St. Louis Cardinals vs Cincinnati Reds – May 23, 2026 – Game 1

The Cincinnati Reds have won two games in a row. The St. Louis Cardinals have lost two games in a row. Today the two teams will face off to open up a 3-game series at Great American Ball Park in a clash of National League Central foes. Then later tonight they’ll play again as they make up for Friday’s postponed game. First pitch in game one of the day/night doubleheader is scheduled for 1:10pm ET.

Starting Lineups

Starting Pitchers

Chris Paddack

Last week saw Chris Paddack make his first start for the Reds after being released by Miami and signing with Cincinnati to fill out their rotation. Things went well as he allowed two runs in 5.0 innings after not pitching for nearly two weeks. Paddack has been inconsistent this season, having two very poor starts, one bad one, and five solid-to-good starts under his belt. On April 21st he faced the Cardinals in Miami and while he struck out a season high seven batters that day he also gave up five runs in 4.2 innings on eight hits.

Both lefties and righties are hitting over .300 this season against Paddack. But it’s beyond the hitting of singles that makes the splits quite a bit different for the two groups of hitters. Righties are hitting for a lot of power against him but they also never walk. Lefties are walking more but aren’t hitting for much power. Right-handed hitters are also striking out significantly more, while left-handed hitters are making a lot of contact.

The sample size of one game doesn’t mean much, but in his Reds debut Paddock didn’t throw his 2-seamer at all while also throwing his 4-seamer and curveball at a higher rate than he had in any of his starts in 2026 with Miami.

Splits

Pitch Usage

Andre Pallante

Most days this season have seen Pallante pitch well, but he’s had two tough starts. The first was on April 12th when he gave up six earned in 5.0 innings to Boston and then earlier in May when he allowed five runs in 6.0 innings against Milwaukee. In his last outing he struck out seven and gave up one run to Kansas City.

The splits aren’t that big for Pallante. Right-handed hitters are hitting for a lower average, which carries over to their lower on-base percentage and lower slugging percentage. Both groups hit for similar power.

Splits

Pitch Usage

When and Where

• Game time: 1:10pm ET
• Where: Great American Ball Park
• Watch: Reds MLB Channel, Reds.tv (in-market), MLB.tv (out of market).
• Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
• Forecast: 70°, cloudy, 5% chance of rain

News and Notes

Chase Petty being called up

After this game the Cincinnati Reds will call up Chase Petty from Triple-A to serve as the 27th man on the roster. He will start the game tonight. We’ve got a few more details on why the move is being made and what Petty has pitched like in our piece from this morning if you wanted to dive in.

Division Standings