Phillies vs Cincinnati series preview: Home sweet home?

Well, 1-5 isn’t exactly how most Philadelphia Phillies fans wanted to open back up Citizens Bank Park. After starting the season with an abysmal road trip through Texas and New York, fans are ready to put on the pinstripes and head back to the ballpark for some cheesesteak. Yet the three-game series with the Cincinnati Reds might prove a tough challenge and it’s going to be important to win a majority to prevent the conversations of “concern” start to creep into the narrative. Strap in, folks.

Night one: Hunter Greene vs Zack Wheeler

It’s a Friday night opener after Mother Nature decided opening CBP was much better suited for the last night of a work week. For Zack Wheeler, there is no doubt he’d like to forget his last outing. He sat 0-1, with an 8.31 ERA, and went just 4.1 innings on Saturday. It was an abysmal game for him: giving up five runs, four by the way that were earned, and struck out seven. He’s a bonafide ace of a star and maybe it was just shaking off the rust from the offseason but he’s got to step it up if Philadelphia are not going to get into a slump

Now the Reds, sitting at 3-2, are bringing Hunter Greene to start against Philly’s ace. The 23-year-old right-hander was waiting for his second start of the season and unfortunately, that got rained out. He went 5-13 last season with a 4.53 ERA with 172 strikeouts. He’s going to put the Phillies bats through their paces and those paces are low, to begin with.

Night two: Saturday night with Nick Lodolo vs Bailey Falter

So Bailey Falter had a decent 2022 which likely was going to hand him a potential fifth starter for the Phillies. Well now try imagining him as a third and fourth starter for the 2023 squad. Welcome to the Falter show everyone. Granted, he went 6-4 with a 3.68 ERA with 74 strikeouts and 1.21 WHIP and He had a 3.00 ERA in his last 10 starts of the season. But he’s got to be the backbone for Philadelphia since the offense is…lacking. Falter is 0-1, 3.38 ERA with

Lodolo is a former top prospect. In his second year with Cincy, he’s looking to have a stellar season. Despite having a 4-7 record with 3.66 ERA, 131 strikeouts, and 1.248 WHIP, he’s going to give the Phillies offense a tough time. Kyle Schwarber and Alec Bohm will be two bats who might be able to get into scoring position but this might be the one game the Phillies can’t even crack double-digit hits.

Game 3: Graham Ashcraft vs Taijuan Walker

Another pairing where we’re going to see a Reds pitcher on the rise and one Phillies pitcher who has been, as the kids say, mid. Taijuan Walker, joined the team in free agency on a  four-year, $72 million contract with the Phils last December. He did not have a good first outing in the stripes in 2023. In the 8-1 loss to the New York Yankees, Walker didn’t even look like he was going to last beyond one inning. He allowed the Yankees three walks and two runs on 33 pitches. He gave up another two runs in the 4.1 innings pitched. That does not inspire confidence.

In only his second year, Ashcraft is 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA and six strikeouts. He pitched seven strong innings and needed just 96 pitches to strike out six with one walk. Ashcraft also held Pittsburgh to just one run on four hits. It’s possible that on the rubber match of the series he keeps Philadelphia to the same situation.

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