For those Cincinnati Reds fans who have said farewell to the 2026 season because their team fell from first place to last place quicker than a boulder rolling downhill, don’t do it.
Not yet.
In 1979, under new manager John McNamara, the Reds were 10½ games behind the Houston Astros on the Fourth of July when both were in the National League West.
The Reds won the division by 1½ games over the Astros with a 90-71 record. This isn’t to say it will happen again, but it could.
Yes, the Reds are in fourth place behind Milwaukee, Chicago and St. Louis, but only 4½ games behind the division-leading Brewers.
And it’s only mid-May and the 2026 Reds are more talented than that 1979 team that was swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Championship Series.
The 1914 Boston Braves were 15 games behind and in last place on July 15. From there they went 68-19 and not only won the National League pennant, they swept the Philadelphia A’s in the World Series.
The 1969 Miracle Mets were 10½ games behind the Chicago Cubs on August 14, but won the division by eight games with a 100-61 record.
In the immortal and laughable words once uttered by Yogi Berra, “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.”
And for the Reds, it is far from over.
It definitely looked dismal when the Reds landed in Philadelphia this week, especially when they lost the first game of the three-game series.
They had lost 13 of 17 and 11 of their last 12 on the road. And the Phillies were scorching, winners in 15 of their last 20 and winners in six straight series.
Baseball, though, has a way of manufacturing surprises and what a surprise the Reds were.
They jumped off life support and at least temporarily showed signs of resuscitation.
They won the second game, 4-1, then took the series Wednesday, 9-4, with a 15-hit explosion.
Are they back on track? Are they once again the team that led the National League Central for most of April?
That, of course, is to be determined.
It begins Friday, May 22, against NL Central rival St. Louis and it behooves the Reds to pay attention. They are 1-9 against division brethren, 1-6 against the last place Pittsburgh Pirates and 0-3 against the Chicago Cubs.
The Cardinals spent the off-season dumping high-paid players like Nolan Arenado after letting Paul Goldschmidt after the 2024 season. It was said they were in re-load mode.
Most observers picked them to finish last in the NL Central, but they’ve been the surprise of baseball and breathing a hot breath on the Brewers and Cubs.
The Reds, though, show signs of hope.
Designated hitter/third baseman Eugenio Suarez is expected back in the lineup this weekend.
After a struggling spring training and a bad April, starting pitcher Andrew Abbott suddenly in May is pitching as manager Tito Francona describes it, “He is back to being Andrew Abbott.”
Pitcher Chase Burns is almost an automatic win with his 6-1 record, five-game winning streak and 1.83 earned run average.
The bullpen was baseball’s best in April, practically perfect. Then this month the entire bullpen disintegrated at once.
In those two wins in Philadelphia, the bullpen retired 28 of 30 hitters over the last three innings of those games.
Is it permanent? Big question, important answer.
Offensively, a team that was loaded with batters hitting below .220, some of them below .180, seems to have found the barrels of their bats.
Spencer Steer doesn’t have a permanent position but is as comfortable as comfortable gets right now. He has an 11-game hitting streak and has hit safely in 20 of 21 games.
Reds broadcaster Jeff Brantley calls him, “The team’s Swiss Army knife,” because Francona plugs him in wherever needed.
So far this season he has played first base, left field, right field, third base and on Wednesday, May 20, he played second base.
In the past he also has played shortstop, center field and even pitched in a blowout game.
Elly De La Cruz is a tough out with hits in 11 of his last 13 games with a string of six straight multi-hit games.
In April, pitchers couldn’t get rookie Sal Stewart out. The pitchers made adjustments and Stewart hit a dry spell. He adjusted and is back ripping hits to right field the way he did in April.
Even with his mini-slump, Stewart leads the team in home runs with 12 and in RBIs with 34.
JJ Bleday began the season at Triple-A Louisville and was so successful he forced the Reds to call him up. And he forced his way into the starting lineup in left field and is hitting .292 with six doubles and 20 RBI in 91 plate appearances.
Blake Dunn, a recent call-up and the fastest runner on the team, is showing the aptitude of an all-around baseball player and deserves right field or even center field.
During the two wins over the Phillies, he had four hits, including a triple, stole a run with his speed on a dash home from third on a ground ball and made a long running catch with his speed in the spacious foul territory in Citizens Bank Park.
There are some holes.
Third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes is almost an automatic out with his .142 average and propensity for hitting into rally-killing double plays.
Will Benson, given every opportunity in right field, is hitting .171 with 28 strikeouts in 93 plate appearances.
TJ Friedl, leadoff hitter and center fielder, is getting less and less playing time because of his .178 average, 40 strikeouts and shabby .258 on base percentage, totally unacceptable for a leadoff hitter.
Catcher Tyler Stephenson is hitting .183 with 38 strikeouts over 143 plate appearances.
Despite all the slumpsters, the Reds appear to have found the right plug-ins to compensate and there appears to still be much to be optimistic about with this team the rest of the way.