Four Things That Stood Out Most in Reds’ Spring Training Opener Loss to Guardians

The Reds lost 4-2 to the Guardians in Saturday afternoon's Spring Training opener at Goodyear Ballpark.

Here are four things we took awar from Saturday's game:

Command Will Be Important for Chase Burns

Burns made his 2026 Spring Training debut on Saturday afternoon and tossed two scoreless innings. He did not give up a hit, but struggled with his command. Out of the 32 pitches Burns threw, just 15 of them were strikes. He walked three batters.

Burns threw 16 fastballs, eight sliders, four sinkers, and four changeups.

In 13 games in the bigs last season, Burns walked 3.3 batters per nine innings.

Burns has the talent and stuff to be a top tier pitcher in the league, but it will all come down to command. Regardless, we shouldn't read too much in the first start of the spring as guys are still shaking the rust off and getting used to seeing live batters in games again.

Will Benson Loves Facing His Former Team

May 18, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Reds outfielder Will Benson (30) reacts after hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

Will Benson loves facing the Guardians. In the third inning with Edwin Arroyo on base, Benson took a 96 mph fastball deep to left field for the team's first home run of the spring. Benson certainly got all of it as it was hit 108,.4 mph.

Benson is competing with guys like JJ Bleday and Nathaniel Lowe to make the Opening Day roster so it was a fantastic start to the spring for him.

Rhett Lowder Looked Sharp

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While Lowder did surrender a run in his two innings of work, he gave up one hard hit ball. 17 of Lowder's 37 pitches went for called strikes or whiffs, which tells you his stuff as sharp.

He walked a batter and struck out four. Out of his 37 pitches, he threw 23 for strikes. The right-hander mixed up his pitches nicely, throwing 12 sinkers, 9 four-seam fastballs, eight changeups, and eight sliders.

Sal Stewart as Advertised

Cincinnati Reds first baseman Sal Stewart (43) plays a ground ball off the bat of Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) for an out in the first inning of the MLB National League Wild Card Game 2 between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. The Reds were eliminated from the postseason with an 8-4 loss to the reining World Series Champions La Dodgers. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

There has been a bunch of talk all offseason long about how good Sal Stewart looks and how he is down 25+ pounds. On Saturday, it was our first real look at Stewart and he abolutely looks the part.

Stewart started at second base, a position where he could see some reps at this year, and went 0-1 with two walks. In the first inning on a 3-1 count, Stewart had a strike called on him that he elected to use the ABS system to challenge the call. The call was overturned and Stewart was awarded first base.