Reds Struggles Will Continue Against Diamondbacks

Reds vs. Diamondbacks, 9:40 ET

Sports betting isn't for the faint of heart. There are stretches of good, stretches of bad, and stretches of just… mediocrity. In the NBA playoffs, I've basically gone 1-1 every day. Those are losing days most days due to juice. In baseball, I was on a heater but came back down to earth a bit over the past weekend. Now I am looking to regain steam and recapture any losses I had over the weekend. Tonight, the Reds take on the Diamondbacks in a game that I feel like we can take advantage of. 

The Reds surprised a lot of people last season, including yours truly. This season hasn't been quite as impressive as they are battling just to get back to .500 at this point. They are sitting with a 17-24 record coming into today's contest and in fourth place within the division. That isn't insurmountable, but this has been a tough stretch for them as they have lost four of their past five games, including three straight. It is worse than that though. May has been even worse for them as they've won just one game this month. They've only won three games in their past 17 games. The schedule doesn't get that much easier from here as they have to finish this series against the Diamondbacks and then head to Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers. The Reds send out Hunter Greene to the hill today. He's been a bit of a bright spot for them this season. Despite the team struggles this month, he has allowed just three earned runs over 10.2 innings covering two starts. For the season, he has a 3.38 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. He also just faced the Diamondbacks in his most recent start - the team lost 5-4, but he turned in five strong innings and allowed just three earned runs. 

Jun 24, 2023; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; The Cincinnati Reds logo on the sleeve of Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz (44) while he prepares on deck during the fifth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Great American Ball Park. (Credit: Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports)

The Diamondbacks also surprised a lot of people last year. That one, however, was not as much of a surprise to me. I thought they would be good, even if I didn't think they would make it to the World Series (I had the Phillies). Still, this year hasn't been a great start for them as they are sitting at 20-22 right now looking to find a way to get closer to the top of the division. It is still early, but they are in third place and 7.5 games back of the Dodgers which does seem like a fairly insurmountable number of games already. The team is hitting pretty well, batting almost .250 for the season, and they've scored a good amount of runs. The problem really has been the pitching staff. On the year, the Diamondbacks staff has a 4.25 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. Neither of the numbers are terrible, but they are allowing opponents to hit .252 against them which allows opponents a lot of opportunities to score. Slade Cecconi takes the hill tonight for the Diamondbacks. This is just his fifth start of the season, but while he had a great three starts on the road, he was miserable at home in his only start there. He allowed six earned runs over 4.1 innings to the Padres in his only home outing. His most recent start, a 5.1 inning outing against the Reds saw him allow just three hits and one earned run. His WHIP is a stellar 0.88 which indicates he really isn't allowing baserunners. However, he has allowed four home runs (at least one in three of his four starts) over his 21.2 innings pitched. He's only allowed 13 hits so far, but that means that roughly 33% of hits allowed are leaving the yard. 

The Reds aren't a team that hits a ton of home runs, so the Diamondbacks may be able to navigate this lineup without giving up too many runs. I get that the teams just saw each other last week, and usually that means that hitters are familiar with the pitcher's stuff, but I don't think the Reds offense is anything worth fearing. The Diamondbacks offense has been better, but I'm not sure that they are going to get to Greene in this game. I lean toward the under for the game, but I am playing the Diamondbacks to win through five. I think Cecconi has shown he is reliable even if his home outing was a disaster. I'll back the Diamondbacks at home against the struggling Reds through five innings. 

Rays vs. Red Sox, 7:10 ET