CINCINNATI (WXIX) – Just a week ago, morale was sky high in the Cincinnati Reds’ clubhouse. The team was a half-game back of the New York Mets for the final Wild Card spot. Players were talking about the grit the team showed as it bounced back from a tough series vs. the Brewers, the sacrifices that individuals were making to contribute to winning baseball and the thrill of the stretch run ahead of them.
The tone has changed quickly.
On Friday, the Reds let another game get away from them as their defense was back in the spotlight. The St. Louis Cardinals picked up a 7-5 win in extra innings over the Reds, who are now five games behind the Mets in the standings and are also just a game over .500.
“We’ve got to take care of the ball a little more,” Ke’Bryan Hayes said. “We’re working the best we can in our preparation in practice. We’ve got to take care of the ball more.”
The Reds’ plan is to win with pitching and defense, and the problem is that even the Reds’ best defensive lineup still hasn’t been good enough.
Friday’s loss was an ugly one. It was the type of game that non-playoff teams find a way to lose. And the Reds keep losing games like this.
“All of these games really, really matter,” Zack Littell said. “Every guy in here has urgency to go out there and compete every night. We’ve (given) a few away lately that we probably should have won. This team knows that we have better baseball we can play, and now is the time to do that.”
Even though Elly De La Cruz had a double and a triple and was also a few feet away from a clutch homer on a 350-foot fly out in the 8th, he was back in the spotlight. He committed two errors that gifted runs to the Cardinals.
He has five errors in his last six games, and the most costly one was on a slow roller in the 10th inning with two outs. De La Cruz said that he just made a bad throw. As he didn’t make the play, the go-ahead run scored from third base.
“He goes about his business pretty good,” Terry Francona said. “I don’t think he’s thrilled when those things happen, but nobody would be. He’s ok.”
Friday was one of his most productive offensive games in a while, but he also struck out twice. In the bottom of the 10th inning, De La Cruz stepped up to the plate representing the go-ahead run with two outs, lunged at a slider in the dirt for strike two and then whiffed at a changeup right down the middle for strike three.
“I’ve been swinging at bad pitches lately,” De La Cruz said. “That’s on me.”
During a pivotal month of the Reds’ season, the Reds’ best player is having his worst month since his rookie year. Over the last 30 games, De La Cruz has a .613 OPS.
“We’ll get through it,” De La Cruz said. “We’ve just to go keep going… We haven’t lost confidence.”
The Reds’ slide has been about a lot more than just one player. The same issues keep popping up.
The bullpen walks the first batter too often. Nick Martinez issued a free pass in the eighth, and that runner ended up scoring what was at the time the go-ahead run for St. Louis.
The Reds have been a bad extra innings team all season, and Friday’s loss worsened their record to 3-10 in those games this season.
They haven’t been a good enough situational hitting team.
“Sometimes, myself included, we may try to get too big of a hit instead of just trying to hit the ball low, hard and on a line,” Hayes said. “The home runs will come. As we keep going, we’ve got to figure out how to scratch those tough runs across.”
There’s also a lot to unpack from a sequence in the sixth inning. The Reds were down by a run at the time, and runners were on first and second with no outs. Santiago Espinal stepped up to the plate. It was such a big spot that Will Benson was called upon to pinch-run for catcher Jose Trevino.
Espinal being in the lineup is a part of the pitching and defense plan. Matt McLain, whose numbers are better vs. LHP than RHP, hasn’t been playing recently vs. LHP. As McLain battles the grind of a long season after missing the entire 2024 season, there’s value in giving him some days off. It seems like the idea here is that McLain will start vs. RHP because he’s the team’s best second base defender. And since Espinal is also a solid second base defender and hits much better (still just a .659 OPS) vs. LHP than RHP, the best way to give McLain days off while still keeping the defense strong and also putting Espinal in the best position to succeed is making it a McLain-Espinal platoon. This platoon hasn’t been productive enough.
Back to Espinal’s plate appearance. He’s not a power threat who can change the game with runners on first and second, so he bunted. While he moved the runners over, TJ Friedl and Noelvi Marte recorded outs that ended the inning with the Reds still trailing.
It can be risky to chase offense and prioritize punch in the lineup over defense. For example, playing Noelvi Marte in center field vs. a LHP didn’t work out last week. But since even the Reds’ best defensive lineup hasn’t been good enough any way to lead the Reds to the wins they need, the lineup needs a spark.
That can be Sal Stewart, who could slot in as the team’s DH with Gavin Lux then getting more playing time at second base and left field.
It could be Will Benson. It could be Tyler Stephenson as a DH when he’s eligible to return from the IL. It could be giving more playing time to a banged-up Miguel Andujar if he’s now getting healthier.
A crucial storyline right now is Andujar playing through a quad injury. He’s one of the team’s hottest hitters, but he has also started just three of the team’s last seven games as a way to manage his rehab. Andujar said pregame that he feels better, and getting him in the cleanup spot as the DH more consistently going forward could make an impact. But he’s still not running well on the bases.
If he’s not able to play complete games more than a few times a week, then a player like Stewart or Stephenson (as a third catcher as he comes back from a thumb injury) who’s able to play more consistently could make a greater impact.
The current setup isn’t working well enough for a Reds’ team that still has a chance but is seeing its playoff odds drop quickly.
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