The Washington Nationals (42-83) will host the Cincinnati Reds (48-75) on Saturday in the second game of a three-game set. Washington took three out of four games from the Reds in Cincinnati from June 2-5. Friday's series opener was not complete at the time of this preview.
After finishing 83-79 last season and flirting with grabbing a wild card spot as they entered September, this season's Reds team only fighting to avoid finishing last in the NL Central. The Reds didn't leave much doubt that this would be a bad season from the very beginning as they opened up the year with a 3-22 record. Fast forward to the present, and Cincinnati went into Friday on a four-game losing streak and sits fourth in the NL Central, just 1.5 games ahead of the last-place Pirates. Since August 3, the Reds are 6-14 and 23rd averaging 3.6 runs per game over that stretch.
.@TjFriedl1 is hitting .375 (9-for-24) over his last 10 games?? pic.twitter.com/GkPxfBhd0H
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) August 26, 2022
What has really hurt the Reds the most this season has been pitching. Cincinnati is 28th with a 5.04 ERA and 26th with a 1.42 ERA. Starting on Saturday will be Luis Cessa (3-2, 5.67), who is a relief pitcher that has not gone deeper than two innings in a start this season. The Reds bullpen overall is dead last with a 4.86 ERA.