CINCINNATI — One swing of Jorge Soler’s bat produced more runs than the Cincinnati Reds have managed to score in 11 of their 14 games this season, as the Los Angeles Angels’ designated hitter hit a grand slam to cap off a 10-2 victory at Great American Ball Park on Friday.
The Reds scored a pair of runs on just four hits in the game, and the Angels notched a season high in runs on the young season.
“It’s tough, because these patches come through 162 games, and it’s just that ours is right now,” said Reds leadoff man TJ Friedl, who has started the season with just a .267 on-base percentage, almost a full 100 points lower than the .364 OBP he had for the entire 2025 season. “Our pitching and our defense have done an incredible job thus far without the bats really going, and we’re still where we’re at. It’s only a matter of time until things are rolling.”
The Reds were the last team in the majors to commit an error this season. For the most part, the team’s starters have been good and the bullpen solid, but there have been hiccups, including Thursday’s start by Rhett Lowder in Miami against the Marlins and Chase Burns’ start Friday, where he walked twice as many batters (four) as he struck out (two).
After starting their trip with a sweep in Texas against the Rangers and then taking the first two games of a four-game series with the Marlins, they have now lost three in a row heading into Saturday’s second game against the Angels.
At 8-6, the team has a winning record after the first 14 games for just the fourth time in the last 15 years. Cold starts are nothing new in Cincinnati, but this one seems magnified because the defense and pitching have been so good.
The Reds’ 41 runs are the fewest in baseball, and only three teams have a worse batting average than the team’s .203 mark. The Angels used to be one of those teams before leapfrogging the Reds with their 10 hits against Cincinnati’s pitching.
“Baseball’s just such a momentum-based game, and it was like when we’re not swinging the bat, we’re not stringing together some hits, it feels like everyone is waiting for that one big hit, waiting for the floodgates to open,” Friedl said. “That’s kind of how the game goes. Tomorrow, we can wake up and put together 15 hits, so I think as a group, we’re just riding this out, sticking together, having each other’s backs and just knowing that in this game, things can turn in an instant.”
Friedl stole a potential home run from the Angels’ Mike Trout in the third inning and thought he had a chance at another in the next inning, timing up Zach Neto’s drive to center nearly perfectly, only to see it land halfway up the berm. Neto’s ball was hit 104.7 mph off the bat with a launch angle of 33 degrees. It was the only one of the game’s four home runs that had a launch angle higher than 26 degrees. In the fifth inning, Spencer Steer hit a ball 103.9 mph with a 30-degree launch angle, and it was caught easily on the warning track, one of two balls Steer hit above 100 mph with nothing to show for it.
“Steer hit two balls right on the nose tonight, Ke’Bryan (Hayes) hit two balls. I’m not saying we were unlucky — you’re trying for reasons to be positive always,” Reds manager Terry Francona said.
Chase Burns, Friday’s starter, allowed seven hits and five runs over 5 1/3 innings. (Andy Lyons / Getty Images)
If there is a good sign beyond all the traditional offensive metrics, it’s that after Friday night’s game, the Reds’ average exit velocity of 89.5 mph was the sixth best in baseball. Hitting the ball hard is a good sign, as is an improved walk rate compared with last season. The Reds’ .248 batting average on balls in play is the second worst in the majors, suggesting there is some luck going against the team.
Also on the positive column is that Elly De La Cruz has improved from the right side of the plate. He hit his fourth home run of the season Friday, and his third from the right side. He hit five from the right side in all of 2025.
“I told them today, as long as they don’t feel sorry for themselves — and they won’t — we’ll figure this out together,” Francona said. “You’ve just got to plug away — they will and we will. I fully believe guys get to their level. I always believe that as long as they’re healthy, I will enjoy watching that, and I hope it starts tomorrow.”