The two clubs begin a weekend series in GABP on Friday.
Each of the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Cincinnati Reds are idle on Thursday. That guarantees that when the Pirates face the Reds in the first game of their weekend series beginning on Friday, the two clubs will be tied for last place in the National League Central.
Honestly, it’s hard to remember a time in which these two clubs faced off when at least one of them wasn’t in the cellar of the division. That they’ll both be tied only seems generationally fitting.
Each team has been roughed up in the standings so far in 2025, though the Reds can at least hang their hat on their losses coming in mostly ‘close’ fashion. There was the Opening Day game in which they took a 1-run lead into the Bottom of the 9th and lost. There were the trio of 1-0 losses last week, and yesterday’s blown lead and walk-off loss to the San Francisco Giants in extra innings.
Hell, the Reds do still somehow have a positive run differential despite being just 5-8 overall.
Pittsburgh, on the other hand, already boasts a -19 differential which is worsted only by the single most embarrassing excuse for a professional sports franchise in all of the United States of America (the Colorado Rockies). That includes superstar pitcher Paul Skenes, who was unexpectedly lit up for 5 ER in his most recent start on April 8th – a start, I should add, that means his turn in the rotation won’t come around while the Pirates are in GABP this weekend.
If ever there were an early time for a statement series, I’d say it’s right now for these Reds. Pittsburgh is not a good ball club, their offense is sputtering, and the Reds are dodging their ace. This is precisely the kind of series where the Reds, if they’re to be anything, need to begin something.
Probable Pitchers
Friday (6:40 PM ET): RHP Brady Singer vs. LHP Bailey Falter
Saturday (6:40 PM ET): TBD vs. LHP Andrew Heaney
Sunday (1:40 PM ET): TBD vs. RHP Carmen Mlodzinski
The Cincinnati Reds are expected to activate LHP Andrew Abbott to make a start during this series, but have yet to formally do so. That’s what has the rotation currently in limbo, though it’s expected we’ll see Singer, Abbott, and Hunter Greene getting starts before the series is over.
As for Pittsburgh, they’re sending back to back lefties to the mound to begin the series, and that’s something that is of particular concern right now. The Reds have a collective wRC+ of just 26 against LHP so far this year (in 103 PA), and they’ve now got Matt McLain on the IL to further dent that threat, too.
Both the 26 wRC+ and .210 wOBA rank as the 3rd worst mark against LHP of any team in the big leagues so far in 2025. Get well soon, Matt/Tyler/Austin!
How To Watch
Friday’s game will be broadcast on Apple TV+, which might have one of the single worst baseball broadcasts of any network/streaming service I have ever watched. You’ll need an Apple TV account to view that one.
Both Saturday and Sunday’s game will be regionally broadcast by FanDuel Sports Ohio, which you can stream in-market sans blackouts without the need for a cable subscription. If you’re out of market, you can catch that broadcast via MLB.tv.