Cincinnati Reds (59-91) vs Milwaukee Brewers (80-70)
Saturday, September 24, 2022 at 6:40 pm
Graham Ashcraft is coming off the 15-day IL and while I do think eventually he will be a strong starter at the MLB level, I don't love him in this particular spot. Ashcraft was struggling in regards to allowing too many runners on base before his injury. He had a rehab start this week and went 2.2 innings, allowing no walks and striking out five batters. The only problem is, he also allowed 11 base hits and 8 total runs with 6 of them being earned. At Great American against a team that has already faced him twice, I cannot back Ashcraft or the Reds' pitching staff at all here, especially against a Milwaukee team that is desperate for wins to make a postseason push. The Brewers send Corbin Burnes to the bump here and while he is certainly not in the best of form, he is still one of the better starters in the league and should have a bounce-back outing here against a Reds team that he already pitched very well against. The Brewers have the better lineup, starter, and pen so give me Milwaukee -1.5.