Angel Martinez has 4 hits in his last 41 at-bats. When he has two strikes on him he's hitting .136. On 2-2 counts he's 2-for-32 with 13 K's. On 0-2 counts he's 3-for-28 with 13 K's. When he has two strikes on him you can see the fear of taking a called strike three. He chases constantly and the numbers reflect it. He's making some nice defensive plays at 2nd base, though.
Manzardo is hitting .188 since the first three games of the season when he went 5-for-11. The pitchers know how to get him out now. He is 4-for-33.
Steven Kwan is 1-for-18 this year against the Reds and we get another lefty today.
The third time batters face Logan Allen in a game they're hitting .395/1.100. Once they've seen all his pitches it's all over. Can't wait until Bieber gets back and Allen goes to the bullpen where he belongs. He'd be there already if not for the injury to Ben Lively.
Cecconi looked very good through the first three innings but the second time through the order the Reds went 4-for-8 with a walk. He looks like a right-handed Logan Allen at this point. They're both guys who depend on precise location the first time through the order to be successful but they struggle the second and third time they have to face hitters. They're both extremely competitive and do a good job with runners on base.
Runners on: Cecconi .206/.690, Allen .236/.656
First time faced in a game: Cecconi .095/.298, Allen .228/.619
Second time faced in a game: Cecconi .405/1.251, Allen .278/.751
Once hitters have seen them one time they make adjustments. Yesterday Cecconi had 8 strikeouts through 4 innings because the Reds were chasing pitches out of the zone. But he couldn't get them to chase the second time through. They had seen those pitches and laid off them. He fell behind in counts and started grooving fastballs. He needs to find a way to get hitters out the second time by making them swing at strikes and make weak contact. Same for Allen.
The one difference I've seen is that Cecconi can run his fastball up to 96-97 whereas Allen tops out at 92.
The Reds have the lowest swing percentage in baseball so they are very, very selective. Their chase percentage is the second lowest so you have to throw strikes. You might get them to chase pitches out of the zone the first time like Cecconi did yesterday, but the second time you need to throw strikes on the edges of the zone. Benson's double yesterday came on a 3-2 fastball right down the middle. He scored the only run of the game when the next batter singled on a 2-1 fastball dead center of the zone.
Better to walk a guy than throw a fastball middle-middle.
