Reds shake up lineup, roster as they look to reverse momentum in Pittsburgh

The month of August has not been kind to our beloved Cincinnati Reds. They are 1-8 since the beginning of the month and have not played great baseball in the process. The offense, which was such a highlight of the first half, has struggled to get things going and has not been able to take advantage of their speed on the base paths. After missing opportunities against the Miami Marlins earlier this week, a series you could argue that the Reds should have swept, they head to Pittsburgh hoping to turn things around.

Before the Reds play, though, they made a couple moves to try and change things up a little bit both on the roster and in the lineup.

First, the Reds called up Henry Ramos and optioned Nick Senzel to Louisville. Ramos was on the Reds for a few weeks early in the season, playing his last game with the club on May 19. He hit .242/.356/.307 in 19 games and has hit .315/.399/.522 in Triple-A this season. His call-up comes just a day after he hit a 495 foot bomb for Louisville. Senzel’s option comes after another disappointing season so far. He started off well, but since he has become a rotation player instead of an everyday player he has struggled mightily. He’s hit .138/.223/.351 since the beginning of June. Hopefully a stint in Triple-A will help him figure things out. Another note about the roster moves is Jonathan India not coming off the injured list. He was supposed to be ready to come up today, but he wasn’t listed in this flurry of roster moves. So barring something happening by game time, the former rookie of the year might be on the shelf for a couple more days.

The Reds also made a couple lineup changes heading into tonight, most notably dropping Elly De La Cruz from the leadoff spot to 3rd in the order and moving TJ Friedl back up to the leadoff spot. After hitting cleanup when he was originally called up, David Bell moved him to the leadoff spot after the All Star Break. He has struggled since moving to leadoff, hitting .207/.281/.404 in that time. Hopefully this move helps gets the offense going a little bit tonight.

The Reds send Andrew Abbott to the hill tonight as he, too, looks to turn things around. He’s gotten hit hard his last two outings so hopefully he can right the ship tonight. He’ll face off against Johan Oviedo. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM EDT. Go Reds.

Cincinnati Lineup

Pittsburgh Lineup