Embed from Getty Images
Local radio personality and devoted Reds fan Lance McAlister said something over the weekend that’s been rattling around in my head ever since: He’s anxiously waiting for someone from this organization to stand up and declare what is happening with the Reds right now to be unacceptable and to concede that the fans deserve better.
I understand the impulse, and I certainly agree with Lance. The Reds are 24-24 and have lost 13 of their last 17, including 11 of 12 on the road. Their bullpen, which led the majors in ERA as recently as late April, now has the worst ERA in baseball over its last 18 games. The schedule ahead is a gauntlet, with games against the Phillies (who have gone 16-4 since firing their manager) followed by the Cardinals, the Mets, and then the Braves, who look like the best team in the National League. Something needs to change.
But if I’m being honest—and I’m always honest with you, devoted Reader—I don’t expect anyone to declare this stretch unacceptable. And I think there are two good reasons why.
The first is that whenever anyone in this organization other than Terry Francona opens his mouth publicly, something regrettable tends to come out. Reds President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall has built a distinguished career of stepping on rakes. “We’re trying to eliminate peaks and valleys,” he told us a few years ago, which turned out to be front office code for “We’d like to remain perpetually mediocre.” And Phil Castellini, the guy now in control of this club, greeted fans before the 2022 home opener by asking them, “Where ya gonna go?” which is the single greatest encapsulation of this ownership group’s relationship with its customers that anyone could possibly ever produce.
A statement declaring the current situation “unacceptable” would ring hollow coming from this same group of people and would likely be accompanied by something else worth rolling your eyes at.
The second reason is more fundamental: I’m not entirely sure that what we’re watching is actually unacceptable to this management team. By that, I mean I honestly think it may be their strategy: Build cheaply through the draft, stay close to .500, and hope the expanded playoff structure does the rest.
That strategy was good enough to sneak into the playoffs last year, and I guess it was good enough to go 20-11 in April. The strategy, however, was not good enough to address this club’s own obvious flaws. For example, the outfield was a problem going into this season, and Krall didn’t fix it. He hoped Francona could paper over it with Noelvi Marte and Rece Hinds and various minor league invitees. Now JJ Bleday, who was sent to Triple-A to start the year (lest we forget), is one of the club’s most important bats. That’s not a plan—it’s an accident that happened to work out. Let’s hope it continues to work out.
Still, Lance is right that something needs to happen. And since nobody from the front office is going to say it, let me say it: This is not where the Reds should be in late May. Here are five things the organization could actually do about it.
Fire someone
If the front office wanted to send a signal that the current situation is, in fact, unacceptable, this is how competent professional sports organizations typically do it. Not Francona, because I don’t blame him despite his obvious in-game missteps in recent weeks; he’s managing a deeply flawed roster.
If the Redlegs wanted a ceremonial sacrifice, pitching coach Derek Johnson and hitting coach Chris Valaika are the names you’d hear. But firing either of them would mostly be rearranging deck chairs to cover for the roster’s structural problems. The real accountability should sit one floor up.
Call up Edwin Arroyo
He’s hitting .345 with a 1.001 OPS in Triple-A and has been on a tear in May. The front office and their defenders keep talking about seasoning and development, and that’s fine as a general philosophy, but this team needs a bat. He’s not going to play shortstop in the big leagues, since Elly De La Cruz is literally one of the best players in the game. But Francona can find plenty of at-bats for Arroyo at 2B and 3B. It’s not like Matt McLain and Ke’Bryan Hayes are challenging for a spot on the National League All-Star team.
Trade for relief help
I know significant trades rarely happen in May. I also know the Reds are historically allergic to acquiring players at the deadline when it might cost them a meaningful prospect. But Cincinnati needs help in the bullpen, which is actively costing them games. Go get someone who can throw strikes at the back end of the pen and someone else who can eat innings in a game that’s gotten away in order to save the rest of the pen arms.
Commit to the trade deadline for real this time
Krall has repeatedly passed on meaningful acquisitions when this team has a window. In 2023, he declined to add at the deadline with a team that was very much in contention. The window he was saving those prospects for has not produced the players it promised. At some point, you have to decide to try to win. If this team is still within striking distance in July—and it very well might be!—the deadline needs to mean something for a change.
Be honest about the outfield
This is my dream: A little accountability for once. Just admit you screwed up. Krall didn’t address this unit in the offseason. He should acknowledge that and fix it however he can—and I’m not sure he can at this point. The current group is not good enough. Everyone knew that last December. Everyone knew it in March. Everyone knows it now.
Here’s the thing. Even after all of this, my position from two weeks ago still stands: A team is never as bad as it looks at its worst or as good as it looks at its best. The truth is somewhere in the middle.
The Reds are a somewhat above-average club going through a genuinely rough stretch. But you know what? Chase Burns continues to be outstanding, Eugenio Suarez is nearing a return, and Hunter Greene comes back in July, and I can’t stop hoping and dreaming. The season isn’t over by a long stretch.
But hey, where we gonna go?
Facebook Comments