What drew Nick Castellanos to the Cincinnati Reds as a free agent in January 2020 was the club’s starting pitching.
Castellanos saw how dominant starting pitching carried the Detroit Tigers to the postseason at the beginning of his career with four Cy Young winners in the rotation – Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, David Price and Rick Porcello.
The Reds no longer have Trevor Bauer or Anthony DeSclafani, but their rotation has ignited their play throughout the past month. The Reds have a 3.27 ERA in June, entering Tuesday’s series opener against San Diego, which includes nine quality starts in their last 14 games.