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Hungry baseball fans from both Washington and Cincinnati had to wait an extra day before they can enjoy their baseball feast as a steady, warm spring rain caused Thursday's scheduled opening-day game to be postponed until today. (The scheduled Friday off-day was put into place for just this type of scenario.) Expectations are once again high for the Nationals as they finished last year 97-65 and once again made the postseason for the fourth time in six seasons. In each of those playoff appearances, they bowed out in the NLDS. Last season it was to the Chicago Cubs, and the year prior it was to the Los Angeles Dodgers. This year's version are hoping to buck the trend and finally break through to the World Series. The expectations are real with perennial MVP-contender Bryce Harper (.319 avg.; 29HR; 87RBI) bolstering a potent offense and 3-time Cy Young Award Winner (2013, 2016, 2017) Max Scherzer anchoring a rotation that also features Stephen Stratsburg (15-4, 2.52 ERA) and Gio Gonzalez (15-9, 2.96 ERA). Anything less than another division title and deep postseason run will be viewed as a disappointment.
Meanwhile, the expectations in Cincinnati couldn't be any more different than those of the Nats. Nobody is expecting a postseason birth out of the Reds after a last-place finish in a deep NL Central a season ago. They managed to go just 68-94, and have significant ground to make up to try and catch division perennial powers Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals, not to mention a very talented and surprising Milwaukee Brewers club that managed to go 86-76 a season ago and barely miss out on a wild card birth. After the Pirates did away with franchise ace Gerrit Cole and long-time face of the franchise Andrew McCutchen this past off-season, the Reds very well could pass up the Pirates and avoid a fourth consecutive last-place finish. If that is to happen a return to form for long-time starter Homer Bailey is going to have to be part of the equation.
Bailey has been plagued by injury and inconsistency over the past three seasons and failed to post a winning record and sub- 5.50 ERA since 2014 when he went 9-5 with a 3.71 ERA. He is scheduled to get the ball today at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati to get things started for the Reds. The Nationals are countering with the aforementioned Scherzer, who went 16-6 a year ago while posting a 2.51 ERA. He posted an impressive 1.82 ERA a season ago AWAY from home, so even though the Reds will be playing in the friendly confines of their home ballpark, which routinely rates out as one of the top hitter's ballparks in the league, they will certainly have their work cutout for them.
The good news for the Reds though is that Bailey has faced current Nationals' hitters 65 times and only allowed 1 home run in those at-bats. The bad news, those hitters also hit .426 against him in those 65 appearances (23-54 with 11 walks). The key for Bailey and Cincinnati will be to keep the ball in the park and hope to get a lot of ground ball outs.
It was a rough spring overall for the Reds as they managed to go just 10-19 in Spring Training this year, good enough for last place in the NL. While spring training results certainly don't always reflect how the regular season goes, for a young team on the rebound, it also doesn't bode well for gaining confidence and laying the groundwork to build on for the long season ahead. The Reds will be hoping that young Centerfielder Billy Hamilton can take a major step forward this season as he managed to hit just .247 a year ago. They're hoping his bat can finally catch up to his legs as he is one of the premier base-stealers in the majors, stealing over 50 bases in each of the past four seasons.
While it was a rough spring for Cincinnati, it wasn't all rosy for Washington either, as they managed to go just 13-17 in spring training. They are hoping Ryan Zimmerman can duplicate his especially stellar 2017 season in which he hit .303 with 36 home runs and 108 RBIs. If the bats show up for this one for Washington and Scherzer is anywhere near his usual form this could be a rough opener for the Reds. However, with the forecast slated to be in the low 50s in Cincinnati, the Reds will be hoping that the Nationals come into town just like the weather - a tad on the chilly side.
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