Series Preview: Cincinnati Reds (24-24) at Pittsburgh Pirates (15-32)

5-19-2025 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X

While each team was part of a weekend rivalry sweep, things were certainly sunnier in Ohio for the Reds than in Philly for the Pirates. The Reds are riding a 4-game winning streak while the Bucs lost 5 of 6 in their road trip this past week and hope a return home helps ease the pain from their voyage out east.

This series will likely see a lot of strikeouts as the Reds (24%) and Pirates (23.7%) rank 4th and 5th in K rate for the hitting side. On the pitching side, while Reds starters rank 7th in K rate at 23.6%, the Bucs starting stable are near the bottom (24th – 19.3%) and need to get better at setting men down on strikes more often.

5/19

Reds: Nick Lodolo (L) 3-4, 52.2 IP, 3.42 ERA, 42 Ks/9 walks, 1.08 WHIP

Pirates: Mitch Keller 1-5, 52 IP, 4.15 ERA, 43 Ks/16 walks, 1.33 WHIP

5/20

Reds: Nick Martinez 2-4, 51.2 IP, 3.66 ERA, 40 Ks/11 walks, 1.16 WHIP

Pirates: Bailey Falter (L) 2-3, 47 IP, 4.02 ERA, 34 Ks/18 walks, 1.21 WHIP

5/21

Reds: Brady Singer 5-2 54.2 IP, 5.01 ERA, 43 Ks/13 walks, 1.31 WHIP

Pirates: Andrew Heaney (L) 2-3, 50.2 IP, 3.02 ERA, 38 Ks/19 walks, 1.14 WHIP

Reds: Will Benson – Hard to pick anyone else as Benson is on a tear right now as he hit 4 home runs in the three game weekend series again Cleveland and, since his recall from Louisville on May 10th, he’s batted 11-for-26 with 5 home runs, 6 runs and 11 RBI.

Pirates: Alexander Canario – Man, this offense is REALLY bad but imagine how much worse they would be if Canario wasn’t clicking like he is. In the month of May, Canario has recorded hits in 11 of 13 games played with a .326/.383/.512 slash line in those contests.

Reds: Matt McLain – McLain had a strong start to his 2025 campaign, homering in 3 of his first 4 games of the season, but has just 3 home runs since then over 149 plate appearances while batting .167 dating back to the start of April. The Reds are tied for 10th in MLB for home runs but the power output expected from McLain just hasn’t been there for Cincy.

Pirates: With this offense, pick a direction and throw a rock. You’ll probably strike a Bucco bat who is playing below average. Oneil Cruz still doesn’t look right as he struck out 8 times in 9 plate appearances since his short stint resting from a back strain suffered last week. Joey Bart has just 2 hits (both singles) in his last 5 games. In fact, over the last week, only two players have more than 4 hits – the aforementioned Canario (8) and Isiah Kiner-Falefa (6). The bats need to be better than this.

Reds: Jeimar Candelario, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Noelvi Marte, Tyler Callihan, Jake Fraley, Julian Aguiar, Ian Gibault, Hunter Greene, Rhett Lowder, Sam Moll, Carson Spiers, Brandon Williamson

Pirates: Endy Rodriguez, Nick Gonzales, Enmanuel Valdez, Dauri Moreta, Johan Oviedo, Jared Jones, Justin Lawrence, Tim Mayza

Notes

• Jared Jones is reportedly visiting Dr. Meister on Tuesday to discuss next steps as he has tried rehabbing his UCL sprain but may need to undergo surgery to fix the issues.
• Oneil Cruz and Elly de la Cruz enter this series tied for the National League lead in stolen bases at 16. While the Pirates’ Cruz is no longer playing shortstop, these two are showing some clear similarities in their profiles and will be ones to watch this series
• The Pirates have been shut out 8 times this season as the offense has reached a low point this past weekend. They are last in SLG% (.322) and runs scored (141) while being tied for last in both batting average (.217) and wOBA (.279).