Your Cincinnati Reds open a 9-game, 10-day home stand against the San Francisco Giants tonight at 7:10 PM. After going 4-6 on the latest road trip, the Reds could really use some home cooking. The Giants had a slow start to the season, but have won 5 of their last 6 games behind some strong pitching (allowing just over 2 runs per game over the last 6 games).
In other news, the Reds have recalled J.J. Hoover (AKA "J-Hova" AKA "J. Edgar") and placed Bill Bray (AKA "Hip hip, Bill Bray") on the disabled list, according to the team twitter account. Hoover came over from the Braves in exchange for Juan Francisco (AKA "END"). The 24 year old pitcher will be making his MLB debut. In 8 appearances over 9 innings, J-Hova posted solid numbers at AAA Louisville, with 17 K/9 and an ERA at 2.00. Here's an interesting stat from our man Joel Luckhaupt (AKA "Slyde") on twitter:
JJ Hoover as RP in the minors: 36.9% K-rate, 8.4% BB-rate. Aroldis Chapman as RP in the minors: 36.2% K-rate, 11% BB-rate.
Mat Latos (AKA "The Laotian Prince") will try to get things on track after 3 sub-par performances to begin his Reds career. In 9 career starts vs. the Giants, Latos has posted a 2.64 ERA, with a 4.50 K/BB ratio, holding San Francisco hitters to a measly .578 OPS. Matt Cain (AKA "Big Sugar") is off to a solid start to 2012, and has been equally impressive against the Reds over his career, posting a 3.07 ERA lifetime against Cincinnati.
Lineups after the jump.