Cincinnati Reds vs. Baltimore Orioles – April 18, 2025

Andrew Abbott and Cade Povich oppose each other in a southpaw showdown as the Cincinnati Reds (9-10) and Baltimore Orioles (7-10) meet for an interleague battle Friday night in Baltimore. First pitch is at 7:05 PM EDT.

Lineups

2B Matt McLain DH Adley Rutschman RF Santiago Espinal SS Gunnar Henderson SS Elly De La Cruz RF Tyler O’Neill LF Austin Hays 1B Ryan Mountcastle DH Spencer Steer CF Cedric Mullins 1B Jeimer Candelario 3B Jordan Westburg 3B Noelvi Marte C Gary Sánchez C Jose Trevino LF Heston Kjerstad CF Blake Dunn 2B Jorge Mateo Starting Pitchers

Andrew Abbott

After a delayed start to the season because of the slower start in spring training, Abbott came out firing on all cylinders last Saturday against Pittsburgh. He only pitched five innings and threw 81 pitches, but allowed just two hits and two walks while striking out five. His only mistake came via a solo home run to Alexander Canario.

Abbott threw mostly a mix of his four-seam fastball and his changeup on Saturday. He threw a lot of changeups, 24 to be exact, all to right-handed batters. In 2024, the change-up, along with his sweeper, were his two best off-speed pitches. Opposing batters hit only .214 against the change up and just .189 against the sweeper last season. Saturday, he had a 9.1% whiff rate on the change-up, so he’s picking up where he left off.

Splits (2024)

Split PA H 2B 3B HR BB% K% AVG OBP SLG RHH 453 96 22 1 23 10% 20% .237 .312 .466 LHH 133 31 6 0 2 5% 19% .252 .301 .350 Pitch Usage (2024)

4-Seam Sweeper Change Curve Slider Velo 92.8 82.9 84.8 80.8 85.1 Usage 53.5% 18.3% 16.3% 11.6% 0.2% Cade Povich

The 3.60 ERA thus far in 2025 might be a little deceiving for Povich. He’s had a tough start to the season, giving up seven runs in 10.1 innings over his first two starts. In his most recent start against the Toronto Blue Jays, Povich only gave up two runs in 4.2 innings, but did allow seven hits in just 4.2 innings. Povich has allowed a lot of hits, 19 to be exact. His best start was the second start against the Royals, where he allowed only one run in six innings. He did, however, give up 12 hits in those six innings. The 1.80 WHIP he currently has is all hits, as Povich’s BB/9 rate is just 1.8. He doesn’t walk batters, but he’s been giving up a lot of hits and that is also evident in his .451 BABIP.

Povich’s #1 pitch is his four-seam fastball, which he uses about 40 percent of the time. His curveball and his sweeper are his most used off-speed pitches. Last year, he used the curveball mostly to right-handed batters and the sweeper mostly to left-handed batters and had nearly a 30% whiff rate on both of them. This year, through three starts, his usage between the two pitches has flip-flopped, but he has faced many more righties. Povich has only faced lefties 14 times out of 69 times so far in 2025.

Splits

Split PA H 2B 3B HR BB% K% AVG OBP SLG RHH 55 21 2 0 1 4% 22% .396 .418 .491 LHH 14 3 1 1 0 7% 14% .250 .286 .500 Pitch Usage