strikeouts. That’s a 67 whip. Um, he’s won. And then I think the more obvious one too would be like Kyle Finnegan, their uh is he their closer right now. Yeah. So he’s kind of struggling a little bit this year. He’s at a 425 erra, but overall um he has given up only three home runs this season. He has walked some guys. guys. He got 13 walks with 29 strikeouts to 1.28 28 whip. But I think if you throw him in like a non-closer role and you can have him as well as hopefully take some stress off of uh Tony Santon and a little stress off Pagon, I think. Or even Barlo, right? Barlo has been used to the moon here. Yeah. And if you could take the stress off of them and then you could have a healthier, stronger bullpen hopefully towards a playoff run. Yeah. Yeah. I like Andrew Chaffin, too. He was a big acquisition, I think, or a big trade target that people were talking about last year at the deadline. I think he’s been hurt a little bit. Um, but I think we can all agree that he would be an upgrade from uh Rogers, right? Uh I just I think the Rogers experiment seemed to be over. Um, my my dude is actually sitting on their bench this this uh this evening because he hits left-handed pitching and we’re throwing a right-handed pitcher. Uh, his name’s Alex Call. Um, uh, Alex Wallace actually brought it up in our in my previous pregame show, but this year he’s batten 349 with a 148 WRC plus and an 886 OPS for his left-handed pitching. Now, obviously that’s still a small sample size. He’s a bench guy that you know, but his career, he’s got a 270 average with a 115 W wrc plus. Uh you take him and you have him straight platoon only bet against uh left-handed pitching. The dude’s 30. He still has two options and like he plays pretty good right field defense. I can’t imagine the asking price is very high for some like this has got a a Nick Crawl move written all over it. like somebody who it’s just like a who everyone has to Google who this dude is and if if you’re listening today you you won’t have to Google because I’ll told you about him but it’s just like somebody who it’s like he he went to Ball State you know somebody relatively local I would imagine you know familiar with the area um somebody that I don’t think you’d have to give up much at all to get and um and yeah could fill a need and potentially be on this team again next year. So that’s my that’s it’s not not the go auhaneo Suarez move. It’s not a huge huge move there but it’s something that I think I mean you just straight switch him with with Joe Conor Joe like he’s just doing what Connor Joe is supposed to do just way better you know you send Connor Joe down you bring this guy up and you move you move move on you know so uh that’s my that’s my uh person that I’d like from it. Who knows? Uh maybe he’s available, maybe he’s not. But um we will see. Um before we get into the lineup, I’d like to remind everyone, please like the stream. It really helps us. We thank you very much for coming and being here and adding to the chat. It’s really cool. But if you’re stopping in, please like the stream stream, subscribe. It really helps us. Uh gets us in front of even more eyes. Um I know that a lot is going on this year, but these are some really tense and important games for the Reds coming up to the uh trade deadline. So could use all the support uh we can get. We appreciate that. Why don’t we go through the lineup here, Ricky, and uh talk about if there’s anything anything that sticks out to you about it or uh the matchup against Jake Irvin? Yeah, we have TJ Friedel uh his usual main stay leading off playing center fields. Uh Matt Mlan second base batting in the two-hole. Elliot de La Cruz at shortstop batting third. Austin Hayes uh really big series against the Mets u with the two home run game on Saturday, I believe. Uh Gavin Lux, like you said, hasn’t been great here lately, but maybe he could turn it around in this series. Uh Spencer Steer at first base. Noelie Marte actually back at third base today after the experiment in the outfield. I think he did pretty well. Uh didn’t have a a ton of balls hit towards him, but uh he had a pretty good throw to home that looked pretty, you know, good for a first timer. And uh Jake Freley, like we mentioned earlier, starting in right field. and Jose Trovinho getting the start over Tyler Stevenson at catcher batting ninth. Yeah. Uh I that’s great. Just just for a Jacob Doyle said, “Hey, a hitter with team control.” Uh Alex Call would be under team control for the next four years. So with two options. So that that would fall into that that spot. Um we talked about it earlier. No Benson in here uh making way for Jake Frillley, but is there anybody else that uh sticks out to you as uh you know maybe something to to watch for that we would be able to see with Jake Irvin? How have they fared against Jake Irvin? Yeah, I have some uh active Reds stats first them. Uh TJ Fredel is three for six with the home run. No Mart is one for three with the home run. He hit a home run off of him the last on this exact day last year against Jake Irvin. Hit him and Steuart Fairchild both did. Interesting. Ellie de la Cruz is four for 11 with two extra base hits. Jake Freley’s four for eight. Gavin Lux is two for five. Will Benson two for nine with a double. Spencer Seir two for seven. Matt Mlan 0 for five. Tyler Stevenson one for four. Yeah, that’s interesting. Yeah. Hopefully, you know, that seems that seems good. I’m looking at I I think they faced him two times last year. He went seven or let’s see or no last his yeah he gave up two runs on five hits but he went seven innings had seven strikeouts this time last year. So um his last outing against Milwaukee gave up three runs but they were all unearned and only five innings. So, you know, it’s one of those things where this is a pretty mediocre pitcher, right? If we can work some work the count, get a few runs off of him, and then um get to their bullpen, which we’ll get to is quite bad. Uh you know, I really like how we can do um how we would, you know, I like our chances in being able to do this. It would be great if we could really get to him quickly, but yeah, I think uh they have a chance to really do something special here. Um, let’s move to Washington really quickly. Uh, they’re they’re Oh, well, I guess let’s talk about Brady Singer first. Brady Singer last start, six in a third inning, seven hits, three earned runs, nine strikeouts against the Rockies, that was at home. The nine strikeouts I think has more to do with the Rockies and less to do with Brady Singer. But, um, what are your thoughts and what do you think we need to get from Brady Singer tonight? Uh, you know, with a with a good amount of rest, right? Uh, coming out of the All-Star break here, what do you think we need? Yeah, I think we just need him to be consistently throwing strikes. Uh like we saw in his last start and if he’s not walking guys, he’s striking guys out and he obviously it was Colorado, but um he’s had some starts earlier in the season where he’s striking guys out. I think his first start of the season uh what do you have nine strikeouts or eight strikeouts in that game too against Texas? We put up 14 runs that helped. But yeah, this is his first uh career start uh at Nationals Park and his second start versus the Nationals. Um they have relative success against him. They’re batting 208 against him, but uh Nathaniel Lo 3 for13 with the home run. Ahmed Rosario’s three for 15. The Young is two for six with the home run. Uh Bell’s two for seven, but he’s just been crushing the Reds his entire career. Yeah. Uh Garcia is 0 for three and then CJ Abrams and Call are both 0 for two. Yeah. And I guess that that dubtales us into their lineup to be honest. Like you got two people that scare you, right? It’s just like don’t let CJ Abrams and James Wood beat you. Everybody else like it feels like you can you can get some outs there. So I don’t know if that means pitching around them. I but it’s just like hey there’s some very clear ways to to beat this team and it’s don’t let the top two beat you. So I would imagine that you know bullpen wise they’ll be geared up. As you can see there’s a lot of lefties up at the top of the lineup. So um they’ve actually not hit lefties too terribly. Abrams and Wood don’t have awful splits, but I would imagine you see Mole play some pivotal pitch some pivotal headings here in this game or in this series because of just kind of their best two pitcher or hitters being left-handed and, you know, needing to get really they’re the only ones that you really feel scared of in this process. Um, we get to see old friend Ahmed Rosario back. Uh, who is not having a great not having a great season to be honest. And we’ll get to it defensively. He is shockingly bad. It is it is shocking at how bad he is defensively. So, um, but, uh, yeah, it’s, uh, it’s one of those things where, you know, let’s just let’s just go out and, um, I can see him getting through. This is the type of lineup that you need somebody like Brady Singer to just like let’s go six or seven, maybe give up one or two runs and, you know, make it be just like an uneventful uh evening on the pitching side. Just like get into a groove and and pitch pretty well. Yeah, I think the the one player that scares me the most on this team right now is Josh Bell. Uh career 277, 14 home runs, 47 RBI’s, and 44 runs scored in 88 games. versus the Reds throughout his career. So, he’s just been a Red’s killer betting 277. So, if they could avoid him and James Wood, those two just are just crazy. Uh James Wood had that good performance in the home run derby. He hit like almost 500 feet. It was like 476 feet or something. He’s just extremely talented and huge. And uh Brady House uh he’s a bigger kid for a third baseman. He’s like 6’4. Uh he looks like a slugger. He just he he’s not very good at catching up to the velocity yet. Uh hopefully we can keep that and keep him intact. But yeah, uh Josh Bell is like my guy I’m really keying in on and making sure we could avoid him. Yeah, for sure. For sure. I see some some um some chatter going on down there about uh Stuart Fairchild, our uh you know, the guy we traded for cast considerations just got DFAD. Um, you know, he has filled the role recently of being somebody who, uh, hits left-handed pitching. Uh, I would imagine they might be able to bring him in on a minor league deal. Was that something you’d like to see? I can’t I don’t see the the downside there. I don’t see a downside. I I don’t want him on the major league roster. If you can get him on a minor league deal, yeah, I I’m I’m okay with it. Yeah, we’ll see. I don’t know. Uh I I have no idea how he’s been doing this year. So he could Yeah, I was gonna say he could be doing terribly. But um you know, with his track record, it would I would imagine that uh that you know, it’s it’s worth a dart throw. You know, let him go tear up Triple A and see. But, you know, the the problem is I don’t want them to get Stuart Fairch and be like, “Look, we did it. We we went to go get some stuff to help out against left-handed pitching.” like that can’t be the that cannot be the answer. Uh I think it’s an interesting dart throw, but I I in no way want that to be their solution. So, uh um I yeah, that’s kind of where I stand on Fairchild. It doesn’t doesn’t really move the meter too much for me, uh to be honest. All right, let’s talk about the pitching path to victory. Um this bullpen has been was kind of taxed. I know we won the we won the series, but you know, we had a lot of relievers pitching a lot of high leverage events cuz all three of those games were very very close. So, it looks like Santiana’s pitched two days in a row. He is probably down, I would imagine. Um, but Pagan Ashcraft didn’t pitch, so they’re probably good to go uh for some version of the seventh or eighth. Um, uh, let’s see. Sudter went and pitched a couple innings, but I would imagine he might be available if like in a pinch, but I noticed they like to try to keep Sudter available to go on um Chase Burns nights because right, if you think about it, like Chase Burns throws 100 from the right side and uh Sudter throws 89 from the left side. You couldn’t have more of a difference, right? So if Chase Burns goes short, which he has done in the past, right, and only gets a couple innings out of there, you can feel good ringing Sudter in to maybe at least give you two innings. So um I, you know, that makes me think that maybe we won’t see Sudter tonight, but who knows? He’s been somebody who’s been very consistent for us and willing to go at about any time. So um we’ll see. We’ll see. Um their bullpen, they actually just got blown out. Mackenzie Gore got crushed by uh the Padres. So uh I think they have at least two guys that are like surely not available. Uh Jackson Rutled pitched 54 pitches last night. Uh Audrey Laura 41 pitches and then Cole Henry 15 40 in the last three days. So, I would imagine those two are not at least Rutled and Laura are not even they’re they’re they may as well not even come to the ballpark today, you know, like they’re not getting in this game. Now, uh we have seen uh Andrew Chaffin, it looks like he’s only gotten five pitches in the past week or so or I guess since since five pitches since the um All-Star break started. So, he might be somebody, especially with the Red’s proclivity against left-handed pitching. So, we’ll see that. And then um so we’ll see their B it would be great if we could really get to Jake Irvin early and get them to the bullpen because it seems like their bullpen is kind of at the same spot where it’s like they’ve been pitching a lot. I think on Friday everyone in their bullpen except for Laura Lara pitched. So it’s like they they have been using it a bunch as well and you know it would be great to really blow their bullpen up to go into this series. But we need to win. We need to at least take two out of three probably. you know, we really would like to sweep this this po this this team that’s not very good. Just go in there and treat them like the Rockies and and get the job done. Um that one one note about their bullpen. Their bullpen is last in the league with a five 81 RA. So that’s another reason you want to get to the bullpen that it’s bad. It’s been bad. It was the worst in the league when we played him earlier this year. Still the worst in the league. Um, so what are your thoughts on on what we can do to try to get to um get to the nationals? Yeah, I just think we need to be aggressive. Um, I was looking at some of uh Jake Irvin’s numbers and he uh he only throws about 92 93 on average as his first fast ball. He had Tommy John surgery. He didn’t pitch a game in 2020 or 2021. Um he has a four seam fast ball, curveball, sinker, change up slider, and a cutter. Um, if we could just be aggressive and, you know, lay off the curveball because he throws the curveball almost as much as he does the fast ball. Um, if we could be aggressive on the fast ball and lay off the curve ball, I think that, um, especially a guy like Ellie who has been hitting breaking ball pitches pretty well. And Marte, who when he hits the ball the other way, um, he can really do some damage, uh, getting on base and getting extra bases. And uh yeah, I just think that if we could be aggressive, get to their bullpen, and if we can get to their bullpen with either a tie game or a lead, I really like our chances with that. And uh our bullpen, uh I wanted to touch on uh Ashcraft’s only thrown 16 pitches. Uh so he’s probably one of the more guys more ready. And Sam Maul threw 22 pitches on Friday and hasn’t pitched since. So, I feel like those two guys could be like more of the more necessity guys today with Santion throwing 31 pitches in his last two games. Yeah. No, I I agree with you there. Um, you know what? I really Carrie brings up a good point. Uh, she’s just like, you know, we got Tampa Bay and Los Angeles. Here we go. Yeah. Just hope we get long innings. Save up for Tampa Bay and and the Dodgers. Like I’m glad we got wins, but boy, they were all close. It would be really nice to just kind of beat this bad team and beat them good and beat them early, you know? So, we can just have some games where it’s like, hey, you know, we don’t have to pitch bean. We don’t have to pitch Santion, you know, and we can have we we aren’t continuing just like picking up where we left off having just a ton of high leverage endings for our bullpen. Obviously, we want to try to get some bullpen help, and I think we probably will if we buy. But like, man, can we just have a game where we win 6-1? You know, can we have a game where we win 52? I guess 52 is still kind of Pagan still pitching 23 to one. Yeah, seven seven to two or something like that where it’s just like, yeah, let’s just, you know, let’s get let’s It’s a comfortable win. Uh, you know, we bring Rogers in and he walks a couple guys, but even if he gives up a run, it’s it’s a little okay. You’re not stressing over it. Uh, yeah, we’re not stressing over it. Um, we know his time is numbered anyway here or his Yeah, his days are numbered here in Cincinnati. So, um, yeah, I just Can we get that, please? Can we get that out of our That would just be It would be great. Tee off and and offense gives the bullpen a much needed day. I know we got a day off before the Tampa Bay series, so we’ll be able to do that. But it’s just like, man, it just feels like we’re we’re really starting to coming out of the gate. We’re winning games, but we’re really revving the engine. And you know, we got to make it all the way to October as well if we’re going to make it in there. So, um, we’ll see. We’ll see. Um, the weather, you have what the weather’s looking like today? I don’t know. We’re going a little long here. Probably don’t It’s a little hot. It’s a little windy. Could Yeah. Yeah. All right, that works. That works. Um, NL Central rundown. I know the Brewers and the Cubs are now tied up at top the NL Central, but they’re also It’s one of those where uh they’re the best team. They’re the best record in the NL, which is nuts. Brewers are on a 10 wins 10 win. It’s just it’s just really tough to get any ground here. But any other updates from the NL Central, Ricky? Yeah, we got uh Cubs playing at Wrigley night game tonight. Uh, and then the Brewers take on Seattle in Seattle. Cardinals are taking on Colorado in Colorado. So hopefully they don’t get hot. And then the Pirates have lost nine out of their last 10. And they’re in 39 to 61. Just got swept by the White Socks, right? Yeah, they they got the White Socks swept the team before the Reds got swept this year. Who would have thought that? I know. I know. That’s the one thing that’s been the saving grace is that the Reds somehow can’t get swept. So, let’s hope that that continues. Um uh before we get into our crystal ball section of the game, I just wanted to bring up the Chatterbox Reds night. Uh the 29th of July. I think Ricky, you and I are both going to be there, right? Yeah. Yeah. Going to Smoke Justice. Uh we’ll be there. Uh come say hi. We’ll go into the game as well. I’m super excited for it. Let’s pack out that Smoke Justice, a new sponsor. It’d be awesome to see that place just super I It’s crazy to me how big of a reach Chatterbox seems to have. you know, I’ve had people be like, “Hey, I I saw you on on YouTube. What’s going on here?” And it’s just like, “Oh, somebody that I didn’t even know follows this type of thing, which is pretty cool.” So, um, yeah, it’ be awesome to meet you all in person, all the especially the people that, you know, chat a bunch. That’s a that’s it’s it’s awesome to see. So, we really appreciate. So, come on down for that. It should be a fun time. Hopefully, we’re beating the Dodgers and celebrating the fact that uh we’ve made some some big buying trades at the deadline here, too. And first 50 guests there get a free t-shirt. Oh yeah, first 50 guests get a free Chatterbox t-shirt. So that’d be really sweet to to have. Um uh yeah, would love to be able to see you guys down there. Yeah, we are real real people. We’re not robots. We have uh that sit behind our screen. So um all right, I’ve stalled enough for you, Ricky. Um oh, actually, let’s do our what to watch for. What’s your what to watch for? I know we don’t have Friday night candies anymore and it’s only Monday, but we need we need something funny from you. I got a couple. Um Spencer Steer has recorded at least one single in each of the Red’s last six games as road favorites against National League opponents. All right, that’s that’s good. Austin Hayes has recorded at least one RBI in four of the last four of the Red’s last five games as favorites. Okay. And Ellie de la Cruz has recorded at least one hit in each of the Red’s last seven roads games in Washington DC. Oh, so he likes the capital. He likes the the nation’s capital there. All right. Well, let’s hope that that continues. Um before we get to my what to watch for, I have one more thing. Please like the stream. I know I’ve said it before, but you know, we got a lot of people in there and it it’s it’s awesome when you guys like the stream and do your part to help the Reds win because we know likes equals wins. All right. So, my my uh what to watch for is actually for the Washington Nationals, and it’s their defense. Uh the Washington Nationals infield defense is horrendous. Uh and I actually figured this out. I I found this out one time, uh I don’t know if you remember a couple, I guess maybe a month ago now, I did that show with Nick where we talked about potential uh trades and one of them was a Washington pitcher because their defense, infield defense is so hilariously bad. Um, so I’ve got up here their the infield positions. So their first baseman have a negative four outs above average, negative4 defensive run save and a negative9 defensive war. Their second baseman have a negative n outs above average, a negative 20 defensive run saved and a negative 6.1 defensive war. Uh, their shorts stop have a negative -4 outs above average, negative5 defensive run saved and zero dwar. So, hey, one stat thinks that they’re all right. Um, and then third base, uh, has a negative -7 outs above average, negative3 defensive runs saved, and negative 1.9 dwar. So, uh, that’s last for almost every category at each position. It’s historically bad. Um, and so I guess what does that mean? What does that what does that like? How do the Reds deal with that? I think the important thing is, you know, negative 20 defensive runs saved to second base. I know a lot of right-handed pitchers that have or right-handed batters that have been really working on going the other way. I wouldn’t stop that. You know, let’s keep let’s keep punching a few through the the right side. Um, so it doesn’t matter which I know defensive metrics are hotly debated, but you know, all of them are bad. Uh, kind of means that maybe maybe they you know, there’s something to it here. You know, I got a funny stat for you for that. Uh, if I if I would have told you that the Reds had more errors in the last series versus Washington, would you believe me? Yeah, I know. That’s crazy. Yeah, the Reds had three errors and the Nationals had one error in the last series. Well, the thing about these defensive Yeah, Errors aren’t the errors aren’t everything for it, but yeah, it’s this is bad. And one of the main uh the the two worst are Ahmed Rosario, uh who I believe is is just like negative tons of everything no matter what position he plays. Like, he’s played short, third, and second. He’s just awful at all of them. Um, so I guess put the ball in play, boys. You know, uh, you know, put the ball in play. You never know. Um, it seems like their range is bad. They they don’t feel the ball very well. And, um, uh, you know, that’s what happens sometimes when you’re on a team that’s bad. It’s just like you lose focus there. So, let’s hope let’s hope that, you know, we’re able to take advantage of this historically bad uh, defense and then, conversely, play good defense against uh, against them. Um, I think in these games that you absolutely need to win, like you gotta you got to play good defense, you gotta have good situational hitting, you got to have good base running. These things, it’s just like when you got to win, you need to take advantage in every aspect of the game. So hopefully the Reds are able to do that as well as hit the ball hard and hit the ball out of the ballpark. So, um, hopefully hopefully we’ll be able to see that. Um, all right, let’s start getting some of these predictions. throw your We’ve We’ve We’ve got a lot of people that have already put their predictions in the chat. We really appreciate that. Um we got uh Lance George 14 to four reds. I love that. We have nine three reds Carrie. Uh you know, these are all great. I’m sitting on my couch being like, “Thank goodness. A nice easy night.” Nick, the only thing he’ll be able to be mad at at the postgame show is that it was a 645 start instead of the 710 start. Uh, just nothing to be angry about. Um, Red Hot Podcast 100 to one. Boy, I’ll take 10 to one, but 100 to one. Yeah, you know, Rogers feeling himself on that one. Yeah, I know. Bringing the bring in the pain. Uh, Red 73. Daryl Marorrow. I think um, you know, once again, that one they probably still bring Pagan in. Let’s just hope we can get out of slam range is usually where um, Tito likes to not bring in Pagan. We got 83 Reds from Jacob Doyle. All these great. I’m glad the we got red’s winning. Red 62 WTI trader. Um, you know, would love all of these. Optimistic John living up to his name. 4-1 Reds. Hopefully, I like the hopefully. I know. Yeah. Optimistic John adding the hopefully in there. We appreciate that. Uh, 4-1 Reds from Dog Pound. These are all great. We love these. Keep them coming. Um, all right, Ricky, what’s your prediction here? How how many Reds? How how much are the Reds going to win by? All right. Um I’m going to tie it back into my what to watch for. And I think that Ellie’s going to get on base. Hayes is going to drive him in. Marte is going to hit a home run tonight. And that’s going to be three runs. I think we’re going to get three more. It’s going to be six to two Reds. 6-2 Reds. Didn’t somebody already predict that? Yeah, WTI already said seven. Seven to two. All right. We had a seven to three, but no seven to two. 17. So, all right, you’re in there. Okay, my prediction, my prediction is that the bats come out early. We drop a five spot on him in the first inning. We get into their bullpen and Brady Singer gives us a cool seven innings with one run. Um, four strikeouts, not crazy, but just, you know, was limiting the hard hit balls and getting soft contact all night. And so the Reds win um 821 is my is mine. Uh get that in there and they uh nice cool easy victory that we’d be able to do that. Um and see see and maybe maybe we can work have uh Nick Crawl work out a deal for Alex call while we’re in Washington and we leave with swamp dugouts. Yeah. Just like hey come on over. You’re on our team now. Um so yeah um once again thank you everyone. We appreciate all the people that have are in here chatting. We appreciate the discourse. Please like the stream. Um, you know, this is we we’re lucky we get to these are games that matter. Uh, I I know that’s what Cincinnati’s been clamoring for. And I know we wish that we were watching games that matter in September, right? But like we get to, you know, these games for us, at least the wa the viewers, you know, at least for me, have some real heightened excitement to them, right? It’s like we we got to win. like we can’t be dropping games to Washington at this series. So, it’s like let’s do it. Like we get some high stakes baseball that’s going to, you know, if if we go out and win and I the the highs feel higher, but the lows will feel lower. So, this is what we’ve been asking for. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get out of here with a either two out of three or or a sweep and we can uh you know, we can be riding high as we come back to um Cincinnati. Yeah, this is a pivotal series if you if you really look at like who the Cubs are playing and who Milwaukeee’s playing. Uh Chicago is playing a really good uh I forget who they’re playing. Uh Milwauke Milwaukee, they’ve won 10 in a row, right? They’re playing Seattle and Seattle. Seattle is they’re right up there wins-wise. They got 53 wins, 46 losses. They’ve been pretty good this season. Cal Raleigh is like just destroying the baseball. So if if if if we can take two out of three and then the Cubs and the and the Cubs take on the Royals. So if the Cubs go out and drop two out of three and then, you know, Milwaukee cools down, you know, we’re only seven and a half games out of the division, you know, and we’re in July. It’s not like we’re in September saying this. Uh so like anything could happen. You want to get hot. So if if this team could get hot at the right time going into the trade deadline, you go in potentially add offense and relief pitching. I mean, anything could happen. Stranger things have happened. Look, look at Detroit last year. Mhm. Yeah. And for those who like scoreboard watching, the Cardinals are in Colorado. So they got the Rockies, the worst team in the league. So, the um the Padres’s are at the Marlins, also a very poor team, and the Giants are at the Braves. So, you know, I think we got a win uh to keep pace here. We’re going to have to keep winning because uh it seems like there’s a lot of wins out there for the people that we’re chasing. So, hopefully we can get a win. Nick and Trace will be on in the post game tonight. hopefully very happy and excited about uh Noelvi Marte’s three home run game or whatever. Um uh but hopefully we’ll be able to go and and and get the win here. Um that’s all I have for tonight. Thank you again everyone for joining us. Uh sit down, enjoy the Reds, ex enjoy these games that matter more it feels like to these fans and you know and just enjoy and hopefully we’ll be able to come victorious. So if you got anything else Ricky, hit me with a go reds. Go Reds. Heat up

Join Ricky Logan and Mike Hart at 5:30 pm ET as they preview the Cincinnati Reds at the Washington Nationals.

On July 21, 2025, the Cincinnati Reds (52-48) face the Washington Nationals (39-60) in the opener of a three-game series at Nationals Park, set for 6:45 PM ET. This matchup pits a Reds team fighting for a National League Central edge against a Nationals squad looking to play spoiler as the trade deadline looms. With both teams showcasing young talent and contrasting fortunes, this game promises intrigue.

Reds’ Outlook:
The Reds, sitting third in the NL Central, are coming off a series win against the New York Mets, taking two of three games. Their offense, led by superstar Elly De La Cruz (.280 BA, 18 HR, 64 RBI), remains dynamic, ranking 11th in runs scored (456) and 17th in batting average (.246). De La Cruz’s speed and power make him a game-changer, while TJ Friedl (.270 BA, 9 HR) adds consistency. On the mound, Brady Singer (7-7, 4.32 ERA) takes the ball, having allowed two or fewer runs in seven of his last ten starts, showcasing reliability despite a recent 3-2 loss to the Mets. The Reds’ pitching staff holds a 3.91 ERA (17th in MLB), with a strong 1.24 WHIP, bolstered by a bullpen with 23 saves and 59 holds. However, injuries to key players like Julian Aguiar (Tommy John) and Brandon Williamson (elbow) strain their depth. Cincinnati’s 4-1 record in their last five games signals momentum, and their -125 moneyline odds reflect a 55.6% implied win probability.

Nationals’ Outlook:
The Nationals, struggling at 39-60, are mired in a rebuild, having lost four straight series, including a recent defeat to the San Diego Padres. Their offense ranks low, batting .245 (18th) and averaging just 3 runs per game over their last nine contests, with a .215 average in that span. James Wood and CJ Abrams lead a young core, but injuries to Dylan Crews (oblique), Paul DeJong (fractured nose), and others hamper their lineup. Jake Irvin (7-5, 4.58 ERA) starts for Washington, but he’s struggled, allowing three or more runs in seven of his last ten outings. The Nationals’ pitching is a weak point, with a 5.21 ERA (28th) and a 1.406 WHIP, worsened by a bullpen with a 5.81 ERA, the worst in MLB. Despite their +105 underdog status (48.8% implied win probability), their recent sweep of the Reds in July 2024 (5-2, 5-4, 8-5) shows they can compete in this matchup.

Key Matchups and Prediction:
The Singer-Irvin pitching duel favors Cincinnati, given Singer’s consistency and Washington’s offensive woes. The Reds’ ability to exploit the Nationals’ shaky bullpen could be decisive, especially if De La Cruz ignites early. However, Washington’s home-field advantage and past success against Cincinnati keep this game competitive.