Series 2 Preview

By:  Cooper Ledford


After the Cincinnati Reds swept the Milwaukee Brewers to open the 2011 season, they look to stay undefeated for 3 more games.  If they are going to have a 6-0 record, they will need to sweep the winless Houston Astros.  So, with that, I will break down each game of the series.


Game 1 (Tuesday, 7:10 PM ET, FS OHIO):  Mike Leake will be on the hill for Cincinnati, while J.A. Happ will be pitching for the Astros.  Carlos Lee and Micheal Bourn have the most experience against Leake, as 9 at-bats with a .111 average, while Bourn 8 at-bats with a .375 average.  Also, Hunter Pence has 9 AB's and a .333 average.  I would have said that earlier in the paragraph, but I just saw that and am too lazy to move the location of that sentence.  Forget about the stats for a minute.  Mike Leake is only in the rotation because of Johnny Cueto going to the DL.  Mike Leake wants to be in the rotation all season, so he needs to get things off to a good start, have an impressive game tonight, so he has a better chance of staying in the rotation.  Okay, now let's talk about the Astros pitcher, J.A. Happ.  If you remember, he came to Houston from Philidelphia in the Roy Oswalt trade.  No Red has more than 3 at-bats against Happ, and Brandon Phillips has the most success against him, as he is 2-for-3 lifetime.  Here is a surprising fact, not even Scott Rolen has played against Happ.  J.A. is also dealing with a minor injury, as he has a strained right oblique, we'll see if that effects him in anyway tonight.


Game 2 (Wednesday, 7:10 PM ET, FS OHIO): In the 2nd game of the series, Edinson Volquez will be pitching for the Redlegs, while Nelson Figueroa will be on the hill for Houston.  Before we talk about stats, let's think about Edinson Volquez's performance on Opening Day.  Remember it?  It was terrible.  He looked like he was a AA pitcher.  He must get better by Wednesday if he wants to get a win, or even a quality start.  Now the Astros are not as good as the Brewers, but still, they are a Major League team, and anything can happen.  Okay, now let's go to stats.  Hunter Pence has the most experience against Edinson, as he had 14 at-bats.  In those 14 AB's, he has .214 average, not much to brag about.  Carlos Lee is hitless in 10 at-bats vs. Volquez, and in 9 at-bats, Micheal Bourn has a .111 average.  So, Edinson Volquez has been very good against the 'Stros throughout his career.  Now let's talk about Nelson Figueroa.  No Red has more than 4 at-bats against him.  Brandon Phillips has gone 2-for-4 in his career, with a--you guessed it, .500 average.  


Game 3 (Thursday, 12:35 PM ET, FS OHIO): Okay, in the final game of the series, the Reds will have Sam LeCure pitching, while Houston will have Brett Myers on the hill.  LeCure had a very solid spring, and has not had much experience against the Astros, or any team.  So, LeCure will just be trying to prove something, as he, like Leake, is trying to stay in the rotation.  Okay, Brett Myers, he has faced a ton of Reds in his career.  He has faced Edgar Renteria more than anyone else.  Edgar has 27 AB's against him, 2 homers, 4 RBI's, and a nice .481 average.  I bet Dusty makes him his starting SS for that game, huh?


Alright, so there you have it.  The game the Reds have the most chance of losing is the 3rd game, since Sam LeCure is not all that great (sorry Sam), while Brett Myers is a very good pitcher (you're welcome Brett).