Two weeks ago, we were optimistic about the 2025 Cincinnati Reds. They had a new manager, a deeper pitching staff, and their young star second baseman was back in the lineup. The glass was half full. Hope is undefeated in March, right?
So … about that. Cincinnati has lost each of the first three series of the season, and they’re now in San Francisco against the white-hot Giants before returning home this weekend. (That S.F. series got off to an excellent start last night with a 2-0 win, pushing the Redlegs to 4-7 on the young season.)
To say that the beginning of a campaign that began with so much optimism has been difficult to watch is understating things. It’s been brutal. As a matter of fact, this year’s club looks almost undistinguishable thus far from the underwhelming Reds of the David Bell era.
As I noted here in the digital pages of Cincinnati Magazine Dot Com, the team’s most important off-season transaction was jettisoning Bell and replacing him with a championship-winning manager in Terry Francona. Ownership never gave Bell a full roster to work with, but he presided over far too many basepath blunders and defensive misadventures. Francona, in his introductory press conference, promised to usher in a new era of accountability. Music to my ears, indeed.
Well, bad defense and worse baserunning were among the culprits in the disastrous opening series against San Francisco. When asked about the mistakes, Francona had this to say to Cincinnati Magazine’s Charlie Goldsmith: “We’ve got human beings. Every time they make an error, we’re not going to scream at them. When they make a base running mistake, we address it, talk to them and tell them why so we try not to do it again.” Completely reasonable management style, and I take no issue with it. But it’s fair to note that there has been no noticeable improvement in either the defense or the baserunning in the seven games since Francona made those comments.
But it’s still early! As I’ve said, Francona will ultimately be judged by his success on the field or the lack thereof. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and Francona has had success in the past in getting flawed rosters to the post-season. We shouldn’t expect him to be able to change the culture of this club overnight. I’ll be patient.
On the other hand, Francona isn’t doing himself any favors with the decisions he’s making on a day-to-day basis. It began with the curious decision to use Ian Gibaut in a high-leverage spot on Opening Day, with disastrous results. And we continue to see strange things coming from the dugout. For example, what’s the logic in hitting Santiago Espinal second in the lineup against a right-handed pitcher? I mean, we’re talking about a guy who’s hit .248/.304/.329 against righties in his career. Why is he hitting high in the order in front of Elly De La Cruz?
And what about allowing Gavin Lux to hit against a lefty in a late game situation? I’m an unabashed fan of his, and I believe he’ll ultimately help this club substantially. But he has a career wRC+ of 59 and slash stats of .204/.278/.273 against LHPs. Francona has access to these numbers. It’s 2025. Why are managers still repeating the mistakes of managers from the 1950s?
So, yes, it’s been ugly. There have, however, been some notable bright spots. The pitching has been mostly excellent, among the five best staffs in all of baseball top to bottom. Hunter Greene (1-1, 1.31 ERA after last night’s gem in San Francisco), Nick Lodolo (1-1, 1.42), and Brady Singer (2-0, 2.25) have been magnificent, and with the exception of Gibaut the bullpen has largely been lights out. During a three-game span last week, Reds hurlers held the opposition to just three runs total.
Of course, the Reds scored precisely zero runs in those three games, losing all of them. That was a feat even I didn’t think the Reds could pull off. The less said about this putrid offense the better.
Help does appear to be on the way for the stagnating offense. Second baseman Matt McLain should be back in the lineup full-time after suffering with a tight left hamstring. Left fielder Austin Hays, projected to be the cleanup hitter in this lineup, could potentially be back as soon as this weekend. And Spencer Steer will be fully healthy eventually, right?
The pitching will even get a lift in the coming days, as starter Andrew Abbott and reliever Alexis Diaz are in Louisville on rehab assignments at the moment.
I always say that a team is never as good as they look at their best and never as bad as they look at their worst. We just have to hope that the current state of things is as bad as it gets.
And there’s that word again: hope. I get so tired of writing that word when discussing the Cincinnati Reds. Hope may be undefeated in March, but it’s now April. Francona needs to start finding some answers soon. It’s still early, sure, but Reds fans are tired of being patient. We need results—and some actual progress—sooner rather than later.
Hope got us through March, but April demands a pulse.
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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