Reds’ most irritating trend is back in full force

After losing a three-game series to the woeful Pittsburgh Pirates, the Cincinnati Reds' trend of always matching their opponents' level of play appears to be continuing. Cincinnati has now lost three series to teams who are between 10 and 20 games under .500. (Pirates, Miami Marlins and Chicago White Sox). The Reds' season, however, has also consisted of series wins against the San Francisco Giants and Cleveland Guardians; each of whom currently occupies a Wild Card spot.

Does this prove that the Reds are as bad as the hapless opponents they've lost to, or are they just mediocre at best and able to find ways to secure series victories against winning organizations? As a fan, it's disheartening to see such poor-play manifest itself against supposedly inferior opponents only to see them turn around and outperform playoff contenders. Baseball is difficult, and this will happen from time to time, but shouldn't occur this often.

This annoying habit the Reds have developed occurred during the 2024 campaign with David Bell at the helm. The Reds swept the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and their opponent in the Fall Classic, the New York Yankees. Cincinnati won the season series against the NL East-winning Philadelphia Phillies and swept the Houston Astros who won the AL West.

The Reds cannot continue to play down to their opponents

But the Reds also lost season series to the Athletics (69-93), Pirates (76-86) and Washington Nationals (71-91). The inconsistency of this team is evident, and the recent editions of the Reds seem to rely solely on momentum and pitching to carry them through.

Taking care of business is crucial to playoff contending teams, and inconsistent offensive production will not aid this effort. This season, Cincinnati averages 7.8 runs per game in a victory, and 2.3 in a loss. This number drops to 3.5 in games against inferior opponents, while the pitching staff has only allowed 2.6 runs a game against those same opponents this season.

Inconsistent offense leads to an inconsistent team. The Reds' elite pitching staff simply can't be relied upon to hold their opponent to one run or less every single game — even that hasn't worked at times this season. The Reds front office hired Terry Francona to hold players accountable; something that is certainly needed at this time.

Matt McLain and Tyler Stephenson have performed well below expectations since returning from injury but are still seeing regular playing time. It took nearly two months to send Blake Dunn back to the minor leagues despite Will Benson and Rece Hinds hitting the cover off the ball at Triple-A. These are just a handful of examples of the lack of accountability Francona has provided through the first two months of the season.

The Reds find themselves only one game under .500 entering their upcoming series against the Chicago Cubs. With a juggernaut of a schedule ahead, maybe it's prime time to continue the "play to the opponents level" just a little longer.

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