The Reds came into Terry Francona’s tenure with a clear identity in mind: clean defense, fewer mistakes, and a brand of baseball built around run prevention. That was the promise when Francona was hired in October 2024. Two seasons later, the numbers are telling a much uglier story.
Defensive Runs Saved, the stat that measures how many runs a player or team saves - or gives away - on defense compared to an average player, has become a blunt indictment of where Cincinnati has been and where it is now. A score of zero is average. The Reds were nowhere near that under David Bell in 2023 and 2024, when they posted marks of -31 and -30.
That was part of why the organization moved on. Bell was viewed as a player-friendly manager who did not press hard enough for accountability, and Castellini and company wanted a different voice.
Francona brought that different voice, and he brought a philosophy built around run prevention. Rather than trying to win games by simply out-slugging opponents, he has long preferred sharp, reliable defense.
The front office backed that idea at the 2025 trade deadline when it dealt for Gold Glove third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes. For a while, the plan worked. In 2025, the Reds finished at +2 in Defensive Runs Saved, a middle-of-the-pack result in MLB but still one of their better defensive seasons in a long time.
This year has swung hard in the other direction. The Reds are back at the bottom of the league in the category, sitting at -48 Defensive Runs Saved in 2026.
That is the worst mark in MLB. The Cubs and Brewers, meanwhile, have been among the best defensive teams, at +110 and +50.
For Cincinnati, that gap helps explain why another season has turned frustrating fast. Francona’s run-prevention message either is not landing or the roster needs major changes to become even a competent defensive team again. Either way, the Reds’ standing in this metric says plenty about why things have gone sideways.
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Reds Just Made A Lineup Decision Fans Didn't See Coming
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Cabreras arrival is the most intriguing part of the move, especially with manager Terry Francona speaking positively about his versatility and the different ways he could fit into the lineup mix. For a Reds team looking for depth and options, Cabrera gives them a player who can move around the diamond, but the bigger question now is how quickly Cincinnati plans to put that versatility to use. [Read more 🡒]
Chase Burns Is Giving The Reds A Rotation Question Fans Will Love
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By getting to 30 starts, Burns would join Andrew Abbott and Brady Singer in giving the Reds a rotation with real depth at the front end. That kind of production is the sort of problem teams like to have, but it also comes with a built-in question for Cincinnati as it thinks beyond this season: how much more can Burns give before the club has to decide how hard to push him? [Read more 🡒]
Reds May Be Headed For A Painful Tyler Stephenson Decision
Tyler Stephenson has become one of the more complicated names on the Reds roster, not because of anything he has done wrong, but because time is working against Cincinnati. The longest-tenured player on the team is headed toward free agency after the season, and while the Reds have valued his presence for years, the business side of the sport is now forcing a harder conversation about what comes next.
Stephenson has said he is mentally prepared for the possibility of moving on, which only sharpens the reality for the Reds as they weigh whether to keep a familiar cornerstone or let the market take over. Finding a replacement internally is no simple task, and if Cincinnati wants to keep him, it may need to meet the kind of multi-year deal he figures to seek. [Read more 🡒]