The Cincinnati Reds failed to complete a 3-game sweep of the New York Mets on Wednesday afternoon. New York would score first and never trailed as they pummeled the home team 9-1 in the series finale at Great American Ball Park.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York Mets (33-41) | 9 | 15 | 2 |
| Cincinnati Reds (35-38) | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| W: McLean (4-4) L: Lodolo (2-2) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Nick Lodolo had to work around some baserunners in each of the first two innings but was able to get a double play in each to keep New York off the scoreboard. That wasn’t the case in the top of the 3rd inning. Luis Torrens had an infield hit on a weak chopper to third base and then the Mets put together a 2-out rally that began with a walk by Bo Bichette. A looping single to center from Juan Soto brought in a run, then back-to-back singles into left field plated a run each as the score jumped to 3-0.
Cincinnati would get men on and threaten in their own half of the inning. Jose Trevino reached on an error when Mark Vientos flat out missed the throw from shortstop that otherwise would have beat Trevino by 5+ feet. Matt McLain followed up with a low liner into left that Juan Soto came up short on and it got by him for a double. Edwin Arroyo was then hit by a pitch to load the bases. JJ Bleday followed up with a line drive into center, but A.J. Ewing made a diving catch to rob him of a hit. It was enough to bring in Trevino from third for the Reds first run of the day.
After a 1-2-3 top of the 4th inning, Nick Lodolo returned to the mound in the 5th and after getting a groundout things spiraled out of control. He gave up three straight singles to load the bases. A sacrifice fly followed to make it 4-1. Another single came to bring in a run and then A.J. Ewing doubled off of the wall in left-center to bring in two more as the Mets pushed the lead to 7-1. That ended the day for Lodolo as Chris Paddack came in from the bullpen. He needed just one pitch to get the final out of the inning.
In the 6th and 7th innings Paddack tossed shutout innings. He returned for the 8th and that’s when New York got to him as they strung together a triple, RBI single, and RBI double to plate two more runs and take a 9-1 lead. Cincinnati would get runners on in both the 8th and 9th innings but were unable to bring anyone across as they fell to the Mets in the series finale.
Key Moment of the Game
The 4-run 5th inning by the Mets that turned a close game into a blowout.
Notes Worth Noting
The Reds went 0-6 with runners in scoring position. The Mets went 7-13 with runners in scoring position.
Chris Paddack allowed two runs in 4.1 innings of relief of Nick Lodolo.
Matt McLain was the only Reds hitter to reach base safely more than one time in the game. He had a double and a walk. His double was his 7th extra-base hit of the month, which is already tied for the most in a month this season. He’s hitting .256/.396/.558 in 14 games in June.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs New York Yankees
Friday June 19th, 7:05pm ET
Rhett Lowder (3-3, 4.60 ERA) vs TBA
Matt McLain was the only Reds hitter to reach base safely more than one time in the game. He had a double and a walk. His double was his 7th extra-base hit of the month, which is already tied for the most in a month this season. He’s hitting .256/.396/.558 in 14 games in June.
Maybe Arroyo getting called up lit a fire under him, as he could see his possible replacement actually playing his position in the big leagues.
Has Arroyo been up for 17 days already?
He joined the team on June 1st.
Coincidence? I THINK NOT!
Maybe they should have MM chasing fly balls in centerfield during batting practice as preparation for EDLC’s return???
Yepper. It would be wise to at least have that option.
I don’t think he needed anything to lit a fire under him. He had a hot streak before Arroyo was promoted.
Look totally uninspired today. Dropped balls no hitting . Swinging at pitches a foot out of the zone.
All too similar to other “Getaway Day” games for the Reds! Total lackluster effort!
Yep team has no killer instinct.
The need to string consecutive wins together even to sniff a shot.
Today just blah no energy.
Anyone know the Reds record on get-away days?
Another awful game by the Reds overall. The sad thing is the FO/staff only blame injuries as an excuse for this pathetic month-and-a-half stretch…
Literally they are in the moment of truth heading to series with Yankees, Brewers, Pirates and Brewers again to end June…It looks pretty tough and nothing to do to improve this team only waiting for Elly, Pierce Johnson , Pagán and Greene returns…we’ll see…
Reds had 9 LOBs and were 0-6 with RISP! Mets were 7-13 with RISP, most of those runs scored with 2 outs! Gotta do better or they will get embarrassed by the Yankees this weekend!
The Reds do seem to have the best of their rotation facing the Yankees this weekend.
I think Rhett Lowder pitches Friday night, Andrew Abbott pitches Saturday, and Chase Burns pitches Sunday, weather permitting for all those days.
I don’t think that the starting pitching will let the Reds down, but the bullpen is a game of roulette.
Owe a real special thanks to softballer Lodolo for showing up today. What a waste of time. The rest of these clowns playing at usual status quo, especially Lazy Old Suarez swinging at garbage 3 feet out of the zone and in the dirt; can’t wait til they trade the dead weight. Trade ‘em all. Yanks series should be a ton of fun.
You used “TIRED OLD TITO” again during the game thread and now “LAZY OLD SUAREZ”. These posts don’t add much.
Speaking the truth. Apparently you think differently; don’t know how that could be possible but you obviously do.
I also used dead weight and clowns—— my opinion??? More sad truth about this so called “team”.
Brett – I have left numerous replies to you to stop using those kinds of terms. Maybe a suspension from commenting will catch your attention now.
Definitely need him to get it to he so they can trade him and get something decent for him, regardless he needs to be traded should have been this off season..
Whenever I see Lodolo, I always think of that scene in Jaws where Quint grabs Matt Hoopers hands and says these are money counting hands. City hands.
Fairly pathetic outing by Nick Lodolo there. This guy has been in the league long enough to be more consistent than this.
I’m not expecting a no hitter every outing but he simply has to be better. 11 hits and 2 walks in 4.2 innings? The guy hardly ever goes beyond 5 innings. I’m good with Krall trading him at the deadline. I’m sick of the lack of toughness.
The starting pitchers need to be carrying this team right now. Instead we get 4 innings. Thankfully Paddack handled the rest and saved the bullpen.
Agree. He’s a tough one to root for because of the injuries and inconsistency. More than anything for me is that he doesn’t pitch with conviction consistently, that it ebbs and flows. Ideally you want a guy you have to dial down rather than turn up.
When you shoot for the stars, but fall short, at least you hit the moon. When you shoot for 5-6 innings and fall short, you get 3-5 innings, and a huge strain on a BP that has not been constructed with pitchers to handle the load. You’re frequently into the 6th, 7th, 8th man in the pen, who should probably be mop up guys in blowouts.
Yeah. I wonder if he’s throwing his slider differently, even unintentionally, because of the ongoing blister issue in a way that makes it easier to hit. Whatever it is he’s having a rough year.
That was a ton of singles by the Mets. 11 total I think. You don’t see that too often these days.
Sometimes I think of heading over to White Sox Nation to root for a team on the rise, but I’m reminded of them trying to steal that 1919 World Series from us!
For those who watch the games more so, who is better Defensively at SS, De La Cruz or or McLain? Just curious…i know Reds aren’t gonna move De La Cruz off SS this year, he’s had a good year there, but curious if McLain is actually better defensively there.
My opinion: McLain is good, solid at shortstop and better at 2nd base. Elly has cleaned up his throwing and unforced errors on routine grounders and gets to balls that neither McLain nor almost any other shortstops get to.
Elly, Stewart, Marte, Bleday, Arroyo, Stephenson ( because he’s a catcher), Greene, Burns, Abbott, Lowder, Petty, Antone and Ashcraft. As far as I’m concerned, they can get rid of any or all of the rest of them. We are years away
Agreed. A bunch of guys that shrink from the spotlight, over and over.
The next 13 games will tell the tale of this season. While the Yankee series wont mean much in the long run. They must best the nl central teams.
As Jb mentioned they are 2-14 against nl central 33-24 against everyone else.
Not the Reds day but it’s almost Father’s Day weekend and Reds are sub .500 and in last place and I am not buying stock in this team. Starting pitching had been better until a clunker today.
Bullpen is still thin and a very inconsistent offense.
I will say there are some very very good things. Burns and Stewart are 2 of the top young players in the game. Elly is at an AS level and Bleday who is controlled thru 2028 looks like a core piece to the OF.
Steer is consistent and durable.
Yankees, Brewers, Pirates, Brewers again, Orioles, Phillies, and Cubs should give some very clear direction by the AS break.
We could be looking at a fairly big reset after the season if Reds are sellers at the deadline.
Steer is consistently inconsistent. Krall should have lost his job for the Hayes deal alone, not to mention Candy and Geno. Not a Phil C. fan at all, but I certainly wouldn’t trust Krall with my money
Your first sentence took the thought right out of my brain! Steer is alternately very bad in stretches and very good in stretches. And in the end, about average offensively.
Thats funny. We’re back to Spencer Steer as a problem and average. The bullpen is last in baseball. Offense is bottom quartile. SP is a shell of its preseason potential due to injuries and underperformance.
Hayes/Friedl/benson/Stephenson/McLain are woefully underperforming. CES DFA.RLN Hines DFA
Greene hasn’t pitched.
Among qualified hitters.
Steer team MVP 2023.
Steer 4th OPS + 2024 20 HR 92 RBI’s 20 SB
Steer 2025 2nd HR 2nd RBI 3rd OPS+
Steer OPS +110 and leads the team in runs scored, 3rd in hits, tied for 3rd in extra base hits, 4th in HR.
Yup, lets pile on Spencer Steer. THe back of the baseball card matters . Hes productive.
Hes the Reds 42nd biggest problem.
@OS>> RE: Steer> IMO, he is not a problem unless he gets in the way of someone else’s development, but neither is he more than a temporary band-aid solution.
This year, he may become a problem as soon as EDLC’s return, depending on what goes down with Arroyo and Marte once EDLC is back.
He’s the guy the Cardinals of a few years back and more recently the Brewers traded, causing raised eyebrows, only to end up no worse and typically sounder than they were before.
Spencer Steer is the third best Red offensively with an wRC+ of 111.
Get a clue.
@Richard>> And this Reds team is dying for an effective reliever or two, and Steer’s the guy who, with a median level prospect ot two, might bring one with little or no disruption to their current or longer term plans.
As for Steer’s offensive effectiveness, despite his OPS/OPS+, which are not context sensitive, he is in negative territory on RE24 for the season.
Since the league average is set to zero for context sensitive RE24, this indicates he is performing at less than league average in creating run expectancy, given the context of situations of his plate. appearances.
Where does he fit on defense? He is a liability on defense except at 1b, and they seem to prefer Stewart or Lowe there ahead of him. They are not going to use it at DH, so where?
Sell high and get on with life.
In my mind, the best thing that could happen to the Reds is new ownership. If that can’t happen to maintain local control of the Reds, then I’d like to see the return of Dick Williams as PBO’s, since he had the Reds going in the right direction.
Think the direction has already been determined. They stink
Steer is 2-36. Make some excuses for him
Few if any hitters do not have slumps. There’s the excuse.
With no championship in the last 36 years, a new direction for the Reds is possible.
Old School, I’d be happy with Bleday rated as our number two OF and Steer as our number three (or four via a utility role). We simply lack that elite OF who can pair with Elly to carry this team. Stewart has the ability and profiles terrifically as the second best infielder. But we need a top shelf OF, and have for some time. Marte has that type of ability, and it may continue to emerge but it’s still tenuous. Perhaps he can use this season to regain his confidence and be ready to step up.
@Dave CT
Id add our biggest need is a dynamic CF who leads of and gets on base and scores a 100 runs and starts the ending of the offense. Admittedly, thats like an elite SS or SP or dominant closer or good hitting great catcher.
But alas…this offense needs a good CF and elite leadoff hitter and we have neither….among 7 other deficiencies…..sigh.
You’re a Seattle guy….can we trade for Julio Rodriguez??? Thats a joke. Im not giving up Elly or burns.
Engine of the offense.
“Marte has that type of ability,”.
I keep reading these type of comments, but I swear I don’t see anything he has done at the major league level to warrant such claims.
Sorry Dave, I don’t mean to be disrespectful to you, it’s been mentioned here many times by numerous people. I just don’t get what it is based upon at all.
Can’t tell you what Marte may do but can tell you what he did last year and it was 263/300/448.Got 29 at bats and was sent down.Did well and was brought back and in a part time role has been productive having homered in 3 straight with 4 stolen bases I didn’t look at his numbers but must be even better since he came back then what he posted in 2025.
@Votto4life, no disrespect! I suppose I still view Marte as a prospect, in spite of his trials. I see power, speed, arm, and, to a lesser degree, hit tool. Defense may come, as he improves in RF (sorry, not CF — he has a body that may well thicken and force a move … back to RF).
I’ve watched him bunches in the minors and in the majors. He has pretty high upside ability. However … as my best friend’s wife, who taught birth-to-three special ed for many years, said so well, “It’s not what you have, it’s what you do with it.”
I have been highly critical of Marte for his PED issue. I have also been highly critical of the Reds for his development, ie rushing him back to the majors both after his suspension and after his demotion last year. But I do agree with his demotion this year and, in fact, would have been ok with them sticking him in AAA for a Blake Dunn type reinvention. But here we are.
So, I think Marte might yet elevate his game. And if he can do that here, we’d have a potent OF. If he can’t, well, so be it.
Thanks for your reply.
Old School, watching Julio play CF is a revelation. The fans have a CF section called the No Fly Zone. It makes me smile.
I was thrilled we nabbed Chase Burns vs Condon, Jac, etc. Even Mr Kurtz (if you know, you know).
And Julio’s offense remains just below the upper elite.
Ahh the elusive perennial all star CF …
I think the talented Marte will eventually elevate his game with another team. Whether it’s the drug thing or something else, I don’t think Marte and the Reds click.
OS, wonder what would happen if they used the same 8 in the same batting order for a week or two.
Bill J: Probably more of the inconsistent offense which happens when a team doesn’t want to make a change, even a new hitting coach.
And you’d have hitters facing pitchers who are bad matchups for tem.
11 games out and a series against the Yankees this weekend. Not a good place to be. Tito was a good pickup by the front office, but everything else hinged on luck (Bleday) and fantasy(Hayes). It’s time for new FO management and definitely time for new ownership. I can’t see these guys agreeing to a salary floor as proposed. And with the lockout pending, I can’t see the organization doing anything constructive. We’re looking at another rebuild I’m guessing.
Yeah, I also think it’s time for a regime change in the front office. Granted, we will still be stuck with the same ownership. The Reds need to do something to give the fans something to look forward to, even if it’s just smoke and mirrors. Baseball is headed for a public relations nightmare it seems.
The assumption that change is always better is the one constant the human species embraces without condition. It’s easy to advocate for new owners, who would sell to different owners and, yeah …. pffffft. The wisest of all people are correct in saying:
Be careful what you wish for.
@JCU, that’s true. But, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is far, far worse. And we’ve had 20+ years of doing exactly that. They wasted Votto. Now they are going to waste Elly, Greene, and Burns. That’s not how to run an organization. And it’s not small market. That’s just their con. Cleveland is doing okay. So is Milwaukee. So is Tampa Bay. There’s not that much difference in salary structures across these teams. And yet, the Reds are always on the bottom. That’s a structural issue, not a cost issue. So, yeah, I’ll take my chances with a new owner, even if they move to Nashville or someplace else.
@LDS>> About the “small market” con> For years, Cincinnati pushed its image by promoting its “90 minute market” area population as one of the largest in the USA. Once upon a time, the Reds actively pursued that 90 minute (and more) market for more than just special occasions and weekend games. You reap what you sow.
I remember those days, Jim. I grew up in southern Indiana. During the 70 series, the high school set up TVs in several locations so we could follow the games between classes (or more often in some cases). When I was at Purdue in 75, Reds fans were everywhere. The dorm lobby/lounge TVs were all on the World Series. Only the Bionic Woman (imagine that) had a comparable following in my years there. Now, the Reds don’t seem to know there is an Indiana, at least, based on the opinions of family members that still follow the Reds.
The fact that the Indianapolis Indians were the AAA team of the Reds for many years made a difference too. The Reds would even play an exhibition game mid season in Indy every year for awhile.
The Mets put the ball in play and got rewarded.Nine runs and no homers I believe.Just kept the line moving and with Lodolo at 92 in the zone well it’s what they should have done.Paddack saved the pen for sure.Elly back will help as will Johnson and Pagán.Reds still can’t hit but how bad it would be be without Bleday and Lowe.Reds season is at a crossroads over the next dozen games or so.Not sure what will happen but games like today don’t help much.Way too many games where they don’t pitch nor hit and get blown out.Got to do better.
Looking at the pitch-by-pitch on gameday, not all of those pitches that the Mets hit for singles were in the zone. At least two, including Soto’s looper, were change ups well outside the zone…and with two strikes. And the other pitches were in the zone, but in the corner squares. I think the Mets just did a really good job at making contact, and with some luck got them between 3rd and SS.
That said, Lodolo couldn’t finish them off.
Who would have made the Bleday and Lowe deals had Krall been fired for the Hates deal?
We’re in last place with both those two. Does it matter?
Exactly. They are in last place with them and they could be without them.
The Lowe and Bleday adds were good adds. But let’s not forget, they both were marginal in the sense of making the roster. Myers, Benson, Friedl, and Lowe were chosen over Hinds, Bleday, and Dunn. These are not earth shaking decisions. They were bottom of the roster type decisions … and that remains the problem. Do we ever add a 3-5 year upgrade? An all star or close to all star? I know we sent Hinds and CES – once promising prospects – to the pasture getting cash in return. We demoted Friedl. We have slow walked a decision on Krall’s crown jewel – KeBryan. That will be happening very soon and his playing 3B for a team other than the Reds remains unlikely. So we purge some non performers but the younger ones still hang around and continue to undermine Krall’s model. McLain, Stephenson, Hayes, Benson, etc. The problem is not purging these dudes. The problem is bringing in upgrades to improve the team.
What makes anyone think the 2H or 2027 will be better? Will we have better than a 5 HR CF? Or a 250+ hitting C? Significantly upgrade just these two positions and we might have a fighting chance.
The Reds got Zach McCambley for Rece Hinds, from the Marlins. McCambley was up so briefly, they really can’t know how good he is.
Nick Sando was moved up to AAA from AA Chattanooga. A hard throwing left hander. If I were to bet, I would bet he is up with the Reds by August.
Not on the 40 man, but that can be arranged.
Hunter Parks and Jared Lyons are also two right handers that started with Chattanooga and have been promoted to Louisville. They seem to be doing well.
Leo Balcazar leads AA Chattanooga in homers, while playing shortstop.
Carlos Jorge might be the CF that people are looking for. He is batting .333 at Chattanooga, with 22 SB.
Has anyone else noticed that Nick Lodolo (6.12) and Chris Paddack (6.96) have virtually the same atrocious ERA so far this season. Many have complained about the Reds signing Paddack but Lodolo has been basically just as bad—thus helping push the Reds season further down the drain.
Paddack was an emergency SP addition on short notice. Nothing to complain about. His numbers and those of Lodolo are nearly identical as Reds.
Lowder,Abbott and Burns against the Yankees. That sets up the two worst pitchers on the team to open against the Brewers. Singer,Lodolo and Lowder. Brewers will be licking their chops.
I don’t think anyone labeled Singer as anything other than an innings-eater 4.50 ERA number 5 starter. He certainly performed as such in 2025 throwing like 170 innings, winning like12 games, and making nearly every scheduled start. You don’t want 2-3 of these guys. But with the Reds young, not so resilient arms, he is a pretty darn good fit. Now if he finishes with 5+ ERA and can’t give us 5-6 inning starts in September, then let’s look around for something better. But if it him vs Paddack, it is not even close.
I should of said the 2 worst out of the starting 5. Paddock blows and doesn’t take a genius to know that.
Reds don’t have a player spelled Paddock.
Chris Paddack is long reliever for Reds.
Oldtimer- again with spell check. Don’t you have some useless old information to look up and post here?
The season is essentially over. Just making it back to .500 will be a major accomplishment.
Besides Burns how many stud pitchers have the Reds drafted and developed in their system over the past ten years?
Other than Stewart how many power hitting position players have they drafted and developed?
This is a rather fact-free comment.
I had a keyboard warrior response feed up but that’s not fair. I don’t know you and everyone is entitled to be frustrated when the Reds play badly. But I will remind you of two fairly decent guys the Reds have recently developed. Their names rhyme with Breene and Be La Cruz.
*teed up
Maybe fighting the blister issue is the problem with Lodolo. If he’s had to modify his grip on some pitches that he was typically using to get hitters out, the Mets seemed content to lay off pitches they didn’t need to hit and Lodolo had to wing it. Dunno, but maybe Nick needs to figure out something. He had no answer for deep counts and measured at-bats.
Lodolo likely needs to go to the BP when Greene returns. Less likely to get a blister after 1 or 2 innings.
Lodolo struggled but so did his defense. Reds (more or less) either hit 2B or made an out.
This is a .500 W-L team so far (73 games in). It looked like a .500 team coming out of ST. The Reds need to win A LOT of the remaining 89 games to make the playoffs. Maybe as many as 50 of those 89 games left,
They aren’t going to win many games in September. Check the schedule.
Hard to predict who does what in September when it’s mid-June.
Oldtimer- You predicted they were a .500 team coming out of spring training and you’re telling CI3J its hard to predict in September when it’s June?
Yep. My prediction out of ST was 82-80 with a healthy Reds team.
We don’t have a healthy Reds team yet.
It’s hard to predict whether the Reds will be a healthy team in September or not.
The loss today was more expected than not. The Mets are not THAT bad.
The series in New York coming up will set the tone for what follows.
But it’s still one game at a time. Playing Division foes still means something too. It doesn’t matter what that record has been, it only matters how we play each game.
There is no reason to expect our starters to go more than 5 or 6 innings. Our Offense does need to score well in 2 out of 3 games, if we are going to make a respectable showing. So let those bats ring out with timely hits ! Momentum is still a thing. It needs to be part of our mindset.
Reds made the Mets look better than they are, when Alvarez became the latest contender for MVP, and Bichette cemented his “I Own GABP” card. With Lindor, the Mets are legit at least the 2nd best team in the NL-E.
Nah. The Braves are tons better, and the Phillies have three excellent starting pitchers and some solid veteran bats. The Nats are younger and have a better offense.
The Mets are mediocre on a good day, and downright awful given their payroll.
Standings say that the Mets are the second or third worst team in the NL. That is 4-5 spots below mediocre. Who are the 4 teams that they are better than. Marlins? Reds? …. I hope not. The Cards, Nats, and Pirates were susposed to be bad but I don’t know. They all seem like they could be 500+ teams. I think the only NL teams the Reds have a winning record against are the 3 bottom feeders. Not the Pirates, Cards, Nats, or Marlins. Of course we haven’t played the Brewers or Dodgers yet but records indicate we won’t be doing real well there either.
I personally like some of the Mets younger players like Ewing, Benge, and Melendez. Soto is having a Soto like year. They miss Lindor who is a 25-30HR MVP type guy. Maybe even more than we miss Elly. Bichette has been banged up.
All the above said, the Mets are struggling right now. They are not good. They have issues like we do. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they finish near 500 and ahead of about 5 other NL teams when all is said and done. One could be us. That is not necessarily good. When healthy they have Lindor, Soto, Bichette, Alvarez, good looking youth, and a sound backend bullpen.
McLean is an elite young pitcher. He started the WBC championship game for USA. Bichette hit as did the best left handed hitter in the game in Soto. Reds won 2/3.
Some quiet RLN commenters as Nattering nabombs of negativity were poised for this game. Season isnt going well but jumping on Mets with McLean pitching as an ace and Soto and Bichette having a good game after Reds won the series is silly.
Somebody has to say something. Sure, today is a big setback, but they did win the first two games. There are signs that Geno Suarez is starting to hit better. Elly and Hunter will be back soon. Elly first, probably next week against the Brewers, after some rehab games this weekend, somewhere. Don’t know how his hitting is going to be, though.
Pittsburgh is sort of floundering around .500 now also, and with their pitching problems and uneven offense, the Cubs, outside of two long winning streaks, are actually kind of lousy.
St. Louis is, to me, the big surprise in the division. This was supposed to be a “re-building” year for them, and they could make it in as a Wild Card team.
The Reds aren’t dead, just the last two months or so have been lousy, since the great first month start, where we all got our hopes up.
They were dead when GA and Johnson went down. They’ll be lucky to get 1 in NY and they haven’t played Milw yet. Even if they somehow were still hanging around at the end of August their Sept schedule will finish them off. They can’t execute with risp or play small ball whatsoever. HG could pitch great and they’d still lose their fair share of 3-2, 2-1 games
Nabobs but I remember that reference. One of the great lines of all time.
“Those nattering nabobs of negativity” – stuff the Spiro “Ted” Agnew once said.
I wish just once you analysts covering the Reds would admit the Reds are a minor league team playing in the big leagues. Until we have new ownership and resulting top management we will not have a team worthy of the Cincinnati fan base. College baseball is a much better baseball display ,one that executes the fundamentals of the game professionally. The Reds are an embarrassment to baseball.
At times today the Reds did look like a minor league team at best = low A ball.
A healthy Reds 2026 team is a major league capable team. Not great but capable.
The team today (at times) looked like the Little Potato League (Knothole reference) on defense, and not much better on offense. It is a very inconsistent team as currently structured,
That is simply a false statement based on nothing.
Easy to not trouble yourself with them, Mike.
Thank you for bringing this kind of insightful post to the site. Please keep showing up more than the twice a year you do and chime in and share more brilliant thoughts like “a team that is three games under .500 in MLB this year actually isn’t a team worthy of being in MLB”.
Doug,
I detect a note of sarcasm there. 🙂
I think that people get too emotionally involved in the games, day to day.
Win a big one on Monday, the Reds are BACK!!!!
Lose a bad game on Wednesday…..These guys are TURRIBLE!
I personally, have no idea how the Reds will finish the season, or where, in the standings. But unless their pitching gets better (starters and relievers) and they start to consistently score more runs, they are not getting into the playoffs, via the division or wildcard. This is not rocket science.
The Reds are currently 29th out of 30 teams in run differential, with a minus -52. If the run differential was used to estimate their record, it would be a winning percentage of 0.423, not 0.479 which it is now with a 35-38 record. There is a “luck” factor assigned to their record , which is better than predicted by the run differential. The real reason is the many “blowout” losses they have suffered, and some close 1 -run victories in the first month of the season.
The most basic reason the Reds are losing is their pitching, overall. But if they had scored more runs (how many more?), they would obviously have won a few more games.
You should probably stop watching the Reds and give us your insights on the college game. Obviously you don’t enjoy it very much, and if it makes you happy to be miserable, there are a lot of NAIA baseball teams you can evaluate. Thanks for your service.
Marte since his return 265/306/588 with 7 strike outs 3 walks 4 steals and 3 homers in a part time role.He has helped with his bat and his speed.
He just needs to play Right Field. Once again the Reds keep trying to put square pegs in round holes.
A little banter. If the Reds turn out to be sellers at the deadline, what do you think that means? Who are we going to sell such that the return will improve the 2026/2027 team? If we are selling to a contender, we are likely getting a prospect in return. How good? I seriously doubt we will get someone as good or ready as an Arroyo or Petty. Top 5 or 6 prospect. Suarez or Pagan might bring such but the others -Lowe, Stephenson, Burke, Hayes, Singer, Moll – probably not. So in essence, the core of the 2027 team probably won’t be as good as the 2026 team. You didn’t hear the names of MCLain, Arroyo, Marte, Steer, Stewart, Abbott, Lodolo, Petty, Greene, etc. did you. Can’t wait can you until we hear how much better these guys are going to be in 2027? No, becoming sellers will not be good for the near term future of this team. Now if we become traders instead of sellers and trade some of our potential for proven mlb talent, then there might be hope.
It’d be refreshing to see them not focus on keeping prospects whether at the trade deadline or this offseason and take some healthy risks trying to improve the MLB roster. There’d only be a few players I’d definitely keep in the franchise I think, De La Cruz, Stewart, Burns, Duno, maybe a few other players not coming to mind.
I think about everyone else would be on the table if I were the Reds to try and change the makeup of this team a bit.
I don’t follow MiLB closely at all, but if you exclude the guys you mention from consideration as trade pieces, it doesn’t seem likely that you’d get a really good MLB player in return. Greene might, I suppose, but we should all recognize by now that a perceived pitching surplus is an illusion, and Greene–despite the injuries–has provided substantial benefit to the team at a team-friendly price.
I think my list of value players would be limited to Elly, Burns, and 2-3 other starting pitchers. It would not include Stewart and Duno. Imo, those are a couple of the players we could get a strong return for. In the sense of helping the team 2026-2027. Being clear, Stewart is a potential big bat at a position (corner IF) where the Reds are constipated with other starter candidates. If Stewart played C or CF, I would say sign him long term. That isn’t happening. Trade him for an equal young player. Duno? Another big bat. But is he an everyday MLB C? If he is, maybe we wait on him until 2028-2029. If he isn’t, then he is a 1B/DH and reference Stewart.
We have got to get through this fog of great prospects and next year. We have 95% of our near term prospects on the roster currently. Excepting Burns and Elly, none are all star caliber. We are like 26th in offense and are losing games because of the lack of it (and an injury riddled bullpen). We have already lost bets on Hinds and CES being future stars. I am not saying all our youth will ultimately fail but a whole bunch of them are not leading us to 90 wins. You KNOW you need significant offensive help not at Louisville. Outcries for Hinds, Dunn, Arroyo, and Marte haven’t moved the offensive needle. Our best potential trading partners are sellers looking for youth to get them started for 2027-2028. Red Sox, Giants, Rockies, Tigers, Royals, etc. There are Cs and CFs here. The Dodgers are going to be going after Skubal. Give the Dodgers a piece to further entice the Tigers and get Rushing or Pages in return. Etc. We have got to improve the current team. Not sell off salary for a 2028 run.
Stewart is on pace for over 30 homers and over 100 RBI’s. Who are you going to get for him who would improve upon that? A center fielder who has that sort of production would take more than Stewart.. I think that it would be very difficult –if not functionally impossible–to seriously improve the Reds’ prospects this year and next through trades: the players they’d have to give up would create weaknesses with their absence. The Reds simply don’t have enough highly valuable surplus talent.
@Green, I have never downplayed Stewart’s abilities. I am aware he may hit 260 with 30HRs which is near all star territory. He, imo, is a high value trade chip that we could trade out and improve the team. Duno, Arroyo, and Greene might be others in this category. Stewart plays positions where we have other talent. He doesn’t play CF or C where we continue to run out below average players. Your point on we can’t get a CF comp for Stewart is well taken. It may be correct but I think guys like Cruz and Chourio may be close calls vs Stewart. Then maybe we trade for a top 5-10 hitting C. Or maybe Greene or Duno is the guy leaving rather than Stewart. That is the point. We need significant CF and C offense to improve this team. Denying that is only going to lead to another 75-80 win season. Not stepping up to the plate and not trading one of your higher value pieces to get this help is another 75-80 win season. Just tell me a guy like a healthy Byron Buxton would not charge this team a couple notches. Same with a much better hitting C like Goodman or Dingler. We certainly can do it. We can’t do it with hesitation about trading prospects or value pieces like Stewart or Greene. Trading semi valuable guys like Pagan or Lowe or Suarez aint going to get you a strong 2027 prospect. Those guys probably aren’t going to get you any more than a Edwin Arroyo or Brandon Williamson type. We already have a bunch of those guys and we need a lot more than that to get to 90 wins.
Good comments, Rob. I’m old enough to be resistant to change, and that surely affects how I view Reds’ trades. But the problem I see is that they have no area of surplus, no good trade chips who aren’t critical to the team now or in the relatively near future, so trading them creates a weakness. The question becomes: is the weakness created of less importance than the weakness addressed by the trade?
I don’t remember too many trade deadline moves that had a huge impact overall.
1977 is an exception. Reds added Seaver for Zachry, Flynn, and two minor league prospects. Reds added Capilla and minor leaguers for Eastwick, Nolan, and Caldwell.
Seaver was excellent SP from mid 1977 through 1981. He is underrated in Reds history. His career WAR total was 110 (highest of any player who ever wore Reds uniform). He is the only P in modern MLB history with 300+ W, 3000+ K, and sub 3.00 ERA in his career. Walter Johnson is the only other P whoever did that (but in dead ball era).
If the Reds are within striking distance of a WC spot, it wouldn’t surprise me if they are buyers at the deadlines.
If the Reds are sellers at the trade deadline, it will likely be to dump the remaining salaries on the expiring contracts instead of acquiring prospects for 2027.
A lot can happen between now and the trade deadline.
V4L
Its not even fathers day and it looks like the braves/Dodgers/Brewers will win their division. Reds have a rough schedule and a depleted roster and several areas of weakness leading up to the AS break. At 35-38,they are only ahead of the Rockies/Giants/Mets in the WC break. There are still 90 games to be played but the math gets very difficult if they cant gain some ground by the AS break and get over .500. Reds were 50-47 last year at the AS break.
@OT that is most likely the case, but despite a miserable five or six weeks, in which about anything that could go wrong, did go wrong, the Reds are just three games under .500 and only 3 games back of the WC.
The Reds also have arguably their best pitcher and their best position player about to come off the IL.
Personally, I don’t think the Reds will be in the WC chase come the trading deadline, but I also don’t think it’s impossible either. I mean the Reds made the post season last year finishing only two games above .500.
Again, don’t get me wrong, this is not a good baseball team right now and they are more likely to collapse than they are to make the post season, but stranger things have happened.
Sellers usually are unloading salaries in exchange for prospects, which isn’t the case for the Reds. The ongoing theme this year is that they will trade players because they are unhappy with performance. The only player they’d unload over that is KBH, who can’t even command a phone call.
They could deal Tyler, but that’s a contract issue. Otherwise, Lodolo might fetch somebody in return. Singer? Maybe. That’s not selling, though. That’s moving chess pieces. The rest of the veterans can be traded to get back somebody just like them.
Reds can find room for Petty and Arroyo (and Hector) on the roster without going through the annual “deadline” hogwash.
Beautiful! Trade to improve the 2026-2027 team. Not to dump salary or build your 2028-2029 prospect arrivals.
Haven’t the first 70+ games told us that Dunn, CES, Hinds, Arroyo, Higgins, Petty, Mey, Phillips, and others in the Louisville crowd are not the solution to 88-90 wins in 2026? They are marginal upgrades or no upgrades at all to Austin Hays, Nick Martinez, Brett Suter, Barlow, etc.
Greene, Pagan, and Elly are returning shortly. That should make a difference. Will it get us back in the playoff hunt by the ASG? Or will we have waited too long and not make up significant ground? 500 ball for the next month will not be good enough or convincing enough. The weak injury excuse goes away and it becomes obvious that we need more talent than what our roster or Louisville provides. I personally think the latter will prove to be the case and we will have wasted another year not building this roster properly.
Didn’t the Reds hit 8 or 9 doubles in St Louis several years ago? KC hit 5 doubles in the 2nd off them tonight.