{"id":662696,"date":"2026-04-04T12:52:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T12:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/662696\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T12:52:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T12:52:16","slug":"cincinnati-reds-showing-off-needed-power-early-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/662696\/","title":{"rendered":"Cincinnati Reds showing off needed power early in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

ARLINGTON, Texas \u2014\u00a0The last thing Tyler Stephenson was thinking about in his ninth-inning at-bat against Texas Rangers closer Chris Martin on Friday was a home run. Spencer Steer, who started the ninth with a double, wasn\u2019t either, even after Stephenson tattooed a cutter from Martin to right field.<\/p>\n

Steer went back to the second-base bag and tried to coax the baseball to drop but was prepared to tag up if Rangers center fielder Evan Carter tracked it down. To just about everyone\u2019s surprise, Stephenson\u2019s ball found its way over the wall in right-center and into the Rangers bullpen, leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 5-3 victory over the Rangers in their home opener.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like when you try to hit a home run, sometimes it never happens,\u201d said Stephenson, who came into Friday\u2019s game with just one hit on the season. \u201cI hit it, and I knew I hit it good. I didn\u2019t know if Carter was going to run it down in center, but it carried and got enough, and I\u2019ll take it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Reds will take it, too. All five of the team\u2019s runs in the game came on home runs, just as all three of the team\u2019s runs in their second win of the season, last week against the Boston Red Sox, came on Eugenio Su\u00e1rez\u2019s three-run homer.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s Reds team hit just 167 home runs, 21st in baseball despite playing in one of the game\u2019s most homer-happy ballparks. The signing of Su\u00e1rez, who hit 49 home runs last season with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Seattle Mariners, was in large part to help the team hit more homers. But it\u2019s the players already on the roster who the team needs more power from. No Reds player has hit more than 25 home runs since 2021, when Su\u00e1rez, Joey Votto and Nick Castellanos each hit 31 or more. Su\u00e1rez, who has two home runs already this season, isn\u2019t going to solve the entire power problem by himself.<\/p>\n

The Reds have nine home runs this season, including three from Elly De La Cruz, who hit his third of the season in the sixth inning against starter MacKenzie Gore. It also happened to be his second as a right-handed hitter off a left-handed pitcher. Of his now-63 career home runs, just 15 have come from the right side. Steer got the Reds on the board with his first homer of the season in the second.<\/p>\n

Now that’s an AB, @Tyler_Step22<\/a>\u2757\ufe0f#ATOBTTR<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/unq9la5Fjx<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, our guys can hit as many as they want, believe me,\u201d Reds manager Terry Francona said. \u201cI think when they\u2019re a byproduct of good at-bats, I think that\u2019s even more impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite his impressive size, Stephenson\u2019s strength has always been putting together good at-bats and going the opposite way, not getting too big at the plate and trying to pull pitches into the seats. Friday\u2019s at-bat was no different.<\/p>\n

After Steer\u2019s leadoff double to start the ninth, Stephenson quickly went down 0-2 against Martin, who is part of the Rangers\u2019 shared closer duo with lefty Robert Garcia.<\/p>\n

Stephenson was looking to go to the right side and get the go-ahead run over, but after the two quick strikes, he had to balance that with making sure he got the ball in play.<\/p>\n

After Martin missed up and then wide, Stephenson fouled off a fastball, watched a splitter down and fouled off a cutter to the right side. On Martin\u2019s seventh pitch, a cutter on the inside third of the plate, Stephenson made solid contact, shooting it to the gap in right.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s trying to move the runner, and even when he got two strikes on him, he kept that approach,\u201d Francona said. \u201cYou\u2019ve heard me say it a million times, you hit the ball that way with authority. He deserved it because that was a really good effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

On second, Steer had a perfect vantage point for the at-bat and knew Stephenson wasn\u2019t trying to do too much.<\/p>\n

\u201cRunner at second, no outs, you\u2019re looking to get \u2019em over,\u201d Steer said. \u201cObviously, we get a homer and that\u2019s great, but him being right-center right there, that\u2019s just a selfless team at-bat and he got rewarded with a great swing.\u201d<\/p>\n