Terry Francona’s move in the eighth inning Tuesday said plenty about where the Reds are right now.
Down three runs against the Phillies with one out in the bottom of the frame, Francona went to Ivan Johnson for a pinch-hit chance. Johnson drew an eight-pitch walk off Orion Kerkering, reaching base for the first time in his big-league career.
The moment gave Cincinnati a brief jolt, but the inning fizzled from there. Johnson was stranded on third with the bases loaded after Eugenio Suárez struck out, and the Reds fell 4-1 in the series opener.
The bigger takeaway was who Francona chose to pull. Matt McLain, still a regular in the lineup despite his season-long slide, gave way for the late-inning switch. At this point, that kind of decision feels less like a one-off and more like a warning sign for what should come next.
McLain’s 2026 season has gone off the rails. Over his last 15 games, he’s hitting just .081/.150/.108, and the overall line is ugly: .190/.293/.328 with a 71 wRC+.
He has been worth only 0.1 fWAR, with that value coming almost entirely from his work at second base. Defensively, he’s still been solid, posting 4 outs above average at the keystone.
But the glove only covers so much when the bat has become such a drag. The Reds have Johnson, Edwin Arroyo, and Spencer Steer on the active roster, giving them options to handle second base even if none match McLain’s defense. Meanwhile, his spot in the order has already slipped from the No. 2 role he earned with a strong spring to the No. 8 or 9 hole.
That’s the heart of the issue for Cincinnati. McLain was supposed to be a core piece in 2026, but he’s become a liability instead.
After opening the year 20-11, the Reds have gone 21-38 and sit in the NL Central cellar. Their season has already tilted toward seller mode, and there’s little reason to keep waiting for McLain to turn it around on the active roster.
The answer, as it stands now, is simple: option him to the minor leagues and hope he can find his way back to the player Reds fans remember from 2023.
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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 🡒]
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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 🡒]