Padres pregame: Reds cut Wil Myers; Padres sticking with their struggling players
The Reds’ Wil Myers watches from the dugout during a baseball game against the New York Mets in Cincinnati, Tuesday, May 9, 2023. The Reds won 7-6.
When he signed a modest one-year deal with Cincinnati, Wil Myers envisioned the Reds taking off as they have in June.
He’s just not a part of it.
For those who’ve missed it amid concerns over the Padres’ struggles, the Reds released the former Padre last month as their rebuild, fueled by the arrival of Elly De La Cruz and Joey Votto’s return from the injured list, shifted into high gear. They are 17-9 in June and tied for first with the Brewers as the reeling Padres arrive in town Friday for a three-game series.
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Friday’s first pitch is at 2:10 p.m. The Padres won all six meetings last year and outscored the Reds 16-6 in taking two of three in May.
Myers was hitting .189/.257/.283 with three homers and 37 RBIs before the Reds decided to eat what was left on his $7.5 million deal, the kind of struggles he was prone to throughout his stay in San Diego. He did not make the trip to San Diego earlier this year due to an illness.
Not that the Padres don’t have a collection of struggling players.
Third baseman Manny Machado’s .691 OPS is the worst of his career and nearly 140 points off his career average.
First baseman Jake Cronenworth’s OPS has trended downward since his rookie season, from .831 to .800 to .722 to .656 and the money in his seven-year, $80 million extension doesn’t kick in until next year.
Shortstop Xander Bogaerts’ .735 OPS is his lowest since compiling a .662 OPS over his first 162 games in the games (2013-14).
Designated hitter Matt Carpenter, with a .642 OPS, has been worse in recent years – a .605 OPS over 180 games from 2020 to 2021 – but his OPS is a little more than half of what he did in 47 games with the Yankees last year (15 HRs, 1.138 OPS).
All four players are in Friday’s lineup, with Machado, Bogaerts and Cronenworth occupying the third- through five-holes and Carpenter getting the start as the seventh hitter.
Fernando Tatis Jr. is back in right field and leading off after serving as Thursday’s DH.
Gary Sanchez will bat sixth and catch and Rougned Odor will play bat eighth and play second in place of Ha-Seong Kim, arguably the team’s hottest hitter of late.
Kim is hitting .350/.400/.675 with four homers over his last 10 games, but will sit on Friday against Graham Ashcraft, the lone right-hander starting this weekend for the Reds.
Odor is hitting .220/.308/.398 with four homers and 18 RBIs on the season and has a .720 OPS against righties compared to a .593 OPS against lefties.
Here is the Reds’ lineup for the opener:
Friday’s pitching matchup
Padres RHP Seth Lugo (3-4, 4.01 ERA)
He’s allowed four runs in 10 innings and struck out nine against one walk in two starts since returning from his calf strain. Lugo has a 3.21 ERA in five starts so far away from Petco Park. Lugo has a 2.84 ERA in 6 1/3 innings as a reliever at Great American Ball Park and has allowed three runs in 23 1/3 career innings against the Reds.
Here is how Lugo has fared in his career against current Reds:
(Baseball-reference.com)
Reds RHP Graham Ashcraft (3-6, 7.17 ERA)
The 25-year-old limited the Padres to one run in six innings on May 2 at Petco Park, but he has a 12.82 ERA in eight starts since then and has an opponent batting line of .386/.448/.680 over that stretch. Ashcraft also has a 9.17 ERA in eight starts this year at the Great American Ball Park.
Here is how Ashcraft has fared in his career against current Padres:
Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune
