CINCINNATI – The Reds weren’t really going to have both Jeff Hoffman and José De León in their 2021 rotation. It became necessary when Sonny Gray and Michael Lorenzen opened the regular season on the injured list.
Like Hoffman on Sunday, De León made the most of his chance to play against the Pirates on Monday. In a no-decision, he struckout nine batters in more than five innings before the Reds won 5-3 at Great American Ball Park. Again, Nick Castellanos came through with a big homerun that broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the seventh inning to help Cincinnati win for the third time in its first four games.
“We’ll have to pick each other up,” said Reds manager David Bell. “We talked about having the pitching depth, and we’re lucky to have that, but when those guys get through, get right in and be an important part of a pitching staff that has been successful, it helps us a little bit to preserve roles. “
With his first start since 2016 with the Dodgers, De León started the evening in ominous fashion. His 2-2 switch with one out in the first inning missed the strike zone, and Phillip Evans crushed it for a 445-foot solo homer in left midfield. Catcher Tucker Barnhart could be seen cringing from the crouch when the ball left Evans’ bat. Two batters later with two outs, Colin Moran hit a slider on the first pitch for a 374-foot homer to the right, making it a 2-0 game.
Nothing De León did after that made anyone shudder – except maybe Pirates-hitters, who had only one more hit against him. With his sinker averaging 94 mph, De León struckout the first two batters of the second inning.
“I was able to settle down after those two solo shots. Solo shots won’t kill you, “De León said.” I just went there with a different advantage in the second inning, and I was more aggressive. I took it personally. “
De León, who had not hit with the Rays since 2019, took one point back himself. Running from first base, Nick Senzel defeated a fielder’s choice grounder by Jonathan India. Two batters later with two outs, De León singled from the right to score Senzel for his first big league-hit and RBI.
In the third inning, after a leadoff single by pitcher JT Brubaker and an error by shortstop Eugenio Suárez when he muffled the exchange for a possible double play, De León went out – all with a sinker at 94 or 95 mph – including the two batters who previously burned him for homers, Evans and Moran.
In the fourth inning, De León retired the side on five pitches. By then, he was still a bit tired of running the bases in the second inning.
“I had to try to calm myself down. In that inning I felt something click,” said De León. “I took my time on the mound between throws and took a deep breath. It was something I think helped me by being a little tired that inning.”
De León again struckout in the fifth inning, including a walk with two outs. Bell lifted the righthanded up on a walk to open the top of the sixth inning.
On Sunday, Hoffman earned the 12-1 victory over the Cardinals with five strong innings of one-run baseball. He still pitched the record in the bottom of the fifth when Castellanos crushed a three-run homer to break an 1-1 tie.
“That’s the kind of starts we need from him and all our starters,” said Mike Moustakas, who tied the game to second with a solo-homer from two outs in the fifth inning. “Especially if we don’t score points and they can, then the pressure will take off.”
It was no longer more difficult to get runs when Castellanos homered in his fourth plate appearance of the evening with one out in the seventh inning. Two more runs were scored in the eighth.
Against Pittsburgh left-wing reliever Sam Howard, Castellanos acknowledged a nice 3-1 slider after sniffing up a full count. Howard followed with a 94 mph fastball, and Castellanos was all over it with a 130 yards ride to left field that left his bat at 108.9mph. He turned his bat and walked past the bases, ending his day better than he started.
Earlier in the day, MLB gave Castellanos a two-game suspension for his part in a bench-clearing incident against St. Louis on Saturday. He is allowed to play while awaiting his appeal.
“It is clear that he has carried us to the start of this season,” Moustakas said. “His energy is electric.”