Now that there has been a switch in favorites, I'm going to go against the line move and take the Reds. Cincinnati has better hitters than San Diego and I like Tyler Mahle more than the totally untested Walker Lockett.

This will be Lockett's big league debut. He comes up from Triple-A El Paso where he wasn't pitching well with a 2-5 record and 5.31 ERA. Now he has to face Joey Votto, Scooter Gennett and Eugenio Suarez. I would take those three guys above any of the Padres hitters with Wil Myers still on the DL.

This is what Padres manager Andy Green was quoted as saying about Lockett: "...His numbers are not great right now with El Paso, but this is the time when you start taking looks at guys and he has the opportunity to come up here and establish himself and possibly earn another shot the next time around."

That's not exactly a ringing endorsement.