The Cincinnati Reds’ path to a better pitching staff in 2027 starts with a simple demand: throw more strikes.
That was the message in Nick Krall’s comments, and it lines up with what happened on the mound in 2026. According to MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon, Cincinnati dropped from 12th in baseball with a 3.86 team ERA in 2025 to 28th with a 4.83 ERA in 2026.
The walks piled up, too. The Reds led the majors with 668 walks and also finished fourth with 87 hit batters.
That kind of traffic is hard for any staff to survive.
“We had 68 more walks and hit-by-pitches to the next-closest [NL] team,” Krall said. “We’ve gotten a lot out of our pitchers over the last few years, but we need to be able to throw a strike 1.”
That first strike matters because it changes everything that follows. When pitchers get ahead, they can make hitters expand the zone and avoid handing out free passes. When they fall behind, the advantage flips fast, and innings get longer, messier and tougher to control.
The Reds made life harder than it needed to be far too often in 2026. A staff that ranked near the bottom of the league in ERA and led all of baseball in walks is dealing with more than a few rough nights.
The command issues also stand out because Cincinnati has several young arms with real ability but inconsistent strike-throwing. Luis Mey, Zach Maxwell and Connor Phillips all have closer potential, but each needs to locate more consistently before becoming dependable big-league relievers, much less arms the Reds can trust late in games.
They’ve all shown flashes. The challenge now is making those flashes show up more often.
Krall’s comments make it clear that attacking the zone will be a priority moving forward. The bigger test is turning that message into actual results.
It’s one thing to tell pitchers to throw strikes. It’s another to help them do it every time out.
That’s why hiring a new pitching coach who shares that same strike-throwing emphasis will be so important for Cincinnati in 2027.
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Castellini said any decision on De La Cruzs future has to line up with the teams broader strategic plan, which is the kind of language that usually signals patience, caution and some uncomfortable math ahead. For the Reds, the question is no longer whether De La Cruz matters to their future, but how long they can keep a player with this much value, this much upside and this much leverage before the business side of the equation starts forcing harder choices. [Read more 🡒]