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# Mariners at Reds Preview: The First Real Road Trip of 2025 Begins
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/mariners-at-reds-preview-first-real-road-trip-begins/
- Published: 2025-04-15T20:29:47.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T05:59:49.000Z
- Author: Corbin Smith
- Tags: Mariners, Luis Castillo, Bryan Woo, Bryce Miller

[Embed from Getty Images](http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/2210326954?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com)

Fresh off a 5-1 homestand against a pair of division rivals, the Mariners travel to Cincinnati to kick off their first extended road trip of 2025\. Both teams swept their respective series this weekend, so one of these teams will see their current win streak come to an end in the next few hours. 

Let’s go over what to look for in the pitching matchups.

### Game 1: RHP Luis Castillo (1-1, 2.12 ERA) vs. LHP Nick Lodolo (2-1, 0.96 ERA)

Returning to where it all began for him, Castillo makes his first start against his former team since being traded from Cincinnati to Seattle in 2022\. He’s no longer the changeup-heavy pitcher he was as a member of the Reds, so how this reinvented version of Castillo fares at the ballpark he once called home will be fascinating to see play out. The Reds' offense has really struggled in the early going, ranking 29th in batting average (.200), 28th in on-base percentage (.272), 27th in slugging percentage (.320), tied-30th in wRC+ (64), and dead-last in hard-hit rate (34.6 percent), but they will receive a boost with Matt McLain and Austin Hays both returning from the injured list. Still, Castillo looks to have a great opportunity on paper to continue his hot start to the year. 

Castillo’s counterpart for the night, Lodolo, has only surrendered three runs over the course of his first three starts, but he’s done so pitching to contact rather than missing bats with regularity. He’s only averaging 3.86 strikeouts per nine innings pitched so far and his three most-used offerings, his four-seam fastball, sinker, and changeup, currently sport whiff rates in the mid-teens. It’s a very similar situation to the one the Mariners were faced with this past Saturday when Kumar Rocker took the bump for the Rangers; it’s a pitcher who doesn’t generate a ton of swing-and-miss against a team that whiffs a lot, particularly on pitches inside the strike zone. As was the case heading into Seattle’s matchup against Rocker, which worked out in the Mariners’ favor, something has to give. 

### Game 2: RHP Bryce Miller (0-2, 4.50 ERA) vs. RHP Nick Martinez (0-2, 6.06 ERA)

Following a grinding five-inning performance against the Rangers, Miller divulged to the media that he’s been dealing with some soreness in the early portion of the season. Neither Miller nor the Mariners seem too concerned about it, though it likely explains why the young righty hasn’t looked particularly sharp in his first three starts this year. Fastball control has been a bit of a problem area for the Texas A&M product and opponents are creating contact on a little over 90 percent of the pitches he’s thrown inside the strike zone, leading to longer, drawn-out counts and shorter outings. That could prove to be a problem in the hitter-friendly confines of Great American Ballpark, but given the Reds’ aforementioned offensive struggles, this would seem to be an ideal spot for Miller to put together a start fans are more accustomed to seeing from him.

Martinez, on the other hand, has given the Reds some length in two of his three starts so far, but he’s had some damage done to him in the process, giving up 11 earned runs on 16 hits in 16.1 innings of work. The home run ball has particularly hurt him as opposing hitters have gone yard off of him three times already, though he kept the ball in the park his last time out against the Giants in San Francisco. At the very least, he’s been able to get a decent amount of strikeouts (15) and hasn’t issued many walks (4), plus he keeps hitters guessing with a six-pitch mix he uses equitably. This could be one of those matchups that looks favorable for the Mariners’ offense on the surface but winds up giving them some trouble. 

### Game 3: RHP Bryan Woo (2-0, 2.84 ERA) vs. RHP Brady Singer (3-0, 3.18 ERA)

Woo’s most recent start could have gone sideways in a hurry, but he hunkered down and worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning then proceeded to cook the Rangers for six scoreless frames the rest of the way. He’ll look to ride that momentum into a building that wasn’t very kind to him during his rookie season in 2023, when he allowed five earned runs in as many innings and didn’t record a single strikeout. That said, Woo had very clearly reached the end of his rope just two years removed from Tommy John surgery, and he’s naturally a more seasoned pitcher now than he was then. He’s throwing the ball especially well to begin the year and is currently boasting the 14th-lowest hard-hit rate given up among all qualified starting pitchers in MLB, which isn’t a welcome sight for a Reds offense that rarely generates quality contact relative to the rest of the league. 

Meanwhile the Mariners will get their first look at Singer in a Reds uniform, but they’re very familiar with the former Royals righty, who’s faced them six times in his young career to mixed results. The Mariners have gotten the better of Singer in their last two faceoffs, putting up eight combined runs on 18 hits, including a pair of home runs, in nine innings. Cal Raleigh, Jorge Polanco, Luke Raley, and J.P. Crawford have all homered against Singer in the past; Raleigh and Polanco also own batting averages of .357 and .296, respectively, in the head-to-head matchup in not-so-small sample sizes. Nevertheless, Singer is off to a really nice start with his new club and could very well present some issues for Seattle’s hitters.