The Reds are heading into the offseason with more than one fix on the list. After a year that ended at 75-87 and dropped Cincinnati all the way to last place, the front office has a lot of sorting out to do - from the staff on the mound to the bats in the lineup and the catcher situation in between.
“Our season did not go anywhere remotely like we wanted it to," manager Terry Francona noted in Toronto on the final day.
That kind of finish forces hard questions, and president of baseball operations Nick Krall, general manager Brad Meador and Francona now have to tackle a roster that needs upgrades in several spots, not just one.
One of the first decisions is at pitching coach. Derek Johnson, who joined the Reds before the 2019 season, took a personal leave of absence in June and did not return for the rest of the year.
The club said last week that Johnson will not be back. Assistant pitching coach Matt Tracy and bullpen coach Oscar Marin have already been interviewed, and the team is also considering outside candidates.
The numbers tell the story of how far the staff slipped. Cincinnati’s team ERA fell from 12th in MLB in 2025 at 3.86 to 28th this year at 4.83. The Reds also led the league in walks with 668 and finished fourth in hit-by-pitches with 87.
"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.”
Offense is another major concern. Outside of Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart, the lineup had too many stretches where contact and consistency disappeared. Cincinnati finished last in the Majors in batting average at .229 and on-base percentage at .305, while its 1,544 strikeouts were the most in the National League.
Krall said the club wants to give Francona more choices at the bottom of the roster, whether that means regulars or platoon pieces. Budget decisions usually don’t get locked in until late October or early November, and the Reds did stretch the payroll in February to bring in Eugenio Suárez for more power. That move did not deliver the payoff Cincinnati wanted, and the needs now stretch across the diamond, including third base, outfield and second base.
Catcher is another open item. Tyler Stephenson, drafted and developed by the Reds and a big leaguer since 2020, is set to become a free agent.
That leaves Jose Trevino and the inexperienced Will Banfield on the 40-man roster, while top prospect Alfredo Duno - MLB Pipeline’s No. 20 overall - still needs more time in the Minors. Krall said there are no plans to rush him.
The Reds will have to explore both free agency and trades for a No. 1 catcher, though Stephenson remains part of the conversation.
"I think we need to take a step back and figure out what it’s going to take," Krall said. "How does it help us move forward?
And do we need to use that money to improve something else? I think we have a lot of questions that need to be answered over the next month as we approach free agency.
But he’s a great guy and we’d love to have him back.”
Pitching depth behind Chase Burns is another issue. The Reds entered Spring Training believing they had a strong rotation, but Burns was the only starter who truly surged, breaking out as an All-Star while the rest of the group regressed and injuries piled up.
“When you look at our starters - besides Chase Burns - I think everybody took a step backwards this year. We’ve struggled there," Krall said.
Hunter Greene is sidelined after right elbow surgery and won’t be back until 2028. Nick Lodolo was derailed by blister problems.
Andrew Abbott, Rhett Lowder, Brandon Williamson and Carson Spiers are expected to be in the mix, while Brady Singer is a free agent after a rough season and is unlikely to receive a qualifying offer. Singer did not miss a start in his two seasons with Cincinnati, and the Reds will need someone with that kind of durability who can handle 30 starts.
The bullpen also needs work, even after a busy makeover last winter that added Brock Burke, Caleb Ferguson and Pierce Johnson. Emilio Pagán got off to a rough start and missed nearly two months with a left hamstring strain, but once he returned on June 30, he was perfect in save chances the rest of the way, going 19-for-19 with a 1.88 ERA over his final 30 appearances. He has a $10 million player option for 2027 and appears likely to stay in place as the bullpen’s anchor.
Behind him, Tony Santillan and Graham Ashcraft were uneven, and Santillan’s readiness for next season could be affected by left hip surgery. Julian Garcia emerged as a reliable innings-eater, Tejay Antone completed a successful return from his third Tommy John surgery, and Luis Mey showed flashes. But the Reds need more consistency there, too, if they’re going to clean up what went wrong in 2026.
In Other News...
Reds Prospects Just Forced Some Tough Offseason Questions
The Reds farm system gave the organization plenty to think about in 2026, and not all of it was the familiar kind of optimism that comes with a few blue-chip names near the top of the ladder. Sal Stewart was part of a broader wave of breakout seasons across the system, joined by prospects like Jirvin Morillo, Carter Graham, Liberts Aponte, Ichiro Cano, Carlos Sanchez, Jacob Friend and Ysaias Escalona, all of whom added to a year that forced the front office to look more closely at who might be ready to help sooner rather than later.
What made the group especially interesting was how the breakout bats kept piling up while the upper minors still lacked obvious top-end pitching depth. That imbalance is the kind of offseason issue that can shape roster decisions, development plans and even future trades, because the Reds can feel good about the talent surge and still know the system is not perfectly stocked where they need it most. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Face A Risky Tyler Stephenson Decision They Can't Ignore
Tyler Stephensons future has become one of the Reds more consequential offseason questions, and not just because he remains one of the more recognizable names on the roster. President of baseball operations Nick Krall made it clear the front office is still sorting through bigger-picture priorities, with the club weighing how much sense it makes to bring Stephenson back while trying to address other needs across the roster.
The catch is obvious: if Stephenson winds up elsewhere, Cincinnati would be left trying to patch together a position that is already thin on offense. The Reds cant afford to treat catcher like an afterthought, but they also have to decide how much of their available resources should go to keeping that spot stable versus using them to upgrade somewhere else, which is why this conversation figures to linger deep into the winter. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Are Headed Toward An Elly De La Cruz Dilemma
At the Reds end-of-season press conference, owner Phil Castellini backed general manager Nick Krall and, in the process, put a spotlight on the next big question hanging over the club: how to handle Elly De La Cruz. The shortstop just finished his first 30-30 season, and his climb from young star to one of the most important players in the organization has only made the long-term conversation more urgent.
Castellini made clear that any decision on De La Cruz, whether it involves a contract extension or something else, has to fit into the franchises broader plan. That is where the tension starts to build for Cincinnati, because De La Cruzs value is soaring at exactly the same time his cost is about to rise, leaving the Reds to weigh whether they can keep him in the fold on their terms or whether the market around him becomes too difficult to ignore. [Read more 🡒]