It’s been a brutal two weeks for the Cincinnati Reds (70-70), as they have lost ten of their last 13 games and their last four series, putting them five games behind the team that comes to Great American Ball Park this weekend. The Reds face the New York Mets (75-65) Friday night in the first game of the series that sees the Reds essentially have to sweep to stay in the playoff race. It’s a battle of All-Star pitchers in the first game of the series, as David Peterson faces off against Andrew Abbott Friday night. First pitch is at 6:40 PM EDT.
The Mets come to town on a mini hot streak, having gone 6-4 in their last ten games and winning three of their last four series. The Mets win with hitting, as their .761 team OPS is second in the NL behind only the Dodgers, but have recently brought up a couple of their top pitching prospects as well to help with the playoff push.
Lineups
New York Mets
|
Cincinnati Reds |
| Francisco Lindor – SS | TJ Friedl – CF |
| Juan Soto – RF | Noelvi Marte – RF |
| Pete Alonso – 1B | Elly De La Cruz – SS |
| Mark Vientos – 3B | Miguel Andujar – DH |
| Brandon Nimmo – LF | Austin Hays – LF |
| Starling Marte – DH | Spencer Steer – 1B |
| Jeff McNeil – CF | Tyler Stephenson – C |
| Francisco Alvarez – C | Ke’Bryan Hayes – 3B |
| Luisangel Acuna – 2B | Matt McLain – 2B |
Juan Soto has been a tear, slashing .340/.515/.740 with an OPS of 1.255 in his last 14 games.
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB | K |
| David Peterson | 152.0 | 3.61 | 1.31 | 58 | 136 |
| Andrew Abbott | 139.0 | 2.65 | 1.12 | 39 | 125 |
| Links: David Peterson’s Stats | Andrew Abbott’s Stats |
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David Peterson
An All-Star in 2025, David Peterson is having a solid season in his fourth full season in the big leagues. He has pitched the most innings of his career to date and has struck out the most batters in his career to date. Peterson is, however, coming off his worst start of the season, allowing eight runs in just two innings to the Marlins on August 30th. This start singlehandedly pushed his ERA from 3.18 to 3.61. He’s not a strikeout pitcher and his walk rate is pretty low, particularly to right-handed batters, but his ground ball rate is one of the best in the majors. Peterson has always been a ground ball pitcher, averaging close to 50 percent GB% each year. This year, however, his ground ball rate is up to 55.8%.
Peterson dominates the left-handed hitters he faces. As a lefty himself, he doesn’t face many of them, but when he does, he limits walks, strikeouts out hitters, and doesn’t allow hits. He throws almost all two-seam fastballs and sliders to lefties, and he has a 38.2% whiff rate on his slider this season.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB% | K% | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 503 | 113 | 24 | 2 | 8 | 11% | 18% | .254 | .337 | .371 |
| LHH | 139 | 28 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 4% | 31% | .215 | .261 | .269 |
Pitch Usage
| 2-Seam | 4-Seam | Slider | Change | Curve | |
| Velo | 91.2 | 92.2 | 84.5 | 84.4 | 78.6 |
| Usage | 29.0% | 23.6% | 19.7% | 14.5% | 13.2% |
Andrew Abbott
Abbott has struggled of late. In his last four starts, he has allowed 11 hits on eight earned runs in 23.2 innings. Could it be that he is just getting tired and worn down? Abbott surpassed his innings total from 2024 in his most recent start and has now pitched the most innings in his professional career (139.0) in what is now his third season in the majors.
Abbott overwhelmingly faces right-handed hitters, and they also hit him better than left-handed hitters do. He does have a strikeout rate above 20% for both righties and lefties though, while keeping his walk rate as low as possible. Despite his struggles, he’s still only walked four batters in his last four starts and all four of those walks came against St. Louis last Saturday.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB% | K% | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 435 | 90 | 17 | 1 | 13 | 7% | 21% | .226 | .283 | .371 |
| LHH | 131 | 26 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5% | 25% | .215 | .264 | .322 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | Change | Curve | Sweeper | Cutter | |
| Velo | 92.7 | 84.7 | 80.9 | 82.7 | 88.6 |
| Usage | 47.3% | 20.0% | 15.7% | 12.6% | 4.3% |
Game Details:
- Time: 6:40 PM EDT
- Place: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, OH
- TV: FanDuel Sports Network
- Radio: 700 WLW (Cincinnati area)
- Weather: 81 degrees, mostly cloudy, 50% chance of an isolated thunderstorm
News and Notes
Today’s Roster Moves
Do-Or-Die Time for the Cincinnati Reds
Dayton’s Streak Snapped
NL Wild Card Standings
| Team | W | L | GB | Fangraph’s Playoff Odds |
| Chicago | 80 | 60 | +5.0 | 99.8% |
| San Diego | 76 | 64 | +1.0 | 96.8% |
| NY Mets | 75 | 65 | – | 95.0% |
| San Francisco | 71 | 69 | 4.0 | 4.3% |
| CINCINNATI | 70 | 70 | 5.0 | 2.5% |
| Arizona | 70 | 71 | 5.5 | 1.3% |
| St. Louis | 70 | 71 | 5.5 | 0.9% |
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