It’s Luis Cessa’s turn to shut down the Atlanta Braves offense

The last time we watched Luis Cessa in a Cincinnati Reds uniform, he walked off the mound in Great American Ball Park having retired Chicago Cubs hitters sixteen separate times while the Reds held a 3-1 lead. He handed the ball off to Ian Gibaut with Patrick Wisdom parked at 2B, and Eric Hosmer promptly singled to score another run to Cessa’s ledger for the evening, but the fact remains that Cessa’s first outing of the season was a roaring success, all things considered.

He’s been mostly a reliever for a half-decade. His spring ramp-up consisted of him being rarely, if ever, used by Team Mexico in the World Baseball Classic as a reliever, let alone as a starting pitcher akin to his current role. As injuries decimated the rest of the rotation options around him for the second straight season, he’s become not just a fill-in, but a serious part of the Reds plans to get 27 outs about 162 times this season somehow, some way.

Cessa’s second outing of the 2023 campaign will come tonight on the road in Atlanta against the mighty Braves, where he’ll try like the dickens to be the first person in human history to retire Ronald Acuña, Jr. The Reds offense, meanwhile, will be tasked with tackling Kyle Wright, who was taken three picks after the Reds selected Hunter Greene in the 1st round of the 2017 MLB Draft.

First pitch is once again set for 7:20 PM ET, and here’s an archival picture of Bob Seger playing a concert in defunct Fulton County Stadium from 1976.

Photo by Tom Hill/WireImage

The Launching Pad, indeed.

Reds Lineup

Braves Lineup