The Cincinnati Reds are heading into the All-Star break with a losing record, and that’s only adding fuel to the talk that this could be another reset for the franchise. After making the postseason last season, the expectation was that 2026 would bring more than just a brief October appearance. Instead, the Reds are looking at a season that has gone sideways.
If a rebuild really is coming, the pressure on the front office only grows. The 2027 MLB Draft is set for July 11th and 12th, and Cincinnati will need to get those picks right.
That’s the part of team-building that can change everything - but it can also leave scars when the selections don’t work out. The Reds have plenty of examples of that.
Nick Senzel is the name that still stings the most for a lot of Reds fans. Taken in the first round in 2016, he never became the impact player Cincinnati hoped for.
He spent five seasons with the club and finished with a .239 batting average. On this 2026 team, that number would actually stand out, which says plenty about how rough things have been.
Still, Senzel was supposed to be a major piece of a Reds team that looked ready to contend this season, and that never happened.
Alex Blandino is another first-round pick whose Reds tenure ended up feeling like a missed opportunity. He played three seasons in Cincinnati, and injuries were a big reason his career never really got traction. That’s part of the game, but it doesn’t make the what-if any easier to swallow.
Robert Stephenson, the Reds’ first-round pick in 2011, did carve out a long big league career, but not the one Cincinnati was hoping for. He spent five seasons with the Reds and posted a 5.15 ERA with the team. For a first-round talent, that just wasn’t enough.
Then there’s Chris Gruler, the third overall pick in the 2002 MLB Draft. He never made it to the majors at all. Injuries wiped out what could have been a special career, and that’s the cruelest kind of draft miss.
Austin Hendrick, taken in the first round in 2020, is still waiting for his name to come up in any real big-league conversation. Six years in, he has a .214 career average in the minors and hasn’t been seriously viewed as a call-up option for Cincinnati. Right now, a spot on the Reds’ roster doesn’t look close.
Jonathan India is a tougher case. He won Rookie of the Year, so putting him in a bust conversation feels strange, but his path with the Reds turned out differently than expected.
At one point, he looked like he could be a franchise pillar. By the end of the 2024 season, though, it was clear he wasn’t going to be the long-term answer at second base.
Matt McLain was supposed to be another infield fix, a first-round pick in 2021 who could settle things down for the future. Instead, he’s been showing up at center field.
Since the shoulder injury that cost him all of 2024, he hasn’t looked like the same player fans saw in 2023. Maybe he still turns it around, but if that happens, it likely won’t be in Cincinnati.
In Other News...
Reds Fans Can See Where This Former Core Piece Is Headed
Matt McLains season has reached the point where the Reds are making quieter but telling decisions around him. During a recent game against the Phillies, Terry Francona turned to Ivan Johnson in a late spot instead of sticking with McLain, another sign that Cincinnati is trying to squeeze more offense out of a lineup that has not gotten enough from one of its former core pieces.
McLain has already been moved down in the batting order, and the numbers have only deepened the concern about where this is headed. For a club that has fallen from a fast start into last place in the NL Central, every at-bat matters, and the Reds now have to weigh whether a reset is the best way to get McLain back on track before the seasons next roster decisions start to pile up. [Read more 🡒]
Francona Just Sent A Clear Message About Ellys Role
Terry Francona has made the early call on where Elly De La Cruz belongs, and for now it keeps the Reds most electric player right where he has been setting the tone. De La Cruz has been giving Cincinnati plenty to like at the top of the order, with a recent stretch that included hits, walks and stolen bases, the kind of production that can change the feel of an inning before the rest of the lineup even steps in.
Franconas stance matters because the Reds are still sorting out how best to maximize an offense that leans heavily on De La Cruz to spark it. The managers view is that moving him would not improve the lineup as a whole, which leaves Cincinnati with a clear message about how it plans to attack games for now and a strong hint about who it expects to carry the load when the bats get rolling. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Fans Wont Believe Which Core Starter Just Entered Trade Buzz
The Reds rotation has been one of the more stable parts of the roster, but the trade deadline always has a way of turning stability into speculation. MLB insider Jon Morosi raised eyebrows by floating the idea that Cincinnati could listen on Andrew Abbott, a left-hander who has become a familiar part of the staff and still fits neatly into the clubs long-term plans. Even if the notion feels far-fetched, it is the kind of rumor that forces a front office to think about how much pitching depth it really wants to protect.
There are other names in the mix if the Reds decide to explore the market, and Nick Lodolo has quietly made himself harder to ignore with the way he has thrown the ball lately. Brady Singer also stands out as the cleaner deadline fit because of his contract situation, while the return of Hunter Greene has already tightened the rotation picture and pushed other arms into different roles. For Cincinnati, the real question is not whether it has pitching to talk about, but which arm it would be willing to move if the right deal comes along. [Read more 🡒]