The Cincinnati Reds looked like a real contender for a month. Then the bottom dropped out.
They were 20-11 through April and had the kind of start that gets people talking in a hurry. Since then, though, the season has gone sideways in a big way. The Reds are 23-41 since the start of May, the worst record in MLB over that stretch, and they reached the All-Star break 15 games behind first-place Milwaukee and five back of fourth-place Pittsburgh.
That kind of slide changes the conversation fast. The focus now is no longer on chasing the division. It’s on what the Reds should do next, and the answer here is blunt: make hard choices and start thinking about the future.
There are only five players who should be off limits in any overhaul - Sal Stewart, Chase Burns, Elly De La Cruz, Edwin Arroyo and Hunter Greene. Everyone else, in this view, should be available if the right deal comes along.
That includes some familiar names. Eugenio Suarez was supposed to bring right-handed power, but he has hit .208 and has struck out 13 times in his last 18 at bats, mostly with runners in scoring position. He has popped a couple of homers lately, and another club might still be willing to gamble on him.
Brady Singer is another possible trade chip. He is 3-8 with a 4.72 ERA, but his last outing - 7 1/3 innings, one run, three hits against the Phillies - may have caught some attention. Starting pitching always draws interest at the deadline, and Singer could bring back prospects.
The same logic applies to Nick Lodolo and Andrew Abbott. Both are young, talented arms with upside, even if the inconsistency is real. Lodolo’s blister issues remain part of the picture, but contenders are always hunting for starters, and both pitchers could net a strong return.
As one American League executive told Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, “Every team needs starting pitchers. They’re the easier players to move at the trade deadline (August 3) and often they’re the ones that bring back the best returns.”
If the Reds did move Abbott and Lodolo, they could still build around a rotation that includes Burns, Greene, Rhett Lowder and Chase Petty, with Julian Aguiar and Jose Franco at Class AAA Louisville.
Behind the plate, Tyler Stephenson is another name that makes sense in trade talks. He can become a free agent after the season, and the Reds would be wise to deal him before that happens.
Jose Trevino is the better receiver, and Burns and Greene both prefer him catching when they pitch. Stephenson is hitting .238, while Trevino would serve as a bridge until Alfredo Duno moves up quickly through the system.
The bullpen could also be a source of movement. Emilio Pagan, Pierce Johnson, Caleb Ferguson, Brock Burke, Tony Santillan, Graham Ashcraft, Sam Moll and Tejay Antone are all on expiring contracts and could interest clubs looking for relief help.
Spencer Steer might be worth keeping. But Matt McLain and TJ Friedl, two of the team’s biggest disappointments, should be moved for whatever the Reds can get.
Ke’Bryan Hayes is probably not going anywhere, given the contract that runs through 2030 at nearly $9 million a year. And two one-year free-agent additions from this spring, JJ Bleday and Nathaniel Lowe, helped during the April run before fading as the team did. Bleday did finish the first half with a late power burst, hitting three homers in the last five games, which at least gives him some trade appeal as a left-handed bat.
De La Cruz, for his part, is still looking at the roster with a different lens. He wants the group to stay together and believes better days are coming.
“I’d like to keep the guys together,” he said. “We need to stay together. We’re gonna come back stronger the second half.”
That’s the hopeful voice in the room. But after the way the first half unraveled, the Reds have plenty of reason to consider a very different path.
In Other News...
Eugenio Surez Just Reached A Painful Crossroads With The Reds
Eugenio Surez came back to Cincinnati with the kind of expectations that usually follow a familiar face returning to a place where he once mattered. Instead, the season has been defined by interrupted rhythm and missed time, including a left oblique strain that cost him 25 games, and by the broader frustration of a Reds club sitting in last place and looking toward the August 3 trade deadline with a sellers mindset.
For Surez, the crossroads is less about nostalgia than about whether there is still enough production left to matter in the stretch run. His offensive numbers have lagged, his defensive value has slipped, and even with Terry Francona publicly showing faith in what Surez can still provide, the bigger question around the veteran is whether Cincinnati can get enough out of him to change the conversation at all. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Just Got A Costly New Reality On Jacob Misiorowski
The Reds long-term bet on Chase Burns has already sent a ripple through the division, and it is the kind of move that tends to reset the market for young pitching. A seven-year, $105 million extension gives Cincinnati cost certainty on a right-hander with front-line upside, while also putting a fresh price tag on what elite, pre-arbitration arms can command when teams decide to buy out the future early.
For Milwaukee, that matters because Jacob Misiorowski is now the next name to watch in the same conversation. The Brewers have a pitcher whose performance this season has only strengthened his case, and the Burns deal suggests any serious extension talks would have to climb well past that benchmark. In other words, if the Brewers want to lock Misiorowski in, they may be staring at a number that gets uncomfortable in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Prospect Just Made The Kind Of Debut Fans Notice
Ben Wereski did not need long to make an impression in the Reds organization. The Double-A right-hander, now with the Chattanooga Lookouts, was named Player of the Week after a dominant first outing that immediately put him on the radar in a system that has been leaning hard toward college arms and polished, ready-made talent in recent drafts.
Wereskis path makes the debut even more notable. He pitched at Columbia and Rutgers, spent time in independent ball before landing with Cincinnati, and arrived with the kind of backstory that often comes with a little extra urgency. With the Reds continuing to build around college players and with draft rules potentially shifting in ways that could change how clubs like Cincinnati attack future classes, performances like this one only sharpen the conversation around who might be next to rise. [Read more 🡒]