The Cincinnati Reds have played 124 of 162 games. Even after this amount of game, nobody can figure out if this team is a contender or a pretender. Just a week ago, Cincy was dead in the water. The St. Louis Cardinals came to town. Always consistent, the Cardinals had been playing good baseball and solidly in second place. The Reds beat them not once, not twice, but in a three-game sweep …. Bam!..Just like that, the Reds are back in the race.
Going into the weekend, the Reds stood at 60-61, in second place, and four games away from a coveted Wild Card spot. Pitching had been on point, hitting had been timely, and manager David Bell had been making all the right moves to get the team to within one game of .500. Three days later after a series with the Kansas City Royals, the Reds had maybe their worst performance in a three-game series in several years. Not only were they swept at home, Cincy was outscored 28-3 and thoroughly embarrassed. The Reds ace pitcher Hunter Greene was also put on the injured list with elbow issues. The results may be the Reds last chance to have a legitimate chance of getting a playoff bid.
Hunter Greene has had such a good season he is a Cy Young candidate. Greene goes to the injured list with a 9-4 record and .283 batting average. With the ace unable to help the team, the chances of catching one of the three Wild Card berths just took a major hit. You kind of have to think that even if Cincy was to get into the playoffs, would they really even be able to go toe-to-toe with the contenders?
Kansas City will likely obtain a playoff birth in the American League. Teams that are playoff contenders as of late have had their way with the Reds. Just taking a look in the last month, the Reds have played six teams with a chance at playoff berths. Only two of the six teams did the Reds defeat in a series.
Many people point to the fact that Cincinnati did very little to help themselves at the trade deadline. Was this a sign the team was simply conceding the fact they were not going to be in the race the rest of the year?
The team has 38 chances to make a case for a playoff berth for 2024. Since 1980, there have been seven teams that have made the post season that were under the .500 mark with 39 or fewer games left. If the Reds want to be the eighth, things better change and quick. The schedule is in the teams favor, but the consistency, or lack of it, makes it hard to believe it can happen.