Cincinnati Reds will be facing St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Kyle Lohse for the second time this season and I thought I would look more into what happened last game that made Lohse win over Mike Leake. Cardinals 3 – Reds 1

I can tell you I have had the pleasure of watching both of his starts this season and he has really come a long way from when he played with the Reds. Kyle Lohse has been very successful this season with his sinker. He has thrown in 73 times (40%) in two starts and 64.4% were strikes with 38.4% swings, 2.7% whiffs, 11.0% foul and 24.7% of them in play. (Mostly right to a position player to get the easy out.) His slider is also another pitch that has been very effective for him early this season. He has thrown it 40 times (23.3%) 62.5% strikes, 42.5% swung on and 7.5% whiffs. 7.5% were foul and 27.5% were in play. His change-up is what many announcers are praising right now though. He has thrown it 28 times (15.6%) with 64.3% strikes, 60.7% swing, 17.9% whiff, 25% foul and 17.9% in play. He has also thrown a 4-seam fastball this season 25 times (14%) with it also being a high strike pitch at 60%. 40% swing, 0% whiff and 20% both foul and in play. He threw a curveball 13 times this season. (7.3%) 53.8% strike, 23.1 swhing and 7.7% whiff, foul and in play. These stats can be all seen at pitch/fx

When the Reds faced Kyle Lohse this season at home he threw his sinker 39 times (43.3%) with it clocking in at 88 mph and 59% of them being strikes. 38.5% were swung at while 5.1% were whiffs, 12.8% foul and 20.5% in play. His slider was thrown 18 times (20%) and were in the strike zone 66.7% of the time with 44.4% swung on, 5.6% whiff, 11.1% foul and 27.8% in play. He threw his change-up and 4-seam fastball 14 times that game both seeing pretty good results versus the Reds hitters. They both hit the strike zone 71.4% with the change-up getting 64.3% swing and the fastball getting only 50%. His change-up had 7.1% whiff while his fastball got 0%. Change-ups in play was at 21.4% while his fastball got 28.6% in that game. He also threw his curveball 5 times (5.6%) with 40% strikes and 20% swing and foul. During this game he had a groundout rate of 29.17% and a flyout rate of 16.67%. 8.33% was the number for lineouts, strikeouts, pop outs and singles. 4.17% was double, intent walk, triple, hit by pitch and sac fly.

Kyle Lohse vs. Zack Cozart (4/10/12) [Source]
Lohse threw his slider 4 times, (44%) 75% strikes, 50% swung on with 50% in play. He also threw his change-up and sinker 2 times each with his change-up in the strike zone 50% and his sinker 100%. Cozart swung at his change-up 50% with 50% fouled off also while doing nothing with his sinker. Lohse also threw his cuverball once which was a ball. Cozart groundout, got hit by pitch and tripled.

Kyle Lohse vs. Joey Votto (4/10/12) [Source]
Single, lineout and sac fly were the results when these two faced for the first time this season. Lohse threw Votto 5 4-seam fastballs and 5 sinkers along with 1 change-up. His fastball and sinker hit the strike zone 80% while his change-up was a foul ball. Votto swung at his fastball 60% and his sinker 40% fouling off the fastball 40% and putting it in play 20%. Votto put his sinker into play 40% also.

Kyle Lohse vs. Scott Rolen (4/10/12) [Source]
Flyout, lineout and groundout with 4 sliders, 3 sinkers, 2 4-seam fastballs and 1 curveball. 25% slider strikes, 66.7% sinker strikes, and 100% 4-seam fastball strikes with the curveball being a ball. Rolen swung at the sinker (66%) and fastball *50%) putting them in play.

Kyle Lohse vs. Jay Bruce (4/10/12) [Source]
Double, Strikeout and single with 8 sinkers, 7 change-ups and 1 curveball. 37.5% sinker strikes, 71.4% change-up strikes and 100% curveball strikes. Bruce swung at the sinker 25% and his change-up 57% while his curveball was just a called strike. Jay whiffed at the sinker 25% and the change-up 14% while fouling it off 14.3% and putting it into play 28.6%.

Kyle Lohse vs. Chris Heisey (4/10/12) [Source]
Groundout, flyout and pop out with 9 sinkers, 2 change-ups, 1 4-seam fastball and 1 slider. 55.6% sinker strikes with every other pitch being 100% strikes. 0% whiffed at which is very impressive for Heisey. 33% sinker fouls, 100% change-up fouls and 100% slider fouls with 22.2% sinkers in play and 100% 4-seam fastballs in play.

Kyle Lohse vs. Drew Stubbs (4/10/12) [Source]
Groundout and strikeout with 5 sliders, 2 sinkers, 2 4-seam fastballs and 1 change-up. 80% slider strikes and 50% sinker strikes with Stubbs swinging at the slider 40% and fouling it off 20% and putting it into play 20%.

Kyle Lohse vs. Devin Mesoraco (4/10/12) [Source]
Intentional walk and pop out with 1 slider and 1 4-seam fastball both strikes with Mesoraco swinging at the slider and putting it into play.

Kyle Lohse vs. Willie Harris (4/10/12) [Source]
2 groundouts and a flyout with 5 sinkers, 3 4-seam fastballs, 2 curveballs and 1 change-up. 80% sinker strikes, 66% fastball strikes, 50% curveball strikes and 100% change-up strikes. Harris swung at the sinker 60%, fastball 66%, curveball 50% and the change-up 100%. Fouling off the sinker (40%) fastball (33%) and the curveball. (50%) He put the sinker in play 20% and the fastball 33% with also putting the change-up in play.

Kyle Lohse vs. Mike Leake (4/10/12) [Source]
Flyout and groundout with 5 sinkers and 3 sliders. 40% sinker strikes while he threw 66.7% slider strikes. Leake whiffed at the slider 33% and put it into play 33%. He put the sinker in play 20%.

                                                                
                    PA  AB  H HR RBI BB SO   BA  OBP   SLG   OPS
Willie Harris       31  27  6  0   1  2  1 .222 .276  .222  .498
Scott Rolen         21  18  4  1   2  2  1 .222 .333  .444  .778
Jay Bruce           19  18  6  1   4  1  6 .333 .368  .667 1.035
Brandon Phillips    18  16  4  0   1  1  2 .250 .278  .313  .590
Ryan Ludwick        16  15  3  0   2  1  6 .200 .250  .200  .450
Joey Votto          15  14  5  0   1  0  4 .357 .333  .500  .833
Ryan Hanigan        12  10  1  0   0  2  1 .100 .250  .200  .450
Drew Stubbs          8   7  0  0   0  1  2 .000 .125  .000  .125
Wilson Valdez        5   4  1  0   0  1  1 .250 .400  .250  .650
Zack Cozart          3   2  1  0   0  0  0 .500 .667 1.500 2.167
Chris Heisey         3   3  0  0   0  0  0 .000 .000  .000  .000
Bronson Arroyo       2   1  0  0   0  0  0 .000 .000  .000  .000
Homer Bailey         2   2  0  0   0  0  2 .000 .000  .000  .000
Johnny Cueto         2   2  1  0   0  0  0 .500 .500  .500 1.000
Mike Leake           2   2  0  0   0  0  0 .000 .000  .000  .000
Devin Mesoraco       2   1  0  0   0  1  0 .000 .500  .000  .500
Miguel Cairo         1   1  0  0   0  0  0 .000 .000  .000  .000
Mat Latos            1   0  0  0   0  0                        0
Total              163 143 32  2  11 12 26 .224 .289  .336  .625

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/16/2012.