The Tampa Bay Rays will visit the Cincinnati Reds Tuesday for an interleague game at Great American Ball Park. First pitch is at 6:40 p.m. ET.
Tampa Bay (14-2 SU and 13-3 RL) is coming off its first series loss of the season against Toronto. At the time of writing, the Rays had not named a starting pitcher but added 22-year-old right-hander Taj Bradley “to [the] taxi squad, which seems to position him to start Tuesday,” per Marc Topkin of the .
Cincinnati (6-9 SU and 10-5 RL) split a four-game series with Philadelphia last week. The Reds will start left-hander Nick Lodolo (2-0 with a 2.12 ERA and 1.41 WHIP in three starts this year) tomorrow.
Tampa Bay is looking to get back on track after losing two of three against Toronto. The Rays did finish the series on a high note, taking the finale over their AL East rival 8-1. Will we continue to see the dominant squad that started 13-0 in Cincy, or will there be more hiccups ahead for TB?
The Rays score 7.12 runs per contest (1st) with a .280 BA (2nd) and a .896 OPS (1st). They're also leading the league in long balls, with 36, and have stolen 12 bags (14th) this season. The Rays pitching staff has compiled a 2.54 ERA (1st) and a 1.06 WHIP (2nd), with the second-most quality starts (8) in baseball today.
Have a day, @_joshelowe ?? pic.twitter.com/gFqCVFlmWv
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 16, 2023
Tuesday's expected starter Bradley made his MLB debut last week but was immediately sent back down to Triple-A. Following Jeffrey Springs' injury, expect the top pitching prospect to remain with the big league club as a rotation piece for head coach Kevin Cash. The Stone Mountain, GA, native earned the victory in his first start against the Boston Red Sox, giving up three runs on five hits and one walk with eight strikeouts over five innings.