ST G13 - Royals 6, Reds 2 (Lodolo battles; Ferguson falters)

0:00What's going on everybody, Craig Sandlin here and welcome to Chatterbox Reds proudly sponsored by DSC commodities. Thanks as always for joining us on your daily home for Cincinnati Reds content, all spring training long. Well, the X Reds revenge tour continued on Saturday as the Reds fell to the Kansas City Royals by a final tally of 6-2. Former Reds, Jonathan, India, Kevin Newman, and Brandon Drury combined for five of the Royals 13 hits, with India adding a lead off home run in the bottom of the first inning. Final score wasn't entirely indicative of how this game went,

1:01Nick Lodolo started for the red legs, turning in three plus innings, giving up six hits and just one run on the India solo home run. He walked two and struck out four on the day his ERA for the spring, now sitting at just 1.80. With Hunter Green potentially looking at missing time, Lodolo may be in line for his first opening day start. Lodolo relied heavily on his sinker, throwing the pitch 41% of the time, including 12 of 18 total pitches to left handed batters. Over the last two years, Lodolo had drawn a 17.3 and 13.4% whiff rate on his sinker, but today he drew whiffs on 27% of the pitches. Sam Ben Scooter and Pierce Johnson combined for two innings of hitless baseball, while Trevor Cunsell, Hagen Danner and Anthony Micevich combined for two and a third scoreless innings. Cunsell has yet to allow a run in his three outings this spring,

2:03the undrafted former Frontier League All-Star, right handed reliever at a St. Nex High School in Cincinnati, posted a 2.34 ERA in 47 games in 2025 for the double A. Chattanooga lookouts picking up 20 saves along the way. On the other hand, Caleb Ferguson, making just his second appearance of the spring and first appearance in March, struggled mightily, allowing the first four Royals of the sixth inning to reach by the time all was said and done, Ferguson allowed five earned runs on five hits and two walks on 23 pitches. Ferguson also committed two errors along the way, a fielding error on a punt by Tyler Tolbert and a throwing error on a pickoff attempt, both errors allowing runs to score. Offensively, the red Spencer Steer led the way with two hits, including a double in the top of the fourth, Steer would score on a Christian and Carnassian strand double later that innings. Will Banfield led off the ninth inning with a

3:07double of his own, and after advancing on a wild pitch, he would score on a Carlos Jorge ground out. That ninth inning will Banfield double as our DSC deep drive of the day. Banfield hit the ball 109.1 miles per hour off the bat to center field, traveling 356 feet. Our deep drive of the day is sponsored by Deep South Commodities. DSC is a leader in renewable commodities for biofuel production, specializing in use cooking oil collection, aggregation and sales. Visit www.deepsouthcommodities.com for more information. Thanks as always to our friends at DSC. We also want to remind you that you can call or text 988 anytime day or night. The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a place to get support for anything related to mental health. Whether it's an immediate crisis, simply wanting to find out how to connect with care, or anything in between. It's a 100% confidential, secure and anonymous way

4:12to reach out for help when you don't know where else to turn. To connect, call or text 988 or visit mantherapy.org to get help. It's okay not to be okay. In other news from around Reds Country, AU Hennios Suarez sent a 3-2 slider from Ben Simon deep into the seats at Lone Depot Park in Miami. The 386-foot blast gave team Venezuela a 4-0 lead over team Israel at the time. Suarez would end the day two for four, adding a single. Venezuela would go on to win 11-3 and is now 2-0 in pool play. Suarez and Venezuela returned to action on Monday night at 7 p.m. Eastern against Nicaragua on FS-2. Edwin Roya would make a pinch-running appearance for team Puerto Rico as they defeat team Panama 4-3 and 10-Enings, also advancing to 2-0 in pool play. Puerto Rico will return to play on Monday night as well at 7 p.m. against Cuba. That game will be aired on FS-1.

5:18Mark Sheldon of MLB.com released his updated Reds opening day roster projection on Saturday, while nothing major changed across the infield or at the backstop position. There were two interesting projections that we need to talk about. Sheldon has Matt McLean, Ellie Dela Cruz, Cabrine Hayes, and Sal Stewart, along with Tyler Stevenson and Jose Trevino slotting into the opening day roster as expected. Sheldon also featured Spencer Steer, but he had him amongst the outfielders in his projection. Noting that Steer is likely to play left field much of the time, but will also serve as a utility player. Steer joins TJ Friedle, Nuelvi Marte, JJ Blode, Dane Myers, and Will Benson in the projected outfield lineup. Sheldon had Eddie Hennio Suarez noted as a designated hitter, but cited first-base and third-base as possible options for the slugger. Sheldon of note did not have Nathaniel Low in his projected opening day roster,

6:19but did mention that he's pushing to make the club, and that all three potential backup outfielders do have minor league options should the reds decide to keep low. The pitching staff is where the projections got our attention. With Hunter Green being evaluated for right elbow stiffness, Sheldon removed him from his opening day roster. Sheldon wrote that it is looking unlikely Green will be ready to begin the season on time, leaving three pitchers battling for two spots in the rotation. The battle between Ret Louder, Chase Burns, and Brandon Williamson ultimately went to Louder and Burns in Sheldon's projection. Sheldon's original projection featured Chase Burns in the bullpen, so with his move to the rotation that opened a spot for newly acquired Kyle Nicholas to join the bullpen. Sheldon also had a final spot in the bullpen up for grabs. While he states that Connor Phillips, Sam Moll, or Williamson could be options for that spot, he chose to give the non-roster invitey and old friend TJ Anton the final spot on the roster.

7:27If Anton was able to make the opening day roster after fighting back from three Tommy John surgeries, it could very well become one of the best feel good stories in all of baseball. The Reds will return to action on Sunday with split squad action. Brady Singer will lead one squad against the Arizona Diamondbacks with first pitch scheduled for 405 PM Eastern. Emilio Pagan, Tony Santillon, and Graham Ashcraft are all also scheduled to make appearances for the Reds in that game. Meanwhile, Chase Burns will take the mound at 410 PM Eastern against the San Diego Padres. Chase Petty and Zach Maxwell are also scheduled to pitch in that game while the Padres will send right handed pitcher Logan Gillespie to the mound. Both games will be broadcast live with Reds television talent calling the Diamondbacks game and Padres talent broadcasting that game both games can be found at MLB.tv. Only the Diamondbacks will be

8:31aired on radio. That game will be found on 700 WLW. That will do it for this edition of Chatterbox Reds as always. We thank you for tuning in. Make sure you leave us a 5 star rating and follow us on your preferred social media at CBOX Sports. Until next time everybody, thanks for tuning in and go Reds!