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Cincinnati Reds Press Clippings August 21, 2017 THIS DAY IN REDS HISTORY 1990-Billy Hatcher becomes the last Red to double four times in one game, matching a club record, during a victory, 8-1, over the Cubs MLB.COM Castillo flashes potential in grinding start By Jaylon Thompson / MLB.com | August 20th, 2017 + 2 COMMENTS ATLANTA -- Luis Castillo continued to strengthen his case to become a potential frontline starter for the Reds. He didn't have the best command of his pitches, but he battled to limit the Braves to a pair of runs in the Reds 8-1 loss on Sunday at SunTrust Park. Castillo was clean during his first trip through the Braves' lineup. However, he quickly accelerated his pitch count as the Braves fouled off some quality pitches. He also ran into some trouble in the third inning as he allowed two runs on a double by Braves outfielder Nick Markakis that split the gap in right field. "I didn't have my best stuff today, but I went out there and competed," Castillo said through an interpreter. "I made my mistakes and I paid for it." Although he took the loss in his shortest start of the season, Castillo made sure to keep the Reds in the game. He limited the Braves to four hits and racked up eight strikeouts, five of which came in the first eight batters of the game. "I went out there and did the best I could to go deeper in the game," Castillo said. "After that mistake, I think I pitched really well." According to Statcast™, Castillo balanced his two-seam fastball, which topped out at 97 mph, with a strong changeup inside to right-handed hitters. He had five swinging strikes with the changeup, and it helped him secure a couple of inning-ending strikeouts. "We were ready to get that Castillo guy out of there," Braves catcher Tyler Flowers said. "That guy is pretty good. He's got some pretty good stuff." Reds manager Bryan Price thought the combination was good from his young pitcher. He admitted that he didn't want to run up his pitch count, but was happy to see Castillo's continued growth in his 12th start. "That is a pretty big workload for pitches per inning," Price said. "He up around 90 pitches through four innings. This team in Atlanta did about as good a job as any team he faced, fighting off pitches and battling to keep the at-bats alive." Castillo is 2-6 with a 3.45 ERA this season. He has allowed two or fewer runs in six of his 12 starts. With his pitching mix, Price believes that he can eventually anchor the pitching staff long-term. "It is hard to come up here, get established and have numbers that resemble competitive numbers," Price said. "As the league finds out, he could be the guy in the rotation that people don't want to see. You hope that you miss him and that is a lot to say for a guy that is young and inexperienced as he is." As Castillo finishes this season, he will continue to garner recognition from around the league. However, his teammates already know the potential that he can have for the starting rotation. They hope he can keep it going. "He is really poised for a young pitcher and keeps his emotions in check," Reds second baseman Scooter Gennett said. "He has great stuff and once he continuously gets better, he is going to be really good. For a guy in his first year in the big leagues, he has done a great job and his future is very bright." Jaylon Thompson is a reporter for MLB.com based in Atlanta and covered the Reds on Sunday. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. Castillo flashes potential in grinding start By Jaylon Thompson / MLB.com | August 20th, 2017 + 2 COMMENTS ATLANTA -- Luis Castillo continued to strengthen his case to become a potential frontline starter for the Reds. He didn't have the best command of his pitches, but he battled to limit the Braves to a pair of runs in the Reds 8-1 loss on Sunday at SunTrust Park. Castillo was clean during his first trip through the Braves' lineup. However, he quickly accelerated his pitch count as the Braves fouled off some quality pitches. He also ran into some trouble in the third inning as he allowed two runs on a double by Braves outfielder Nick Markakis that split the gap in right field. "I didn't have my best stuff today, but I went out there and competed," Castillo said through an interpreter. "I made my mistakes and I paid for it." Although he took the loss in his shortest start of the season, Castillo made sure to keep the Reds in the game. He limited the Braves to four hits and racked up eight strikeouts, five of which came in the first eight batters of the game. "I went out there and did the best I could to go deeper in the game," Castillo said. "After that mistake, I think I pitched really well." According to Statcast™, Castillo balanced his two-seam fastball, which topped out at 97 mph, with a strong changeup inside to right-handed hitters. He had five swinging strikes with the changeup, and it helped him secure a couple of inning-ending strikeouts. "We were ready to get that Castillo guy out of there," Braves catcher Tyler Flowers said. "That guy is pretty good. He's got some pretty good stuff." Reds manager Bryan Price thought the combination was good from his young pitcher. He admitted that he didn't want to run up his pitch count, but was happy to see Castillo's continued growth in his 12th start. "That is a pretty big workload for pitches per inning," Price said. "He up around 90 pitches through four innings. This team in Atlanta did about as good a job as any team he faced, fighting off pitches and battling to keep the at-bats alive." Castillo is 2-6 with a 3.45 ERA this season. He has allowed two or fewer runs in six of his 12 starts. With his pitching mix, Price believes that he can eventually anchor the pitching staff long-term. "It is hard to come up here, get established and have numbers that resemble competitive numbers," Price said. "As the league finds out, he could be the guy in the rotation that people don't want to see. You hope that you miss him and that is a lot to say for a guy that is young and inexperienced as he is." As Castillo finishes this season, he will continue to garner recognition from around the league. However, his teammates already know the potential that he can have for the starting rotation. They hope he can keep it going. "He is really poised for a young pitcher and keeps his emotions in check," Reds second baseman Scooter Gennett said. "He has great stuff and once he continuously gets better, he is going to be really good. For a guy in his first year in the big leagues, he has done a great job and his future is very bright." Jaylon Thompson is a reporter for MLB.com based in Atlanta and covered the Reds on Sunday. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. Don't question Scooter during Players Weekend Already graced with a nickname, Gennett will opt for 'Ryan' Aug. 25-27 By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com | @m_sheldon | August 20th, 2017 + 0 COMMENTS MILWAUKEE -- Among the features of Players Weekend on Aug. 25-27, players around Major League Baseball will get to have nicknames on the backs of their jerseys above their numbers. Reds second baseman Scooter Gennett already uses his nickname on the field every day, so he did something a little ironic with his jersey. Gennett will wear his given name, Ryan, above his No. 4. His full name is Ryan Joseph Gennett. "I think a lot of people ask, 'What is your real name?' A lot of people don't know," Gennett explained. "I think that's maybe a way to eliminate some of those questions. You never want to get asked over and over the same question. To be able to put it out there, and answer some of those people's questions, is pretty cool." As a little kid in Lebanon, Ohio, outside of Cincinnati, Gennett adopted the name Scooter, who is one of the characters on "The Muppet Show." His favorite cartoon at the time was "Muppet Babies." "I think it just stuck more in baseball. I didn't answer to Ryan for a year or two," Gennett said. "My teammates had to call me Scooter. I think it fit well in baseball. All my friends would call me Scooter. Teachers, a lot of them called me Ryan. Baseball, for some reason, it just fit." Players will have the opportunity to have a nickname placed on the back of the jerseys made by Majestic Athletic, as well as to wear and use uniquely colored and designed spikes, batting gloves, wristbands, compression sleeves, catcher's masks and bats. Players will wear specially designed caps by New Era, and unique socks from Stance. During pregame workouts and postgame interviews, they will wear T-shirts highlighting a charity or cause of their choice. All game-worn jerseys from Players Weekend will be auctioned at MLB.com/auctions, with 100 percent of net proceeds being donated to the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation, which is focused on improving amateur baseball and softball programs in the United States and Canada.