DISASTER: Cincinnati Reds’ Wild Card Aspirations IMPLODE After Oakland Debacle | Who’s to BLAME?

DISASTER: Cincinnati Reds’ Wild Card Aspirations IMPLODE After Oakland Debacle | Who’s to BLAME?

Turn out the lights, the party is over as the Reds collapse in Sacramento and so do their playoff hopes. We’re going to talk about it on today’s Locked on Reds. [Music] You are Locked on Reds, your daily Cincinnati Reds podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. your team every day. Welcome in to the Locked On Reds podcast. My name is Jeff Carr. His name is Steve Hoffenbaker and we are lifelong Cincinnati Reds fans. We’ve been podcasting about this team for a combined 14 seasons and we’re glad that you’re alongside us here today. Lockdown Reds is part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. We are your team, your Cincinnati Reds every single day. And today is the most somber day because we are realizing just how wrong we were about this ball club because it’s clear this is not a playoff team. This is not a team that’s going to make the playoffs. As much as the expanded playoffs have expanded to the point that you can make it, it seems like with a mediocre club, it just seems as though the Reds are torpedoing themselves at the absolute worst time. We’re going to be breaking why that’s the case. We’re going to be breaking down what they can do to fix it much later on in the show. And this is a bit of a taste setting up everything that we’re going to be doing for you this off seasonason because quite frankly, Steve, we thought this team was going to be in the playoffs. We’re going to explain why on today’s episode that is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your first bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the app today. And as you said, turn out the lights, the party’s over. They say that all good things must come to an end. Uh, you know, but I I I think that the key point in that song is uh and we the same old thing will start again tomorrow. Well, they’ve been doing the same old thing for a lot of seasons now, Jeff. So, I hope it’s not the same old thing as they move forward. Look, um, you know, you and I, we we we tried to drive the hype train. We tried to keep this thing going. Um, they they teased us. They they kept they kept reeling us back in. Every time we were just about out, they would reel us back in. But what we saw out in Sacramento against the A’s pretty much clearly illustrates that this team just doesn’t quite have enough to get it done. And it’s kind of where they’ve been teetering all season long. It It’s the same needs that we said that they were going to have. It’s the same problems that we talked about last offseason that they didn’t address. And really in the end they go out and face a a A’s team that just hit long ball after long ball after long ball to just kind of really spite us and and and put right in our faces that what this team has needed all along, what this team has needed for years, what this team needs this off seasonason, what this team needs moving down the road is a powerhitting right-handed outfield bat. Yeah, it’s it’s sobering how obvious this series was because on paper the Reds are much better than the A’s. Yeah. The one thing that the A’s are much better than the Reds on is power. And that is the one thing that decided this series. And even with the Reds pitching and and they’re throwing their two best starters on Saturday and Sunday, it did not matter because power took over the game. And the Reds don’t have that. And and we’ve heard all we’ve heard all season, well this team is a it’s a rally team, you know, get them on, get them over, get them in. We got to string hits together. We got to have long rallies and that’s how we’ll win. Well, do you know what guys are really good at nowadays? Striking people out. So I I if you do what the Reds do and you get guys on and you get them over, when you go to get them in, you got a guy on the mound that’s ready to strike you out before you do that. We’ve seen that far too many times this season where the Reds have a guy in scoring position or god forbid they had Will Benson on third base in Oakland in any number two in the first game in the series and he didn’t move because the next three guys with nobody out with nobody out and and the next three guys struck out and that was what this series turned into because albeit the game one they didn’t lead early on games two and three they did. games two and three, they had early leads and they just started giving up bombs and they did not counter those bombs. They have got to fix that. We’ll really dive into that later on in today’s show, but as we get into this topic here today, we’re really going to unpack this from a lot of different angles and kind of set up some things that we’re going to be talking about a lot here soon throughout the offseason. But I I just want to start with why we believe that this is it. We’re we’re calling the playoff hopes right now. They’re two and a half games out. It’s easy to say that they’re close, but the reason that they’re not close is because since August 1st, they are 17 and 22. Since August 1st, they are five games under 500. the the most crucial part of the season. And something that Terry Francona told us back in April, you know, he he’s he’s focused on winning in April, but it’s really in August and September where you make your money. They ain’t made money. They lost money. And it’s clear that in order to get to the postseason, they’re going to have to go on some kind of crazy run. And they don’t seem to have that run in them. No, they haven’t had that run all season long. And you know, we’ve been talking about catch the Mets, catch the Mets, catch the Mets. The Mets are collapsing catch the Mets, but as we talk right now, yeah, two and a half games back of the Mets, but between them and the Mets is now both the San Francisco Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks. So, it’s going to be, you know, they’re going to have to pass three teams. That seems like a pretty unreasonable ask for a team that hasn’t been able to win what’s their biggest winning streak of the year. Five games, right? They they won five. That’s their That’s their biggest just five. you you need this team to to win, you know, seven or eight games right now and they just don’t seem to have it in them. Um I don’t see how they leapfrog three teams and, you know, you look at those standings, you look at what’s going on and you you think really that the the series out in Sacramento just kind of sealed the deal. They’re they’re just not going to be able to do that. And and with the way because it’s you also look at who they have remaining. They’re all division teams. It’s St. Louis, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee. And there are a couple of ways that you can look at these games and say, “Well, but the Reds maybe, but they haven’t played the St. Louis well all year. St. Louis owns the season series right now. They haven’t played Chicago well at all.” And Chicago because of the way that Milwaukee has played here recently. Chicago’s back in the division race. So, they’re fighting tooth and nail. Um, or I don’t think or has Milwaukee clin or they’ve clinched a playoff spot, but not the division yet. Really close. Um but the so they’re still fighting tooth and nail to try to get to that division crown because they’re not satisfied with just a wild card birth. And then you have Milwaukee who as we mentioned like a couple of weeks ago had they kept playing the way that they were Milwaukee might be laying down their guns and laying down their arms for the final three games of the series season. That’s not happening because they got to make sure that they win the division. So you’re looking at four or you’re looking at three hungry teams and then the Pirates are in there somewhere and whether or not they get Paul skins probably decides whether they can win that series or not. But no, the Reds never play the Reds never play and they never play Pirates. They never play and it’s in Pitts or is it No, no, it’s at home. It’s at home. So that’s a good thing that it’s at least at home. But I I just I don’t see it, Steve. And I hate that because early on in the season I saw it. I I saw the talent. I bought in to the gamles that Nick Crawl made, which clearly the gamles sunk this team, and we’ll get into what those were later on, but I bought into yes, CES is going to develop into that cleoff hitter or or cleanup hitter or or or yes, Ellie is going to take that step because for three months, he took the step, but he did the thing. And I think that this if if you’re trying to put a blame on a singular player, I’m not blaming Ellie specifically, but the way that Ellie was handled this season, allowing him to play every ball game, I think tanked this team because he is dog tired right now. And I don’t know that it’s physical fatigue, it is mental fatigue. Cowboys said it on the broadcast last night. I’ve been saying it all season or or all month at least these last month is that you can watch him at the plate. He swings at balls. He looks at strikes. There’s nothing to this right now where you are pushing him out there every day or probably not pushing him. He’s probably telling you he wants to play every day, but you’re letting him go out there every day just to strike out or just to make a key out and and and that is hurting the team as a whole. You have to ask yourself, is the uh Ellie played all 162 games banner worth the result that we got, which is him being unable to hit, him being unable to steal, him being unable to do all of the Ellie things that this team really was relying on him to be and do and help drive the the engine of the lineup. Um, you know, he’s been running on fumes for a while now. And you know, one of my biggest sayings, Jeff, is it’s incumbent on the coaching staff and the front office to protect the players from themselves. Sure, Ellie wants to play in all 162 games. Clearly, that should not have happened. Somebody in charge should have said, Ellie, we appreciate you wanting to be on the field every day. You’re not playing today. In fact, stay home. Don’t even come to the ballpark. I’m not even going to use you as a pinch hitter. You are unavailable. Go home. Someone should have done that a couple of times this year. And nobody had the uh I don’t know if it’s the the forethought or the intestinal fortitude to stand up to Ellie and tell him, “No, you’re not playing.” And that’s really what was lacking in this situation. Um and it’s not just Ellie, Jeff. There’s lots more things to unpack here about why um the Reds have fallen flat on this wild card run, why the playoffs are now out of reach, and we’re going to get into a few more of them coming up right after this. We got football and we got baseball in the stretch run. So that means you need to get on over to FanDuel. And right now they’ve got this amazing offer for new users that I’ve not seen them do in a while. If you place your first $5 bet and get a win, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets. That’s odd bonus to play with. And you can take a look at tonight’s game between the Reds and the Cardinals. The overunder on total runs. I don’t know about money lines and and point spreads for either team on this one because I have no idea who’s going to win. But I know this, there’s going to be a lot of runs because you got Zack Lattell, you got Matthew Liberator on the mound. The overunders at eight and a half. Kind of feel like they’re going to smash that over. And so I’m going to smash that over. You should, too. Over on FanDuel. Again, download the app today. New users can place their first $5 bet, and if it wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets. Download the FanDuel app today. This episode is brought to you by Prize Picks, the daily fantasy app where making the right call can actually pay off. You and I make decisions every day. But on Prize Picks, being right means cashing in. With Football Back, Prize Picks is the simplest and fastest way to get in on the action. Just pick more or less on two to six player projections, and you could turn your takes into real prizes, all in less than 60 seconds. I know, rough news over the weekend with Joe Burrow, but Browning got it done. And if you think he’s going to throw a few more touchdown passes next week, just click more. If you think that Jamar Chase is going to be on the receiving end of those, just pick more. It’s that simple. Download the prize pick app today and use the code locked on MLB to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. That’s code locked on MLB for $50 in lineups after you do your first $5 lineups. Prize picks. It’s good to be right. Make sure you click that subscribe button and that notification bell here on YouTube so that you get all of the great Reds content we’ve got coming your way. Jeff and I are going to be with you all the way through the rest of this season and all off seasonason long here on Locked on Reds. Tim Daniel doing every single Red’s postcast for the rest of the season as we finish out the month of September. He will be live after each and every Red’s game. Click subscribe so you get all of that great content. All right, Jeeoff, let’s let’s get back into this a little bit because it’s more than just Ellie playing all 162. There have been a lot of decisions that were made all the way back in the off seasonason, all the way back at the beginning of the season. Whether it’s talking about players they didn’t go get, whether it’s talking about players that they let knowingly play hurt to start the season because they didn’t prepare and have the depth brought in to to deal with it. We’re talking about Spencer Steer playing with a wreck shoulder. We’re talking about Matt Mlan coming straight back when his shoulder wasn’t quite right. we’re talking about uh some of the derailments as far as Rhett Lauder not pitching an inning in the big leagues this year. If we’re talking about uh some of the other failures, if we’re talking about Ellie not getting any rest, there’s lots of things you can point to and say in hindsight, they’re really kind of no-brainers that this team just didn’t do a good job of dealing with the adversity as it came its way or or preparing smartly for what they wanted, which was a postseason run. And and there was so much just hope. There was so much put on guys getting better who we we said, “Okay, from 23 to 24 they’re going to get better. Okay, 24 didn’t work. Okay, well 24 to 25 they’re definitely going to get better.” There still hasn’t really been that step forward. And and we we keep harping on the outfield and I’m pretty sure people are like, “Oh boy, the outfield.” You guys talk about the outfield a lot. Steve, over under eight and a half different players getting at bats as the left fielder this year for the Reds. Eight and a half. I think we’re probably over that. 12 different players took at bats as a Cincinnati Red in left field. Over under eight and a half in right field. I think just under. I would have said under as well. over nine different guys got at bats as right fielders playing in right field for the Reds this year. That is too many. That means you don’t know who is supposed to be those guys. And to the Red’s credit, luck, not really sure if we’re allowed to credit this or not because they just kind of had to put him somewhere. I think they found their guy at least in right field at least for next year. Noelvie Marte. But left field is still quite the question mark because Austin Hayes has a mutual option that I don’t know that you pick up. Uh, Miguel Andrew is becoming a free agent, although they have literally given this. This just blows my mind. He’s literally played two games as a left fielder for the Cincinnati Reds this year. They have daged him. They have pinch hit him. That’s it. And and I don’t understand why because he was a fine. He was okay defensively. I think it’s I think it’s because of the I think it’s because of the injury. He’s got a bit of a bum wheel um that he’s been nursing trying to get through. So, I think they kept him out of the field to try and keep him in the lineup kind of situation. Okay. And and that’s the other part of this because you can even kind of take that a step further and say, “All right, the injuries that guys play through. We keep hearing about this, that, and the other. This guy’s been playing through this injury. This guy’s been playing through that injury.” And I get it. Not a lot of teams do have organizational depth. But I understand why they forced these guys through because when you look in Triple A, who’s there? This is not This is not an organizational depth issue at all. It’s a it’s a complete lack of bonafide. Um, you know, it’s one thing if you have three or four clear-cut major leaguers and then you don’t have depth behind it. They don’t even have that. They they’ve been playing Santiago Espanol in the outfield, Jeff Carr. Like they they don’t have the bonafidees at all. Um, it is clearly the biggest need that has to be addressed this off seasonason. They have to fix this outfield. They have to go and and and get it right. and and you can’t look around and go, “Well, we got South Stewart at first base now, so Spencer steers back and left.” That is not the answer. Um, they have to go and get somebody. They they have to finally go sign an outfielder. And then I also look at the bullpen and I wonder a little bit about this because I like Emilio Pagan. He’s had a nice season. I like Tony Santon. He’s had a nice season. Scott Barlo has had a good season, but it seems like he’s really breaking down here recently. And of course, giving up a grand slam to Nick Curts really doesn’t make people feel great about your season uh here in September. But I still have liked the overall product that Scott Barlo has put on the mound. Outside of that, there’s hope in Zack Maxwell and Connor Phillips. Um I don’t know. We’re gonna have episodes where we talk about what you do with Graham Ashcraft. Uh, and then outside of that, like Sam Maul has taken a huge step back. I don’t know that he’s in the plans for the future. Brent Sudter is fine, but he’s not a guy you’re bringing in in a lot of high leverage situations. He’s more of a guy to bridge a gap if a starter really doesn’t go as long as you hope he does. And then you’ve got a bunch of other guys that it’s like this bullpen kind of needs rebuilt and they’re not bringing back Ailio Pagan. Tony Santon is probably the only holdover that got, you know, significant time in the major leagues this year unless they bring back Scott Barlo. But I just this this feels like a unit that at times has looked like a strength and at times has looked like a absolute black hole on this team. They’ve got to be more consistent next year. They do. They’re going to have to go get guys. And one of the things that I’m a little encouraged about is if just let’s assume they don’t raise the payroll at all. Let’s just say the payroll stays the same again. You’ve got Nick Martinez coming off the books with his $21 million. Pagan’s money is coming off the books. That is money that you can reinvest. I if if they take if they take what’s coming off the books and reinvest it in two relievers and an outfielder, I would be happy with an offseason. That would be a significant improvement over what they’ve done the last few offseasons. So there there is there is room to maneuver is what I’m saying. There’s a lot of money coming off the books. And the good news with the bullpen is completely different from the positional side of things. Whereas I feel like there are in-house options, but they aren’t in-house answers. There’s still going to be question marks like who doesn’t make the rotation. There’s a large group of pitchers who have the ability to make this starting rotation next year, but there are five in my mind. There are five clear, you know, top front runners. That’s the word I was looking for. I’m having trouble getting words out today, but five clear front runners in this race for the rotation that should be in over other guys. And then we’re going to have discussions about whether you leave them in AAA, the guys who don’t make the major league rotation as starting pitchers or you move him to the bullpen. There’s definitely some guys that could be interesting in the bullpen. Guys like Brandon Williamson, guys like Julian Aguiar who who could provide you with a little bit of length, but also Brandon Williamson coming from the left side. That would be key. And there’s other guys too that there there’s going to be a lot more to unpack where that comes from. But I feel better about the Red’s ability to build their bullpen from within. Not totally. They do need outside help when it comes to the top end of the bullpen, but I feel like they can add to their depth through their through their own farm system for the bullpen side of things. But that that’s really going to be the key. and you kind of you kind of hit on it and I really want to dive into what they need to do in this off season and and I hate to be that guy, but I’m going to poo poo a move that everybody is begging for and we’re going to do that next. You’ve probably seen a million ads for hair growth products and thought, “Sure, like that actually works.” There’s so many products out there and it’s hard to know which ones are actually going to do anything. That’s why you need to give Neutrifall a closer look. 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If you can’t watch us here on YouTube, you can always listen to us on your favorite podcasting app. We’re on all of them out there. Go check us out today. And when you’re done with today’s show, go check out the Lockdown MLB feed. Sully’s got you covered every single day with takes around the league. And you’ve got Lockdown MLB game night. They’re going every day, covering every game and every night so that you don’t have to all through the World Series until we crown a champion. Go check out Locked on MLB today. All right, Steve. Uh, look, if if baseball if the Reds, let’s just say Reds, if the Reds operated a baseball team the way that folks who boot up MLB the show do, Kyle Schwarber would make a lot of sense. But knowing this team the way that we do, knowing ownership the way that we do, knowing their buyin level the way that we do, unless they shock us and add to the payroll this off seasonason, which I do not expect them to do, then Kyle Schwarber does not make sense because Kyle Schwarber would be your only move. Yeah, he would be the only move. Um, let’s unpack that just a bit. Kyle Schwarber makes sense. Going and signing that guy for this team makes sense. um it doesn’t make sense to Bob’s checkbook. And that doesn’t mean it’s not the right move. That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t make sense. That means that Bob is sheep. Bob is sheep. And so this is what’s most likely to happen, not what we want to. We want Bob Schwarber. But yeah, you’re right. If by some miracle they did go do that, um that would be your only move. They wouldn’t add anybody else. That’s taking all of Nick Martinez’s money, all of the money coming off the books, adding the little bit that maybe you get the Castellinis to add to this payroll and putting it all in one basket. And then that doesn’t address the bullpen. That doesn’t address your outfield situation because Kyle Schwarber is not your everyday outfielder, you know, gold glover out there. You much contract extensions either and and no contract extensions. So, no, Kyle Schwarber is not coming to Cincinnati. I I know I saw the quotes. We all saw the quotes. He said the fun thing. Um, but it’s a business and someone is going to throw a ton of money at Kyle Schwarber this off season. Well, and we we do this. Yes. And it’s probably going to be the Phillies. He might not he might touch free agency and just go right back to Philadelphia. But I I don’t see this working for a team that likes to strap itself with cash as much as the Reds do because they I I doubt they push the payroll past let’s say let’s say they they bump it up a little bit and they go to 115. If they go to 115 and after arbitration and honestly they need to sign some contract extensions, I’m going to stand on a table and champion the cause for being early to the table and getting Chase Burns done now. Buy out like a couple years of free agency like they did with Hunter Green. Uh maybe taking a look at some other guys on the roster as well, but you need to do that. You need to help the outfield out with somebody who’s not a reclamation project. as much as Austin Hayes has been fine, he’s not been good. And so I want to see better out in the outfield there. And then the bullpin needs help too. You cannot address all those things. If you give 30 and and let’s be honest, I think the Phillies start at 30 million per. So you’re probably going to have to go to 31 32 and and maybe even more than that because if you do that, Kyle Schwarber is going to be nice about this and he’s going to go back to Philly and be like, “Since he gave me 32, what you got?” Philly is going to open up the checkbook even more. The Reds can’t win a Benny War. They’ve shown us that they can’t. I’m not saying that to defend them. I’m saying that to let everybody know this is what’s going to happen. So the day that Kyle Schwarber is announced to go back to Philadelphia or that Kyle Schwarber is announced that god forbid he goes to LA or plays for the Dodgers or something like that, don’t get mad because if you do, you’re just wasting your own energy at that point because I think what’s going to happen is Nick Crawl is going to call Kyle Schwarber as a courtesy and say, “Hey, we’re looking and here’s a nice offer of like 24 25 million per year for like two or three years.” And he’s going to be like, “Thank you for the offer. for the Phillies gave me 30. And you know, let’s not forget that I’m convinced that the Reds have a strategy that centers around the collective bargaining agreement. They’re not going to go sign a big money deal. Uh that goes through what the next CBA is going to look like. Uh this team is positioned actually really well to deal with whatever the new CBA looks like. So the the guys they sign this coming off season are going to be one years, maybe two years because they’re going to lose that second year. guys, baseball’s going to shut down for a year. So, they’re going to lose that second year. Um, don’t look for big splashes as far as long-term big money contracts from these Cincinnati Reds. Uh, they’re going to wait and see what the new landscape looks like, but that doesn’t mean they can’t address these needs we’ve talked about. That doesn’t mean they can’t go get an outfielder on a one-year deal or a two-year deal. That doesn’t mean they can’t bring in bullpin arms. there there’s things that can be done, but um I I think one of the things that we don’t do is what you’re trying to to preach right now, Jeff, and that is look at this team through lenses of realism and not what we would like for them to do. Not what your example of, you know, what you would do if you were playing MLB the show, but what will Nick Crawl do based on his marching orders from the Castellinis? That is not sign Kyle Schwarber. That is not a realistic ask. um that is not going and signing some other outfielder to a five-year contract at 25 or $30 million per. They’re just not going to do that. They’re not one guy away. Yeah. Yeah. They’re not one guy away. So Nick Crawl is going to kind of do what he does. He needs to be better at it this coming off season. He took some gamles. He took some swings. There’s been a lot of misses over the last couple years. and he needs to to figure out what in his evaluation process has been wrong and make some adjustments because they really have to get a bat in this lineup behind Ellie to help him be able to go. They really have to get stability in this bullpen because they’ve got the starting pitching. There’s nine guys, you talked about this last segment, there’s nine guys fighting for five spots. A couple of those leftovers go in the bullpen and I think a couple of those leftovers go down the tripaa uh to be able to take spots if somebody gets banged up. But you still got to go out and get some relief pitching arms. So the the blueprint is there that you can look at it very clearly and see what needs to be done to get this team to be in contention. And listen, I didn’t say the words to win the division. I’m not going to say that anymore because I don’t think that this runoff is going out there trying to build a division winner. If they happen to stumble into it, they’ll be happy. But that’s not what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to be six or seven games above 500 and get a wild card spot. Get into the tournament. get into the playoffs and then see what you can do with this starting rotation. If you can accomplish that in 2026, you can make some noise. You can win a playoff series with this rotation. So, that’s the goal. The goal is not to win the division. And and I know you guys, you guys, what is wrong with Locked on Reds today? I think my feed is broken. There’s something wrong with the YouTubes. They’re not being optimistic. We’re being realistic today, guys. We have been we have tried to ride the optimism train all the way through 2025. it derailed in Sacramento and we’re just telling you like it is. Yeah, it’s it’s really it’s really it’s really knocked me down off of the optimism chair to be honest with you. And I I think there’s a new way that I’m looking at this team. I’m still going to try to be optimistic where I can be, but it is clear that if they get into the offseason and they say, “Well, if guys get better, no, no, we’re we’re not doing that again.” and and and Nick Crawl gambled with what he didn’t do this past off season. I am going to advocate very hardly for him to gamble with what he does. And I don’t think that that is a big money free agent. I think that’s a big trade and maybe even a trade that we don’t love, but it’s a trade that’ll work out. The reason that I’m doing this, and we have the we have the benefit of hindsight, we have the benefit of history of saying that, yeah, obviously the Joe Morgan trade was a good trade, but if you read the reactions, Mhm. back then, people hated it. People thought this was a gamble. People thought this was a bad idea, and it ended up paying off in dividends for years and years and years for this team. That’s what Nick Crawl has to put together. The big question is can he and and that’ll be something that is discussed quite a bit this off seasonason but he needs to because there’s too many guys here on this roster Steve that we look at and we’re like you know what his best position is super utility and there’s too many guys on this team right now that you know what his best position is like third base or or second base or something like that. You’ve got to move those guys. And I’m not saying move them within the field on this team because they tried that and it’s not working. So now you need to move to other teams and get those guys that actually play those positions and make this roster better for next year. Give me answers. Don’t give me questions. Don’t give me hope. Give me answers. That’s what I want this off season. And that is where we’re going to wrap it up for today. Thanks as always for making Locked on Red your first listen each and every day. We are going to continue to be here for you as the season starts to wind down and get you primed for the off seasonason. Make sure you’re subscribed. You’re going to get us. You’re going to get Tim Daniel with the postcast. Go make locked on MLB your second listen. Uh Sully’s over there with a national perspective. They got locked on MLB game night watching every single game so that you don’t have to. Uh we’re in September, folks. We got a few weeks left. Uh and until this season is done, Jeff and I are going to keep gathering the news, the notes, the reports, the rumors, and the information and bringing it back here to keep you locked on Reds every single day. You got knocked off the optimism train, but you got knocked down. My question is, do you get back up again? Are they never going to keep you down? Drinks a whiskey drink. Drinks a vodka drink. Drinks a laga drink. Drinks a cider drink. Something like that.

The Cincinnati Reds’ playoff hopes crumble after a disastrous series against the Oakland A’s. Jeff Carr and Steve Offenbaker analyze the team’s collapse, highlighting the lack of power hitting and inconsistent pitching as major issues. They scrutinize the decision to overplay Elly De La Cruz, suggesting it led to mental fatigue and poor performance. The hosts discuss potential offseason moves, including bullpen reconstruction and outfield additions. Kyle Schwarber’s name surfaces as a logical fit, but budget constraints make his acquisition unlikely. Realistic expectations for the Reds’ future are set, with the front office likely aiming for wild card contention in 2026 rather than division dominance. Tune in now to understand the Reds’ current struggles and future outlook!

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For your next listen, check out the Locked On MLB podcast. Get Sully’s take on MLB! He has it all covered every single day. Click HERE to listen now. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your Team. Every Day.

0:00 Intro: Cincinnati Reds playoff hopes collapse
5:36 Why Cincinnati Reds’ playoff hopes are gone
13:36 Examining Cincinnati Reds’ roster decisions and injuries
18:31 Cincinnati Reds’ bullpen and rotation outlook
25:43 Realistic expectations for Cincinnati Reds’ offseason moves
28:49 Nick Krall needs to make impactful trades

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