There’s a certain novelty, I suppose, to the Cincinnati Reds’ season-long streak of avoiding sweeps. Forty-three series, zero broom jobs. The 1970 Big Red Machine held the old club record, and now the 2025 Reds have pushed past it.
It’s something, sure. A fun little talking point. But as the calendar flips toward September, it has also become a bit of a reminder of what this team isn’t: dominant. They’ve avoided collapse, avoided being swept, but they have yet to string together the kind of surge that makes you believe a playoff run is inevitable. And that’s the emerging story of this Reds team: alive, but not kicking.
Two weeks ago, I wrote here in these digital pages that the Reds were still standing in the National League Wild Card race largely because the Mets had forgotten how to win. That’s still true. New York’s rotation has been a mess, their bullpen has been overworked, and their once-commanding lead in the race has evaporated. But as far as the Reds are concerned, here’s the rub: You can’t build a playoff plan around the hope that someone else keeps tripping over themselves.
The Mets have played like a team begging to be caught, but Cincinnati hasn’t taken advantage. Every time the Reds inch close, within a half-game, within shouting distance, they squander the chance. A flat performance in Arizona. A wasted opportunity against the Angels. A lineup that disappears for entire weekends at a time.
Hey, it’s still close! The Reds are just a game and a half back amidst this brutal West Coast swing. But (there’s always a “but”) they own the second-toughest remaining schedule in the league facing the Dodgers, Blue Jays, Padres, Brewers, and Cubs. It’s a gauntlet, and the Redlegs can’t navigate that kind of stretch by hoping the Mets implode again. You navigate it by winning actual baseball games.
Alas, at least up until now, this Reds team hasn’t shown the ability to seize that moment. And time is running short.
Cincinnati’s rotation has continued to do its part, as they have all season. Andrew Abbott, his last start notwithstanding, usually looks like a Cy Young candidate. When healthy, Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo flash ace stuff. Brady Singer seems to have found his stride. Even newly-acquired Zack Littell has been serviceable. This staff owns a top-five ERA in baseball since the All-Star break.
And yet Cincinnati keeps dropping games because the bats stubbornly refuse to show up when needed. This is an offense that’s scored fewer than two runs 28 times this year. (They’re 2-26 in those games, unsurprisingly.) They’ve scored fewer than three runs in 43 games. We can’t blame that on bad luck. It’s a glaring flaw in roster construction.
Which brings us to young Sal Stewart, who is demolishing baseballs at Triple-A Louisville. Since his promotion there, he’s slashing .323/.399/.653 with nine homers and 14 doubles in 33 games. He doesn’t strike out much, he barrels everything, and his 460-foot moonshot earlier this month was the longest homer hit by anyone in the organization this season. He’s 21 and already looks like a stud. Why isn’t he here already?
Stewart plays third primarily, but he’s also appeared at second base. Cincinnati has room on the roster and in the lineup for a bat like his. Even if it’s at designated hitter; the Reds don’t have a locked-in DH. They’re trotting out a collection of part-timers and glove-first role players. At third, Ke’Bryan Hayes was brought in for his glove—and that glove is straight brilliant, no question about it—not his bat. At second, Matt McLain can’t hit his way out of a paper bag right now, still struggling after missing a season to injury. Gavin Lux has been inconsistent at best. Meanwhile, Stewart sits in Louisville and crushes baseballs all over the place while the big-league club prays for a two-run double from Santiago Espinal.
As far as I can see, there is simply no good baseball reason for Stewart not to be in Cincinnati right now. None. Every game matters at this point, every single at-bat in a playoff race is magnified, and the Reds are voluntarily playing shorthanded. It’s maddening, but that’s the way the front office always does things in Cincinnati. I’m accustomed to it.
On the positive side, if there’s been one true revelation this summer, it’s Noelvi Marte. Shuffled off to the minors this spring after a dreadful 2024 season (thanks largely to an 80-game suspension), he was told to earn his way back. And, boy, has he. Since moving to right field at the trade deadline, he’s looked like a different player: hitting .330, posting an OPS near .900, making surprisingly smart reads on the bases, and showing off the tools that made him a blue-chip prospect in the first place.
Marte is blossoming into a star right before our eyes. Which brings us to an already-minted star: Elly De La Cruz.
A year ago, Elly finished eighth in the MVP voting. This year, his OPS is roughly the same as it was in 2024, but the power has evaporated. One homer since the All-Star break. A .586 OPS in August. A quad injury has sapped his speed, cutting his stolen base total in half. He still has flashes—tripling in Anaheim, occasionally scoring from first base on a single—but the Reds need more than flashes.
If Cincinnati has any shot at October, it falls on the shoulders of Marte and De La Cruz. Marte is carrying his share. Elly absolutely must start matching that energy, that production, that spark. You’ll find no bigger believer in Elly than yours truly. So I’m optimistic.
So here we are. Thirty games left. The Reds haven’t been swept once, but they’ve rarely swept anyone. They’re alive in the standings, but their bats are lifeless. The Mets have done everything short of mailing the final Wild Card spot to Cincinnati’s clubhouse, but the Reds keep fumbling the delivery.
You know, it doesn’t have to be this way. Bring up Stewart. Perhaps Marte and Elly will run wild the rest of the campaign. Greene, Abbott, and Lodolo will set the tone. I still believe this team has enough talent, if barely, to matter in October.
The Reds are alive. But unless they start kicking soon, they’ll be sitting at home in October watching the Mets. And kicking themselves.
Chad Dotson helms Reds coverage at Cincinnati Magazine and is co-author of “The Big 50: The Men and Moments That Made the Cincinnati Reds,” revised, updated, and available in bookstores now. His newsletter about Cincinnati sports can be found at chaddotson.com.
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