Can they turn their offense on at home, though?
The Cincinnati Reds battled the elements all week, on Thursday weathering a lengthy rain delay to finally score a victory over the St. Louis Cardinals before that series ended.
They took home a 9-1 win on the day, yet still managed to drop 3 of 4 in the series against their National League Central rivals. That was, in large part, due to their continued offensive struggles in their home park despite it long being known to be a ‘plus’ offensive environment.
The outburst from the bats yesterday helped hide the fact that they’d scored just 4 runs across 3 games to begin the series. All told, their 71 wRC+ in home games this year (even after yesterday’s 9-run outing) still ranks dead last among all clubs in their home parks, the miserable company of the Colorado Rockies (74) and Chicago White Sox (77) the only clubs close to them in those rankings.
This weekend gives them another immediate chance to rectify that, however, as the Washington Nationals come to town for a 3-game series beginning Friday at 6:10 PM ET.
Washington finds themselves at just 14-18 on the season, to date, and had lost 3 in a row before salvaging a win on Thursday over the Philadelphia Phillies in Philly. They’ve been buoyed by strong starting pitching – their 2.9 collective fWAR from starters this year sits tied with the Reds, among others, for 6th best in all of baseball. Offensively, though, their team owns just a collective 93 wRC+ on the season (23rd overall) and that’s a number that falls all the way to 73 (t-27th overall) in road games.
In other words, they play on the road very similarly to how the Reds have played at home so far in 2025, meaning on-paper we should expect some serious pitching duels in this matchup. Naturally, that means we’ll likely get 11-9 shootouts each night.
Pitching Matchups
Friday, May 2nd (*6:10 PM ET) – Hunter Greene vs. Mitchell Parker (*note the early start)
Saturday, May 3rd (6:40 PM ET) – Nick Lodolo vs. Trevor Williams
Sunday, May 4th (4:10 PM ET) – Nick Martinez vs. Mackenzie Gore
How to Watch
All three of these games will be broadcast on FanDuel Sports Network. You can watch FDSN in-market through cable packages, though it’s also available to be streamed in-market with no blackout restrictions. Check the link in the above sidebar for more information on how you can do just that.
Per usual, you can view this game from outside the Reds TV market by catching the FDSN stream through MLB.tv.