CINCINNATI – It's been just more than two weeks since Opening Day, and it hasn't been entirely a robust start to 2025 for the Reds. After going 3-7 through the first 10 games while dropping the first three series, the club is 7-8 entering Sunday. Here are three areas of the team's performance that are worthy of a closer look: 1) Pitching has been as advertised, if not better The Reds knew they had a deep rotation, and it's been led nicely by Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and Brady Singer. Greene has a 1.31 ERA through three starts, which included a career-high 8 2/3 innings during Monday's 2-0 win over the Giants. Lodolo has been even stingier with a 0.96 ERA and one walk over 18 2/3 innings through his three games. “Watching from afar, these guys have been dominating. The shutouts coming against us and being able to dish them back out, it’s always fun," said Andrew Abbott, who rejoined the rotation after being activated on Saturday and worked five innings to win his season debut. |
Save for two blown saves in the ninth inning, the bullpen has also been largely dependable. Former starter Graham Ashcraft has taken nicely to being in a reliever role and is getting more and more trust, while Emilio Pagán has filled in well as the closer while the club has been without Alexis Díaz. Entering Sunday, Reds pitchers are at or near the top of the leaderboard in WHIP (0.96), ERA (3.06), fewest walks (36) and opponent batting average (.191). 2) Offense has performed below low expectations One of the potential issues coming out of Spring Training was the lack of offense shown from the lineup. Offensive inconsistency was an issue in 2024 and the only major offseason addition was the signing of left fielder Austin Hays. Then Hays and catcher Tyler Stephenson opened the season on the injured list and Spencer Steer was not 100 percent ready after missing most of camp with a right shoulder issue. Last week, Matt McLain joined the group on the IL.
Among those currently struggling are Elly De La Cruz (who ended a 10-game homerless drought with a grand slam Saturday), Jeimer Candelario, Gavin Lux, Jake Fraley and Steer.
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Cincinnati is ranked near the bottom of MLB with a .200 team average. According to Statcast, its hitters entered the weekend with the lowest average team exit velocity (87.7 mph). The Reds also became the third MLB team -- and first since 1913 -- to have four games decided by a 1-0 score through their first 12 games. They lost three of them. Even in their past two contests -- Friday’s 5-3 win over the Pirates and Saturday's 5-2 victory -- the offense notched only four hits in each game. 3) The defense has improved from 2024 Improving team defense was identified as a priority in the offseason and at Spring Training. Although it's still very early, those efforts are paying off. After being 21st in MLB with a -21 outs above average in 2024, the Reds are tied for third at +4 entering Sunday.
As for the infield, they allowed a .262 average on balls in play (BABIP) for grounders. This year, it's a best-in-baseball .180. De La Cruz and McLain have been a strong middle-infield duo, and first baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand has looked better than his previous two seasons, while there have been multiple players manning third base.
“There’s been times where we’ve given teams extra opportunities but also times where we’ve done some really good stuff," Reds manager Terry Francona said. "We care about our defense. We’ve also had a ton of moving parts, which doesn’t help it. But that’s kind of the way it is.” |
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CANDELARIO WORKING OUT OF FUNK |
Entering Friday's win, the switch-hitting Candelario was in a 4-for-40 clip with 14 strikeouts over his previous 11 games. “He started out the first couple of games really good and then it just seems like he’s lost his timing. He’s kind of in-between," Francona said before the game. "You’re behind on the fastball and ahead of the off-speed. It’s a tough place to be.” In Friday's first inning vs. Pittsburgh lefty Bailey Falter, Candelario batted right-handed and hit a 2-0 fastball to left field for a two-run home run. He's been working on getting better contact, and the exit velocity on that swing was 102.3 mph. |
“It feels good," Candelario said. "Our thing is separation and seeing the ball and hitting it on the barrel hard somewhere. That’s what we’re doing right now, hitting it hard somewhere. If you hit the ball hard, the results are going to come. “As a switch-hitter, we have to get our reps the right way. This is for warriors. Being a switch-hitter, it’s something you have to love because it’s not always going to be 100 percent on both sides of the plate. When you get consistent, it’s amazing.” |
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“The training wheels are officially off with Graham in the bullpen," -- Pagán on Ashcraft, after his two scoreless frames in the seventh and eighth on Friday. It was the second outing in a row he worked those two innings. |
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