More importantly, the floundering Reds were “only” 21/2 games out of the last of the eight slots in this season’s expanded playoffs. The top two teams in each division plus the two next-best teams reach postseason play. Putting a damper on those hopes were the four teams between the Reds and that last playoff slot.
Equally as daunting were the teams comprising Cincinnati’s last 19 games. Going into Tuesday’s Major League Baseball schedule, the Reds' upcoming opponents owned a combined 124-113 record and .523 winning percentage. Only two, Pittsburgh at 13-26 and Milwaukee at 18-21, were under .500. That was more than balanced out by the Chicago White Sox at 26-15 and .634 and Minnesota Twins at 26-17 and .605.
Not that facing struggling teams such as the Pirates and Brewers had proven to be helpful. The Reds in the season’s early stages went 3-2 against the Detroit Tigers and 2-2 against the Kansas City Royals, two teams that were supposed to struggle in 2020 after finishing a combined 111 games under .500 in 2019. Cincinnati also was 3-3 against the Pirates in 2020.
“I’d like to see us start running the table,” Vice President of Baseball Operations Dick Williams said during a Zoom media session before Tuesday’s game. "We don’t have a ton of time left, but it’s been a long time since we were 2-1/2 games out of a playoff spot with 19 games to go. It’s a great opportunity to test ourselves. We’re playing good teams down the stretch. You’ve got to beat good teams or you don’t belong in the playoffs. These are must wins. We know we have the pitching to go on a run. We feel good about our starting pitching. The bullpen has been good. We’ve got the opportunity to make something happen. All we can do is look forward to each game coming up. We’ve all been through the excruciating experience of looking back at what happened in games here and there. We feel like the guys are focused on the right things, and we we feel like the front office is doing everything it can to support them.
“It’s been every bit as frustrating as it has been for the fans and the players.”
This was not the season anticipated after the Reds spent $166 million on free agents during the off-season to, primarily, upgrade their offense. Right fielder Nick Castellanos, billed as a doubles machine, was hitting .243 with eight two-base hits in 41 games. That translates to 32 over 162 games, a bit below the 58 he piled up while hitting .289 in 2019.
Second baseman Mike Moustakas, limited by injury to 27 games, was hitting .232 with three home runs and 11 RBIs. His home run this past Friday was his first since July 29.
Outfielder Shogo Akiyama, the first Japan native to play for the Reds, was expected to be a table-setting catalyst for the offense. He went into the Cubs' series batting .196. Billy Hamilton never hit that poorly while stealing more bases and playing better defense with Cincinnati.
The offense has been further hindered by the absence of center fielder Nick Senzel, who will on Friday mark four weeks on the injured list with an undisclosed health issue.
That led to a Cincinnati offense that bore a disturbing resemblance to 2019′s all-or-nothing attack. The Reds ranked sixth among the 30 major league teams with 64 home runs but last with a .211 team batting average and 24th with 161 runs.
Cincinnati’s leaky defense hadn’t helped. The Reds had been charged with 22 errors, tied for 20th among major league teams, but their fundamental miscues – cutoff men out of position, outfielders missing them when they are in the correct spot, all exacerbated by Castellanos and Moustakas learning new positions – had helped fuel opponents' rallies. Cincinnati’s differential between runs allowed and earned runs allowed was 25, tied with Toronto for third-worst among major leagues teams behind San Francisco at 30 and Baltimore at 27.
Right-hander Trevor Bauer, Cincinnati’s Wednesday starter, allowed just one earned run among four in six innings of a 4-1 loss at Pittsburgh on Friday. He launched into a dugout tirade directed at himself and his teammates after the Pirates' three-run fourth inning.
“I don’t think it really matters who we’re playing at this point,” said Bauer, 0-3 with a 4.07 earned-run average over his last three starts after going 3-0 with a 0.68 ERA over his first four outings. “We have to win. We could be playing the high school team or an all-star team. We have to win every game – not mathematically, but we can’t afford to give games away. We have to win. If you’re playing the teams in front of you, it’s nice because it guarantees them a loss if you win. At the end of the day, you have to win. If you win the games you should win and if you play the way you’re capable of playing, that’s all you can do.”
“I would be extremely disappointed if we don’t make the playoffs,” Williams said. “I’ve been disappointed at the end of every season, but everybody had such high expectations. We have a third of the season left . It’s time to get out there and perform.”
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