The Reds are going to need a new pitching coach, and they need one right away.
President of baseball operations Nick Krall said in a statement to the media that Derek Johnson will not be returning to the club after taking a personal leave of absence in June. Johnson’s status had been quiet ever since he stepped away, and the silence around a possible return only made it feel more and more likely he wouldn’t be back.
While Johnson was away, assistant pitching coach Matt Tracy handled the job. Tracy had been with Cincinnati since the 2023 season, when he worked as the bullpen coach, and this was his first year as an assistant pitching coach in 2026.
Johnson arrived after the 2018 season with a strong reputation, and the Reds viewed him as a major addition. He was widely regarded as one of the best pitching coaches in baseball, and Cincinnati made a notable move by pulling him from a division rival.
After the 2021 season, his responsibilities grew even more when he was also named Director of Pitching, putting him in charge of the organization’s minor league pitching development as well. The team has not yet said how that role will be handled going forward.
The search for a replacement makes sense on the calendar, too. A full-scale coaching search is hard to do in the middle of a season, especially when many of the best candidates are already working in the majors or in the minors. College coaches and pitching coaches could be part of the mix as well, but the real deep dive likely comes after the season when teams can properly line up interviews and sort through the best options.
Separately, the Reds also announced that Redsfest will not be held in 2026.
The reason wasn’t spelled out, but the timing points to the looming labor situation. The current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires in early December, and the owners are expected to lock out the players. With no expectation of a quick agreement, the club can’t count on asking players to take part in an event like Redsfest.
That matters because Redsfest is a big production. It takes time, staff, travel, space, and money to pull off, and the current and former players are the main attraction.
Without them, the crowd shrinks, the vendors lose incentive to pay for space, and the whole event stops making financial sense. Redsfest is supposed to raise money for the Reds Community Fund, but without a strong turnout it would likely end up costing the organization instead.
In Other News...
Reds Roster Purge Just Took Another Hit Fans Will Notice
The Reds kept reshaping their roster fallout from the 2026 season, clearing two more 40-man spots in the process. Infielder Ivan Johnson was outrighted to Triple-A Louisville, while injured slugger Michael Toglia was claimed off the roster by the Seattle Mariners through waivers, continuing a steady wave of turnover as Cincinnati works through its offseason decisions.
Will Bensons situation added another layer to the shuffle, with the outfielder electing free agency after being designated for assignment and previously accepting a Triple-A assignment. For a club that already knows it needs better depth across both the position-player side and the pitching staff, these moves only sharpen the sense that the Reds are heading into a winter defined by more change than stability. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Just Added Another Offseason Roster Question In The Outfield
Will Bensons time in Cincinnati appears to have run its course after a season that never quite found a stable rhythm. The outfielder split time between the major league roster and the minors, spending 51 games with the big club and another 66 in the system while his playing time bounced around and his results varied depending on the pitcher in front of him.
For the Reds, Bensons departure adds another offseason question to an outfield group that still needs clarity. He arrived with the promise of building on a strong 2023, but he was unable to sustain that production, and his decision to elect free agency leaves Cincinnati to sort out what comes next in a spot that already felt unsettled. [Read more 🡒]
Reds May Need These 3 Prospects More Than Anyone Realizes
The Reds are headed into an offseason where the payroll math matters as much as the roster depth chart, with salary commitments and arbitration raises already tightening the teams free-agent flexibility. That puts an even brighter spotlight on the farm system, where a few names are starting to look less like long-term projects and more like possible answers if Cincinnati wants to stay competitive without spending heavily on outside help.
Graham has made a noticeable offensive leap and could be in line for protection from the Rule 5 Draft, while Duno keeps standing out with the bat even as questions remain about whether he can hold up defensively. Acuna is still earlier in his climb, but the young pitcher is moving through the minors with enough promise to keep the Reds interested, especially if the command keeps improving. By 2027, one or more of these prospects could matter a lot more to Cincinnati than they do right now. [Read more 🡒]