Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Hendricks, Reed to face off in finale

Wednesday's series finale between the Cubs and the Reds will feature two promising young pitchers.
Cody Reed (0-1, 6.75 ERA) will make his third start for the Reds against 26-year-old Kyle Hendricks (5-6, 2.76 ERA).
Reed is regarded as one of several pieces of the rotation of the future for the rebuilding Reds. With several injuries to Reds starters, he's gotten a chance to make a couple starts. He showed promise in his first start but struggled with his command in his last outing against the Padres, allowing five runs on nine hits over five innings.
Hendricks has been one of the better Cubs starters of late, especially with the struggles of Jake Arrieta. Over his last seven starts, Hendricks has a 2.06 ERA and is averaging more than six innings per outing.
Hendricks' one real problem has been run support. In six of his fourteen starts this season, he's received three or fewer runs of support.
Things to know about this game:
• Reds first baseman Joey Votto has had Hendricks' number in a small number of at-bats over his three years pitching with the Cubs. Votto is 3-for-5 with two homers.
• Cubs shortstop Addison Russell wasn't in the starting lineup on Tuesday against lefty John Lamb. Although Russell is a right-handed hitter, he's hitting .123/.278/.231 against lefties this season. Russell is also on an 0-for-10 skid after hitting .325 with three home runs over his 13 previous games.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon is still undecided whether Russell will get the day off again on Wednesday. Javier Baez, who leads the team in average against lefties for players with at least 15 at-bats, started on Tuesday.
• Reds catcher Tucker Barnhart is likely to return to the lineup Wednesday. Barnhart ended an 0-for-18 skid on June 18, and is hitting .318 since then with a double in each of his three games. Barnhart is a .273 hitter against Hendricks in 11 at-bats.

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