The Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Red Sox have split the first two games of the season. This afternoon they’ll get together at Great American Ball Park to wrap up the opening series of the 2026 season with the winner moving above the .500 mark. Today’s first pitch is scheduled for 1:40pm ET.
Starting Lineups
Starting Pitchers
Stats are from 2025.
Rhett Lowder
After missing the entire 2025 season with the exception of multiple rehab stints in the minor leagues that were shut down, Lowder is ready to take the big league mound for the first time since September of 2024. He made six starts for the Reds at the end of that season and was dominant when it came to keeping runs off of the board, giving up just four of them in 30.2 innings.
When it comes to the platoon splits, the sample size was incredibly small. But what it did show us is that left-handed hitters were able to exploit something a bit more than righties were as they walked as often as they struck out against him. Right-handed hitters made more contact and hit for a higher average against him. In the minor leagues that year his platoon splits were a lot more even than that.
2024 MLB Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 68 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | .246 | .279 | .262 |
| LHH | 49 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 11 | .184 | .333 | .204 |
2024 Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 94.0 | 92.7 | 85.3 | 86.6 |
| Usage | 29% | 24% | 28% | 19% |
Connelly Early
The Red Sox rookie only made four starts last season in the big leagues but they were good. He had a 2.33 ERA in his 19.1 innings and struck out 29 batters. In Double-A and Triple-A last year he combined for a 2.60 ERA in 100.1 innings while striking out an additional 132 batters. Throughout his career he’s been a guy who has had above-average rates of ground balls, though the rate has lowered at each level he’s pitched.
In the big leagues he allowed just one extra-base hit. The platoon splits were big, but the sample size is small enough that it’s not too important other than to note he was pretty good against everyone but that righties at least found some hits even if they were almost all singles. Last season in the minor leagues lefties had an OPS nearly 200 points lower than their right-handed hitting counterparts had against him.
2025 Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 57 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 16 | .259 | .298 | .278 |
| LHH | 22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | .150 | .227 | .150 |
2025 Pitch Usage (AAA and MLB)
| 4-seam | 2-seam | Curve | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 93.8 | 92.6 | 80.5 | 84.8 | 83.3 |
| Usage | 33% | 10% | 15% | 22% | 21% |
When and Where
- Game time: 1:40pm ET
- Where: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati
- Watch: Reds MLB Channel, Reds.tv (in-market), MLB.tv (out of market), You can check your zip code here and find out who carries the Reds MLB Channel in your area if you are unsure.
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 60°, partly cloudy, 0% chance of rain
News and Notes
Nick Lodolo may have his rehab start pushed back
As of now there’s nothing wrong with Lodolo and he was expected to throw a bullpen session today. But assuming he gets through/got through that without issue he was going to go on a rehab start on Wednesday, but that may not happen now because the weather in Louisville does not look promising and they are the only team in the minors active that day. We wrote a bit more about the various options the team may have and how pushing it back could change when he’s available to pitch in the big leagues.
Sal Stewart’s hot start
Who cares if it’s just two games into the season – Sal Stewart is leading the National League with a .625 average and trails only Andres Gimenez (.750) in all of baseball. Stewart also leads the NL in OPS with a 1.917 mark. He has yet to strike out in his nine plate appearances.
C.B. Buckner….
For those of you who followed the Red Sox and Reds game yesterday you saw just how often the home plate umpire faced challenged calls. There were eight challenges. The Red Sox went 1-3 and were out of them in the 3rd inning, while the Reds challenged five and won them all. And boy did the media just about everywhere decide to have a take about it. I have seen at least five different outlets write about the rough day he had behind the plate. According to UmpScorecards.com, Buckner got 26 calls incorrect on the day – an accuracy rate of 88%.
Division Standings
| Team | W | L | GB | Playoff Odds |
| Milwaukee | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 48.2% |
| St. Louis | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 9.9% |
| Cincinnati | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 19.3% |
| Chicago | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 53.6% |
| Pittsburgh | 0 | 2 | 2.0 | 35.7% |
| Playoff Odds via Fangraphs | ||||