Friday night’s game between the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers won’t get going on schedule. The first pitch had been set for 6:10 p.m. local time, but rain is expected between 6 and 7 p.m., and the teams will meet at 5:45 to get a better read on the situation.
The delay lands in the middle of a brutal September stretch for Cincinnati. The Reds opened the month by taking two of three from the San Diego Padres, and the road only gets rougher from here.
After this weekend’s series with Milwaukee, they head to Los Angeles to face the first-place Dodgers, then return to Milwaukee for another matchup with the Brewers. After that comes a four-game home set against the Dodgers, a home series with the Chicago Cubs beginning September 18, and then a final road trip that starts in Atlanta and ends in Toronto against the Blue Jays.
Every opponent on the Reds’ September slate is in the playoff mix, either sitting first in its division, leading the Wild Card, or within one game of a Wild Card spot. Cincinnati, meanwhile, is 67-73 and 6 1/2 games back in the Wild Card race.
That’s a sharp fall from where this season started. The Reds raced out to a 20-11 record in April and spent the month atop the National League Central. But a bullpen collapse in May and a wave of injuries dragged the club down, and from May 1 through June they had the worst record in Major League Baseball.
The injury list has been a major part of the story all year. Hunter Greene returned for five starts after opening the season on the injured list following March elbow surgery to remove bone fragments from his throwing arm.
He then re-injured the elbow, tore his UCL and had Tommy John surgery on August 12, which will keep him out for nearly all of the 2027 season. Nick Lodolo had multiple IL trips because of blisters, Emilio Pagan missed almost two months with a hamstring injury, and Elly De La Cruz also landed on the IL after hurting his hamstring on May 31, his first career stint on the injured list.
With the season slipping away, Cincinnati is starting to look toward what comes next. Jorge, the organization’s No. 16 prospect, was promoted after slashing .308/.376/.427 with 21 extra-base hits and 33 stolen bases. Utility man Ivan Johnson was optioned to Triple-A, and Michael Toglia was moved to the 60-day IL after dislocating his shoulder on a diving catch against the Diamondbacks on August 23.
Manager Terry Francona praised Jorge after the call-up.
"Nothing was given to him" Francona told Charlie Goldsmith. "He just played his (tail) off.
He’ll play center field probably against righties. A lot like with Rodríguez, we’re trying to get them here now.
You certainly want to win every game you can. That’s the objective.
You’re also trying to set yourself up for next year where you’re going into spring training - not that you don’t evaluate - if that’s all you have, you’re going to make mistakes."
The Reds are not officially eliminated, but they are clearly trending toward evaluation mode. At this point, getting Jorge, Hector Rodriguez and Edwin Arroyo into games looks less like a reward and more like a necessary look ahead to the 2027 season.
In Other News...
Reds Just Found An Intriguing New Outfield Depth Option
The Reds added another name to their outfield mix this week, signing Dominic Fletcher to a minor league contract and sending him to Triple-A Louisville. For a club that is always weighing depth as the season wears on, Fletcher brings a little more experience to the stash in case the major league roster needs help down the line.
Fletcher has already gotten a taste of the big leagues with the Diamondbacks and White Sox, and he arrives in the organization after opting out of a minor league deal with the Pirates. Cincinnati will take a close look at him in Louisville as it evaluates whether he can become useful outfield insurance, the kind of move that rarely grabs attention now but can matter later if injuries or underperformance thin the group. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Give Carlos Jorge A Shot At A Role They Need Right Now
The Reds made a roster move that points straight to an immediate need, selecting outfield prospect Carlos Jorge's contract ahead of their series opener against the Brewers. To clear space, Cincinnati optioned Ivan Johnson to Triple-A Louisville and shifted Michael Toglia to the 60-day injured list, opening a door for Jorge, a 22-year-old converted infielder whose defense and speed have helped him climb into the conversation even while he sits just outside the clubs top 15 prospects.
Jorge has spent this season grinding through 88 minor-league games, and the call-up gives the Reds a chance to see whether his athleticism can translate to a role at the big-league level right away. For a team in search of help on the roster, the move is less about long-term projection than the possibility that a player with his profile can provide a useful answer when the need is immediate. [Read more 🡒]
Matt McLain Just Became A Bigger Reds Concern Than Fans Expected
With the Reds unlikely to make a postseason push this year, the rest of the schedule has turned into a long evaluation period for the future. That puts plenty of attention on Matt McLain, who arrived as one of the organizations more encouraging young pieces but has not followed up his rookie season the way Cincinnati hoped. His spot in the lineup still matters, because the Reds are trying to sort out which parts of the core can be counted on when next season arrives.
Ryan Phillips of Sports Illustrated recently ranked Cincinnati 23rd in the league and singled out McLain as a player to watch over the final stretch. That kind of spotlight says plenty about where the conversation has shifted: the Reds are not just waiting for wins now, they are trying to learn whether a player who once looked like a building block can still become one. For a club already eyeing the offseason, McLains progress has become a much bigger question than fans probably expected. [Read more 🡒]