Overton's struggles persist: 'I’ve got to figure this out'

CINCINNATI -- Among the reasons the Reds liked having Connor Overton in their rotation is that he's historically not afraid to go after hitters even though he lacks power stuff. With six pitches in his repertoire and a top velocity of around 92 mph, Overton is also a departure from the rotation's power pitchers -- Graham Ashcraft, Nick Lodolo and Hunter Greene.

Cincinnati has yet to see the results this season that made Overton a nice surprise early on in 2022. During Friday night's 8-3 Reds loss to the Phillies at Great American Ball Park, Overton gave up five runs on five hits and three walks over three innings with no strikeouts.

“Getting behind and then trying to do too much, you can’t have success here doing that," Overton said.

Overton has been unable to complete five innings in any of his three starts this season and has an 11.45 ERA. The Reds were able to win his previous two starts after his departure, but that wasn't the case on Friday.

Save for one outing in Arizona, Overton also did not look sharp during Spring Training. Overall in 2023, he has not looked like the pitcher who posted a 1.82 ERA in four starts last season before a stress reaction in his back put him out for four months.

"He’ll continue to work at it. Players go through this. We’re two weeks into the season," Reds manager David Bell said.

While Overton pitched in Cincinnati, Reds starter Luke Weaver was making his second rehab start for Triple-A Louisville at Toledo. Weaver, who opened the season on the injured list with a right elbow flexor strain, threw four hitless innings in his first start for Louisville on Sunday and gave up three earned runs over five innings on Friday.

Assuming Weaver came through his second outing healthy, Bell expected him to be back in the big leagues for the next turn in the rotation. However, the manager did not tip his hand about who might come out of the rotation to make room.

If Overton isn't the odd man out when Weaver arrives, Luis Cessa would be the other candidate. Cessa had a solid first start but allowed five earned runs over 3 ? innings on Tuesday at Atlanta. With experience as a reliever, Cessa could help the club from the bullpen.

Overton's issues against Philadelphia often centered on his getting into hitters' counts and generating hard contact. Kyle Schwarber's 94.1 mph one-out RBI double gave the Phillies a 1-0 first-inning lead.

In the second inning, Overton was in a 3-0 count to Edmundo Sosa before his full-count fastball up and over the outer half of the plate was lifted at 101.7 mph to right-center field for a solo home run.

"Tonight was a good example where he can’t find it, he felt off," Bell said of Overton. "Players go through that, pitchers go through it, nobody’s working harder than him to figure that out. I think he felt good in the first inning, sat down, went back out, even from his warmup pitches he didn’t feel good."

In a three-run top of the third inning with one out, Schwarber walked on five pitches. Both Nick Castellanos and Brandon Marsh opened plate appearances with ball one. Castellanos scorched a 105.4 mph RBI double to center field. Marsh hit an RBI triple off the wall in left-center field. JT Realmuto's sacrifice fly put the Reds behind, 5-0.

"I’ve got to figure this out," Overton said. "Getting behind guys and leaving stuff over the middle of the plate, there’s a fair amount of bad luck and it’s part of the game. It’s starting to compound. It’s not good.”

The average exit velocity on contact against all of Overton's 55 pitches was 90 mph. Although the changeup is usually his most-used pitch, he only threw nine of them on Friday. He came in with a 35 percent whiff rate on the pitch. On Friday, Overton got five swings and no misses on his nine changeups.

“The plan was to use it a lot," Overton said. "It just didn’t have the bite that it normally does. I was having trouble getting through some of the pitches and finishing them. It was kind of flat today.”