The bats of the Cincinnati Reds have been alive for most of Cactus League play in the early going, and that was very much still the case on Saturday. The Reds went on the road and beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-7 in their own ballpark, even doing so while television cameras were broadcasting their action for the first time in seemingly a millenium.
The Good
Matt McLain got the party started in the Top of the 1st with his first dinger of the spring, a solo shot that was part of an overall excellent 2 for 3 day that included a pair of runs scored. Elly De La Cruz smacked another double – every single one of his hits this spring, so far, has been of the extra-base variety – and Sal Stewart singled, stole a base, played 3B, and scored a run.
Michael Chavis – in camp as a non-roster guy – socked a homer, Dane Myers drove in a trio on a two-hit day as he angles to be a right-handed hitting option all across the outfield, and Blake Dunn drove in a trio and scored a run as he angles to be a right-handed hitting option all across the outfield.
Down in the bullpen, big offseason additions Pierce Johnson and Caleb Ferguson both fired scoreless frames, even though neither was completely clean.
The Bad
Lyon Richardson surrendered another run, something he’s done in every one of his appearances so far this spring. But because baseball is weirdly beautiful, he also picked up the win on the day.
Wins! Still a stat in 2026, for whatever reason!
At the plate, Christian Encarnacion-Strand made his own spring debut after dealing with hamstring issues, but was limited to just DH duties and went 0 for 3 with a K. I really, really hope there’s a CES redemption story somewhere in the near future, but I’m beginning to think that ship may well have sailed.
The Ugly
Hunter Greene made his spring debut and got shelled immediately.
He did not retire a single batter in the Bottom of the 1st before being pulled, though thanks to the fun rules of spring training play he returned to the mound for the Bottom of the 2nd to get in more work. His second frame was markedly better, but he was ultimately responsible for 4 ER on 5 H and a walk while fanning nobody.
The good news, though, is that he looked fine. His heater hit triple digits repeatedly, he just wasn’t putting hitters away in vintage mid-season form. Nothing looked like a problem, per se – just a lot of rust and getting his feet wet in an exhibition that didn’t mean a thing in the win column.
What’s Next
Cincinnati’s central Arizona road trip will continue on Sunday, this time at Hohokam Stadium over in Mesa against the Athletics. Andrew Abbott will toe the rubber, with first pitch set for 3:05 PM ET.
No, there’s no TV coverage of it. It’ll be on 700 WLW for your ears, though.
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