Baltimore Orioles Series Preview vs the Cincinnati Reds

The Orioles will be starting one of their most exciting series of the season with the Reds coming to town. The Reds have been maybe the most surprising team in all of baseball this season. Coming into the year, the Reds were projected to be a bottom-feeder in the N.L Central, a division that featured multiple playoff hopefuls like the St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers. They have completely turned that notion on its head thanks to a 12 game win streak that finally ended at the hands of the Atlanta Braves this past weekend.

The win-streak catapulted the Reds into first place with a record of 41-37. The offense has been stellar throughout their win-streak, but their pitching still leaves much to be desired. They feature the 27th worst ERA in all of baseball, with a team mark sitting at 4.98.

Baltimore Orioles welcome Cincinnati Reds to Camden Yards for exciting three game series

This series represents a potential preview of many of the MLB's future stars. For the Reds, none of them are bigger then the dynamic Elly De La Cruz. De La Cruz is one of the highest ranked prospects in the majors and the Reds have thrived off of the spark he has provided since his promotion. He recorded the first cycle of his career in just his 15th career game. Along with De La Cruz, the Reds feature exciting young talent like Spencer Steer, Jonathan India, Matt McLain, and Hunter Greene.

As for the Orioles, Jeff Passan of ESPN recently announced that infielder Jordan Westburg would be making his debut on Monday in Camden Yards. Westburg is yet another highly touted prospect who will be making their debut for the Orioles, ranking as the 46th best prospect in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline. Westburg will be a welcomed addition to the Orioles' young core.

Pitching Matchups

Monday, 6/26: Brandon Williamson vs Cole Irvin

In game one of the season series between these two clubs, each team is set to throw out a struggling left-handed starter. Brandon Williamson will be taking the mound for the Reds in game 1. Williamson has started just 7 games in his MLB career and features a 1-0 record with an ERA of 5.40. To go along with the inflated ERA, he has also struggled with allowing hard-hit balls. He sits in the bottom 8% in hard-hit percentage, and the bottom 4% in barrel percentage.

The Orioles will be giving Cole Irvin the start, who has fared very similarly to Williamson. He has a record of 1-3 and an inflated ERA of 7.71. Irvin's advanced numbers are very bleak, with him sitting in the bottom 1% in expected batting average and slugging, and the bottom 2% in barrel percentage. Irvin will be looking to have similar results as Kyle Bradish and Dean Kremer, who had back-to-back 7 inning outings.

Tuesday, 6/27: Andrew Abbott vs Tyler Wells

Andrew Abbott will be taking the bump for the Reds and will be looking to replicate his early success. So far in just 4 starts this season, Abott has a 3-0 record with a miniscule 1.14 ERA. He has been fantastic in his early major league career, providing a huge boost for a struggling Reds starting pitching staff.

The Orioles will send out Tyler Wells, who has been the best Orioles starter all season. Although Wells had some struggles against the Rays in his last outing, he still features the best WHIP in the majors at just 0.89 and he has a record of 6-3 and an ERA of 3.22 in 14 starts this season. Wells will be looking to hold down a scorching hot Reds offense.

Wednesday, 6/28: Luke Weaver vs Kyle Gibson

Luke Weaver has been yet another Reds starting pitcher who has struggled this season. He has an ERA of 6.86 in 12 starts this season and a 1-2 record. Weaver is very good at limiting walks, but hitters this season have had very little issue hitting off of him. The Orioles are hoping Weaver will replicate his numbers from his last start where he went just 3.1 innings, allowing 5 earned runs and 7 hits.

Kyle Gibson will be taking the mound for the Orioles with the hopes of bouncing back after his last start. Against Seattle, Gibson struggled with his command completing just 3 innings of work while allowing 5 earned runs and 7 hits over that span. He also walked 4 batters. This was very uncharacteristic for Gibson, who has steadily gotten deep into games for the Orioles this season. He's pitched to a 4.30 ERA in a team-leading 92 innings of work.

This highly anticipated matchup presents yet another tough task for the Orioles who will be looking to add some wins to their 2-1 homestand so far.