Gamethread: White Sox at Reds

Happy Sunday! It’s a beautiful day for a ballgame, and an even more beautiful day for a win. The Chicago White Sox will finish it off in Cincinnati against the Reds this afternoon as they look to take their second series in a row with a win. It’s been a busy 24 hours after the news about Eloy Jiménez and a loss, but hopefully the team can get back at it this afternoon with Michael Kopech on the mound against Graham Ashcraft.

Ashcraft is a righty who was drafted by the Reds in 2019 and made his MLB debut last season. Since coming up he has been solid apart from a few IL stints, and has the potential for stardom. He has had great stuff this year so far, appearing in six games with a 2-0 record, 2.00 ERA, and 27 strikeouts in 36 innings. He throws just three pitches, using his cutter the most, at 40.6%. He follows with a slider (32.8%), and sinker (21.2%).

Kopech will be on the mound for the seventh time for the White Sox, so far holding an 0-3 record, 5.97 ERA, and 1.58 WHIP. His stuff has been better the last few outings, which is great for a guy with a lot of potential. In Kopech’s last outing against the Minnesota Twins he went six innings, with just one hit and seven strikeouts. Hopefully he can pick up his first win of the season, and work on getting his ERA down with a good outing today.

Tim Anderson will lead it off followed by Andrew Benintendi in left and Andrew Vaughn at first. Luis Robert Jr. is back in center and Hanser Alberto is at third. Yasmani Grandal will be at the DH spot as Gavin Sheets takes right, Elvis Andrus takes second, and Seby Zavala closes it out behind the plate.

Game time is at 3:10 p.m. CT. Tune into NBCSCHI to watch or ESPN 1000 to listen.