The Cincinnati Reds head into San Francisco carrying the kind of August baggage nobody wants: Sunday’s 5-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks marked their third straight series defeat. With their postseason hopes basically on life support, the focus now shifts to finishing the month with some dignity on a West Coast trip that wraps up against the Giants.
That series begins Monday, and Cincinnati is getting a headline arm right away. Chase Burns will take the ball in the opener, giving Reds fans another chance to watch the rookie right-hander who has been electric all season.
Burns is 14-2 with a 2.51 ERA, and the way things are trending, the team will likely shut him down before long. For now, the message is simple: enjoy it while it lasts.
The Giants haven’t announced their starters for the three-game set yet, but they’ll have to deal with Burns first. Game two brings Brady Singer, who has steadied himself since the All-Star break. The right-hander is 5-11 with a 4.72 ERA, but he’s gone six innings in four of his last five starts, a stretch that’s made him look much more like the pitcher Cincinnati was hoping for.
Wednesday’s finale will feature Nick Lodolo, who enters at 3-3 with a 5.04 ERA. It’s been a rough year for the lefty, and his most recent outing against Arizona was another ugly one: 3.1 innings, 10 hits, six earned runs. He’ll get another shot to reset when the Reds close out the series.
There’s no sugarcoating where this season stands. Cincinnati trails by nine games in the race for the final National League Wild Card spot, so the odds of a late charge are slim. But the team still has players worth showing up for, including Sal Stewart and Elly De La Cruz, and that’s part of the appeal down the stretch.
At this point, it’s about sticking with it and taking whatever good baseball is left. The Reds are short on margin, but they still have enough talent to make the final week of August worth watching.
In Other News...
Sal Stewart Race Could Leave Reds Regretting More Than Award Snub
Sal Stewarts rise has put the Reds in the middle of a Rookie of the Year race that carries more weight than a typical award chase. Stewart and the Cardinals JJ Wetherholt have emerged as the leading candidates for the National League honor, and under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, the winner can bring more than bragging rights to his club. A rookie with one year of service time who wins a major postseason award triggers a Prospective Promotion Incentive draft pick for his team.
For Cincinnati, that makes the finish line matter in a different way. Only the actual Rookie of the Year gets the extra pick, so the Reds are not just watching whether Stewart can claim the award, but whether they can turn a strong season into a future draft asset. If Wetherholt edges ahead, that bonus goes to St. Louis instead, leaving Cincinnati to think about more than just an award snub. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Suddenly Face A Bigger Michael Toglia Setback Than Expected
Michael Toglias time with the Reds has taken a sharp turn. After suffering a dislocated right shoulder in a game against the Diamondbacks, he was placed on the 10-day injured list, and now surgery will end his season. It is the kind of setback that changes the short-term picture for a club trying to keep moving, especially when a lineup piece disappears so abruptly.
The timing stings even more with the Reds coming off a win in which JJ Bleday hit for the cycle, a night that gave the dugout plenty to feel good about. Cincinnati will now have to carry that momentum into the next game with Chase Burns scheduled to start, while the larger question around Toglias recovery hangs over everything else. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Fans Just Got A New Reason To Debate Nick Krall
The Astros and Dana Brown going their separate ways before the 2026 season only sharpened a question that has been hanging around the Reds all year: how long does a front office get when the results do not match the expectations? Houston was still competitive in the AL West, yet the organization chose to make a change at the top, a reminder that teams do not always wait for a full collapse before rethinking leadership. For Cincinnati, it lands as an uncomfortable comparison because the Reds were supposed to be building toward something better under their current baseball leadership.
Nick Krall, promoted in 2023, has not delivered the kind of progress the Reds wanted, and the disappointment of the 2026 season has only turned up the noise. Even without a full teardown, the conversation now shifts from individual games to bigger-picture accountability, and that is where the Astros news becomes relevant to Reds fans. If Houston can decide a competitive club still needs a new direction, Cincinnati supporters are left wondering whether the same kind of threshold might eventually apply here. [Read more 🡒]