Press Clippings August 21, 2017 THIS DAY IN REDS HISTORY 1990- becomes the last Red to 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 as the Braves fouled off some quality pitches. He also ran into some trouble in the third as he allowed two runs on a double by Braves that split the gap in right field.

"I didn't have my best stuff today, but I went 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 , 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 , which topped out at 97 mph, with a strong 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 Tyler Flowers said. "That guy is pretty good. He's got some pretty good stuff."

Reds thought the combination was good from his young . He admitted that he didn't want to up his , 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 . 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 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 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, 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.

The special uniforms will first be worn by the Pirates and Cardinals during the MLB Little League Classic to be played in Williamsport, Pa., on Aug. 20 during the 2017 Little League World . The Reds will be hosting the Pirates at Great American Ball Park on Players Weekend.

"It's a way for players to express themselves a little more," Gennett said. "Maybe we can bring more attention to that weekend of baseball, and that these guys actually have personalities and aren't robots playing baseball.

"I think it's awesome what MLB is doing this year. It's new to everybody, but I'm sure it will continue to happen. I think people appreciate it. We appreciate being able to express ourselves a little bit."

Each player also will be sporting a special patch on his sleeve with a logo that shows the progression of a child evolving into a Major Leaguer. There is white space under the logo where players can write the name of a person they are grateful to for helping them advance their careers.

"We have people we want to thank, but unless you're in front of a camera or someone is asking you, it's kind of hard to get that out there," Gennett said.

Gennett has chosen to thank and honor his father, Joe, on his sleeve patch.

"He worked with me all the time," Gennett said. "We've had some good moments on the field, some bad. But they were all directed toward getting me better and ultimately getting a college scholarship. Everything above that was kind of the cherry on top. All of that work and sacrifice he made to allow me to be the best I can."

Mark Sheldon has covered the Reds for MLB.com since 2006, and previously covered the Twins from 2001-05. Follow him on Twitter @m_sheldon and Facebook and listen to his podcast. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. CINCINNATI ENQUIRER BAR: So much for an August trade... Zach Buchanan, [email protected] Published 10:23 a.m. ET Aug. 21, 2017 | Updated 10:28 a.m. ET Aug. 21, 2017

The Blog Above Replacement a daily look at the Cincinnati Reds, their minor leagues and whatever else is on the mind of Enquirer Reds beat writers, C. Trent Rosecrans and Zach Buchanan. You can follow them on Twitter (@ctrent and @ZachENQ), Facebook (C. Trent Rosecrans and Zach Buchanan) and Instagram (ENQReds).

Entering August, the Reds had one healthy candidate for an August waiver trade, right-handed reliever . Then shortstop Zack Cozart and starter came off the disabled list, and they had three.

Now none of them could be moved. Feldman is done for the season and likely will require knee surgery for the second time in his career. You can cross him off the list for sure. Zack Cozart continues to be terrific when he's on the field, but there hasn't been a trade market for him for more than a year. It's touch to see one developing now.

Finally, Storen has remained healthy, but it's been a rough week for him. He had a 3.00 ERA two weeks ago and looked like he could help just about any contender, at least in middle relief. Since then, he's allowed 11 earned runs in 4 2/3 innings, raising his ERA to 4.71. It'll take a significant good streak to get it back to 3.00 again.

Of the three, only Cozart is a player of the caliber for whom you'd expect a trade return that would be at least interesting. The other two would net you lottery tickets in terms of prospects, in essence, the Reds getting something for them before they get nothing. So it's tough to lose too much sleep over it.

But it will set up an interesting situation with Cozart. Do you slap a qualifying offer on him this offseason, guaranteeing him north of $18 million if he accepts? (Very unlikely, I feel.) It would give you draft pick compensation if he signs elsewhere, but his market is so limited that he might just accept since it would increase his career earnings 150 percent.

If you think it's hard trading a shortstop on a cheap deal in his age-31 season, try trading him on an expensive one a year later.

ICYMI

- Luis Castillo looked like a rookie for the first time Sunday.

- The Reds are showing off their arms.

Minor-league roundup

Triple-A: Louisville 13, Rochester 6. RHP Rookie Davis gave up five runs in six innings. LF Brandon Dixon went 4 for 5 with three home runs and now has 15 on the season.

Double-A: Mississippi 3, Pensacola 2. RHP Jose Lopez went six innings and allowed two runs. He walked none and struck out five. 3B/LF Josh VanMeter went 2 for 4 with a double.

High-A: Lakeland 4, Daytona 2. RHP Jonathon Crawford allowed two runs and walked five in four innings. C Chris Okey drew two walks.

Low-A: Dayton 8, Lake County 3. LHP Wennington Romero gave up three runs in six innings and struck out nine. RF Randy Ventura went 3 for 4 with a , and CF Jose Siri his 20th homer of the season.

Rookie-Advanced: Missoula 6, Billings 4. RHP Jhon De Jesus allowed five runs in 3 2/3 innings. DH Hendrik Clementina went 2 for 4 with a double, and LF J.D. Salmon-Williams was 2 for 4 with a home run. The Reds released RHP Ian Kahaloa, whose suspension for a drug of abuse just ended.

This time, the ‘stuff’ doesn’t translate for Castillo C. Trent Rosecrans, [email protected] Published 9:34 a.m. ET Aug. 21, 2017

ATLANTA - From what we’d seen in his first 11 starts in the big leagues, it’s easy to forget that Luis Castillo is a rookie. Sunday against the Braves, the rookie looked like a rookie.

The stuff was still there – oh was it, the 98-mph fastball, the filthy changeup and the emerging – but the control was not.

Castillo didn’t give up a hit until ’ chopper with two outs in the third and he surrendered just four overall, but he needed 90 pitches to get through four innings. It was the shortest appearance of his brief career, an 8-0 loss to the Braves on Sunday at SunTrust Park.

“You can look at his numbers, it’s hard to come up here and get established and have numbers that resemble competitive numbers,” Reds manager Bryan Price said afterwards. “He’s that guy that as the league finds out, he might be the guy in our rotation that teams don’t want to see, that you hope you miss him. That’s a lot to say about a guy as young and inexperienced as he is. Today, Atlanta gave him some great at-bats and it made sense to get him out there. It’s a learning process for him as well, to see if he can get some of those good sinkers down on the plate early and get something in play.”

The fact that Castillo struck out eight of the 19 batters he faced showed that the stuff was there. But he also walked two and went deep into counts, including a 10-pitch at-bat against the last batter he faced, , who eventually struck out looking.

After Phillips’ chopper in the third, followed with a and then Nick Markakis doubled in both runners to give the Braves a 2-0 lead.

“Sometimes you make mistakes and I made my mistake and I paid for it,” Castillo said according to interpreter Julio Morillo. “But after that, I went out there and I tried to do the best I can do and tried to go deeper in the game. After that mistake, I felt I pitched really good.”

Castillo got through the fourth, giving up a double and a walk, but he needed 28 pitches to do so, putting him at 90 on the day.

“That’s a pretty big workload as far as pitches per inning. He was up to around 90 pitches in four innings,” Price said. “This team here in Atlanta has done just about as good a job as any team he’s faced as far as fighting off good pitches, battling and keeping the at-bat alive and finding a way to get a base hit, draw a walk or even if the at-bat ended, it was a five- or six- or seven-pitch at-bat. So, at this point in time, he’s got more innings left to pitch for us, but to send him out there for a fifth to throw up to 100, 105, 110 pitches didn’t make much sense. He’d labored and it seemed like the right idea to get him out of there.”

Reliever Drew Storen, who earlier this season pitched an “immaculate inning,” striking out the side on nine pitches, started the fifth. What he did Sunday was whatever the opposite of that is – giving up four runs on four pitches to start the fifth inning.

Storen started the inning by giving up a first-pitch single to Brandon Phillips. Freddie Freeman hit a ground-rule double on the first pitch he saw. The Reds then intentionally walked Nick Markakis to load the bases.

Braves catcher Tyler Flowers swung through the first pitch he saw from Storen but then crushed the next one for his 11th home run of the season and first .

It was the ninth grand slam allowed by Reds this season, a new team record.

And the inning wasn’t over for Storen, who would throw 25 more pitches and allow two more runs. In all, he allowed six runs on six hits with two walks (one intentional) in two-thrids of an inning.

Tim Adleman needed just two pitches to get a fly ball to get out of the inning and then pitched three more scoreless innings to get to the off day for the Reds .

Reds recap: Cincinnati loses series finale to , 8-1 C. Trent Rosecrans, [email protected] Published 4:54 p.m. ET Aug. 20, 2017 | Updated 5:56 a.m. ET Aug. 21, 2017

ATLANTA - After taking the first two games of their first-ever series at SunTrust Park, the Reds dropped the finale 8-1 to the Braves on Sunday.

Here are the main storylines from Sunday’s game:

Castillo goes four: Luis Castillo had his shortest outing of his short big-league career, going just four innings, allowing two runs on four hits with two walks and a hit batter. He struck out eight.

The eight strikeouts showed that Castillo’s stuff was outstanding, even if his command wasn’t.

Castillo threw 90 pitches in his four innings. He didn’t give up a hit until Brandon Phillips’ chopper with two outs in the third. The Braves followed that with back-to-back hits and two runs scoring on Nick Markakis’ double.

Castillo would need 28 pitches to get through the fourth inning, with walking on nine pitches and Ender Inciarte striking out to end the inning, but taking 10 pitches to do so.

Musical chairs: Eugenio Suarez made his season debut at shortstop in the fifth inning as part of a to bring Tim Adleman into the game. Suarez went from third to short and Jose Peraza went from short to second. Patrick Kivlehan came in to play third base and Adleman took Gennett’s spot in the lineup.

When Arismendy Alcantara was designated for assignment recently, Reds manager Bryan Price said Suarez could get time at shortstop. Zack Cozart was already down after getting hit by a pitch on Friday night. He didn’t play either Saturday or Sunday.

In the seventh inning, Phillip Ervin entered the game in left field and Price moved Adam Duvall to first.

Slammed: Earlier this season Drew Storen pitched an “immaculate inning,” striking out the side on nine pitches. What he did Sunday was whatever the opposite of that is — giving up four runs on four pitches to start the fifth inning.

Storen started the inning by giving up a first-pitch single to Phillips. Freddie Freeman hit a ground-rule double on the first pitch he saw. The Reds then intentionally walked Markakis to load the bases.

Braves catcher Tyler Flowers swung through the first pitch he saw from Storen but then crushed the next one for his 11th home run of the season and first grand slam.

It was the ninth grand slam allowed by Reds pitchers this season, a new team record. The Reds allowed eight grand slams in four previous seasons, including both 2015 and 2016.

And the inning wasn’t over for Storen, who would throw 25 more pitches and allow two more runs. In all, he allowed six runs on six hits with two walks (one intentional) in 2/3 of an inning.

He was replaced by Adleman, who needed just two pitches to get out of the inning.

Newcomb saves himself: Braves rookie got into a pickle in the third inning, walking Peraza with one out to load the bases for Votto.

But Newcomb got out of it because of his defense and his team’s defense.

First second base prospect , who forced Phillips’ move to third, leapt to snag a Votto liner for the first out. Then Adam Duvall hit a slow roller to the first base side that Newcomb had to dive to field. Then, from his stomach, he made something of a hook-shot like throw that skipped over to Freddie Freeman for the third out of the inning.

The Reds would strand a total of eight runners in three innings from the third to fifth. DAYTON DAILY NEWS Gennett joins exclusive list of Reds after latest grand slam Gabriel Burns 9:00 a.m. Monday, Aug. 21, 2017

Second baseman Scooter Gennett joined an exclusive list Saturday when he hit a grand slam in the eighth inning of the Reds’ 11-8 win over the Braves.

Gennett has three grand slams this season, the seventh Red to accomplish such since the franchise’s inception in 1882. If Gennett puts another ball in the seats with the bases in 2017, he’ll set the new team record.

Other Reds to hit three slams in one season are (1987), Ray Knight (1980), Lee May (1970), (1962), Chris Sabo (1993) and teammate Devin Mesoraco (2014). TRANSACTIONS 08/21/17 sent RHP on a rehab assignment to .

08/20/17 optioned RHP Bryan Mitchell to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. released LHP J.P. Howell. sent RHP Miguel Diaz on a rehab assignment to Lake Elsinore Storm. Toronto Blue Jays optioned Tom Koehler to Dunedin Blue Jays. recalled Ben Lively from Lehigh Valley IronPigs. claimed RHP Jordan Jankowski off waivers from . Los Angeles Dodgers traded RHP Jacob Rhame to New York Mets. placed RHP Miguel Castro on the bereavement list. Baltimore Orioles recalled Alec Asher from Norfolk Tides. recalled RHP Jimmie Sherfy from . Arizona Diamondbacks recalled Braden Shipley from Reno Aces. Arizona Diamondbacks optioned to Reno Aces. Arizona Diamondbacks optioned J.J. Hoover to Reno Aces. activated RHP Koji Uehara from the 10-day disabled list. Chicago Cubs optioned Rob Zastryzny to Iowa Cubs. recalled Jacob Stallings from . activated RF Cesar Puello. Brewers optioned Brandon Woodruff to Colorado Springs Sky Sox. activated RHP Chase Anderson from the 10-day disabled list. Tampa Bay Rays placed RHP Jacob Faria on the 10-day disabled list retroactive to August 17, 2017. Abdominal strain. Chicago Cubs activated C Rene Rivera. Chicago Cubs optioned Victor Caratini to Iowa Cubs. St. Louis Cardinals recalled from Memphis Redbirds. released 2B Danny Espinosa. Seattle Mariners recalled Taylor Motter from Tacoma Rainiers.