SAN DIEGO – On May 21, in a game where the Cincinnati Reds beat the Milwaukee Brewers, Lucas Sims allowed three runs, and his ERA reached 6.48.
At the time, Sims had pitched in 16 games out of the Reds bullpen in 2021. He entered the year as one of the two pitchers competing to be the Reds closer, but Sims had allowed multiple runs in a quarter of his appearances.
Over his next 11 innings since then, Sims has allowed just one run with 16 strikeouts. Over the last 25 days, Sims has six of his seven saves this season as well as nearly 40 percent of his strikeouts in 2021.
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“We all know what Lucas is capable of, and you’ve seen it the last couple nights,” catcher Tucker Barnhart said. “Everybody, including himself, expects performances like that.”
Especially early in the season, Sims’ slider and his curveball weren’t as efficient as they were in 2020. During this year’s spring training, Sims dealt with elbow tightness and didn’t even pitch in simulated games until the middle of March.
Sims pitched in only three spring training games this season, and Barnhart said that could have impacted Sims’ start in 2021.
“I think in a way the first month was like his spring training because he was kind of delayed a little bit,” Barnhart said. “He was battling through some stuff, just getting out there and getting innings under his belt because he didn’t throw as much in the spring.”
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After tweaking his grip on his breaking pitches, Sims has turned around his season. Entering the Reds series against the San Diego Padres, Sims has a 4.23 ERA and is coming off his best series of the season.
Manager David Bell saved Sims during a blowout win in the series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers. Then in the second game of the series, Sims pitched the bottom of the ninth of a tie game.
After walking the first hitter he faced, Sims recovered and got three consecutive outs against the strongest part of the Brewers lineup. Following the walk, Sims said he focused on keeping his approach simple.
“You focus on executing your pitches, what you have to do to get the next guy out,” Sims said. “Go over your scouting report, go over your preparation and go on the attack from there. What’s done is done. The situation is what it is and then you move forward.”
Sims got three crucial outs in Tuesday’s win, and he was even better in Wednesday’s 2-1 victory over the Brewers. He entered the game in the bottom of the eighth with two outs and struck out Milwaukee catcher Omar Narvaez with a slider to end the inning. Sims closed the game for the Reds with three more strikeouts with three different pitches in the ninth.
With Tejay Antone on the injured list, Sims has been the go-to reliever in the Reds bullpen.
“(The relievers) were struggling a little bit and staying tough and strong — especially in that role where it's such a fine line between success and failure,” Bell said. “They just kept working and continued to await their opportunity and the last week or so, they've done an incredible job.”
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CONTINUED CATCHING ROTATION: In the Reds series sweep over the Brewers, catcher Tucker Barnhart stayed on the bench for the entirety of the first two games. The Brewers started left-handed pitchers on Monday and Tuesday, and Tyler Stephenson started both of those games.
It was consistent with how the Reds have used Barnhart this season. Barnhart has started in 43 of the Reds’ 66 games, and all 43 of those starts have come against right-handed pitchers.
Barnhart, a left-handed batter, was back in the lineup for Wednesday’s game against the Brewers and he hit the go-ahead double in the seventh inning.
“Tucker didn’t get two starts and then all of a sudden, he comes in and he has a big moment today and was a big part of our win,” Reds first baseman Joey Votto said. “That’s Tucker.”
RARE STRETCH FOR VOTTO: Over his last seven games, Votto has a .296 batting average, a .997 OPS, 11 RBI and three home runs.
According to Baseball Reference, Votto has only had 10 seven-game stretches in his career where he hit those benchmarks, and he hasn’t had one since 2017.
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