The Reds’ slide has changed the entire conversation in Cincinnati. A club that once looked like a deadline buyer is now staring at the possibility of unloading pieces, with the standings making the case harder to ignore by the day.
Since the start of May, the season has unraveled fast. Cincinnati has gone from 20-11 to 39-46 and is just 4-20 against the National League Central. That kind of drop makes a front office rethink everything, and CBS Sports’ Mike Axisa said the Reds are trending toward selling rather than adding.
“The Reds are 19-35 since May 1, and while they'll get Hunter Greene back this weekend, he alone is unlikely to be enough to get them back into contention," Mike Axisa wrote. "Cincinnati would have a nice collection of rentals to offer at the deadline if they do sell: Nathaniel Lowe, Brady Singer, Tyler Stephenson, and Eugenio Suárez. The crash has been so hard the last few weeks that it's difficult to envision the Reds buying in a month's time."
That’s the reality now: the deadline is a little more than a month away, and Cincinnati has to decide whether to move on from players it doesn’t intend to keep. The source material also points to names like JJ Bleday and Nathaniel Lowe as players the Reds should consider dealing while their value is still strong.
If the front office does pivot, it needs to do it carefully. The deadline is close enough to matter, but far enough away for the Reds to make the wrong call if they wait too long.
On the field, Chase Burns gave Cincinnati something to build on Thursday. He enters the game with a 9-1 record and a 2.36 ERA, and he was sharp against the Pirates on June 27 before the bullpen let the lead get away. Burns went six innings, gave up five runs on nine hits, struck out 10 and walked none, but had to settle for a no-decision.
It was his first double-digit strikeout game since he fanned 10 Pirates on Aug. 8, 2025, and only the second time this season he didn’t issue a walk. Burns was aggressive right away, throwing first-pitch strikes to 23 of the 27 batters he faced, an 85.2% rate that was the best of his career as a starter.
He did allow a leadoff double to start the seventh before leaving, and the inherited runner later scored after Sam Moll came in, which wiped out his shot at the win.
Even with nine hits allowed, Burns kept a lot of the contact under control. Only five of the 17 balls put in play against him were hit hard, a sign that he continued to do a solid job limiting damage despite the final line.
One more ugly number hangs over all of it: the Reds are 0-6 against Milwaukee this season and have lost seven straight to the Brewers dating back to last year.
In Other News...
Reds Suddenly Face A Brutal Deadline Decision Behind The Plate
With the trade deadline closing in, the Reds have a catcher decision hanging over the rest of their summer, and it comes at a time when Tyler Stephenson has been giving them plenty to think about. Cincinnati is 40-46, still in the thick of sorting out what this season is really worth, and Stephensons recent play has only sharpened the question of whether the club should keep leaning on him or use his value in a different way.
The complication is what comes next behind the plate. Alfredo Duno is the organizations top catching prospect, but he is still working his way through Double-A and may not be ready for the majors until sometime next season, which leaves the Reds trying to balance present-day needs against future planning. If they decide to move Stephenson, the path forward gets a lot less clear, and that is exactly why this deadline feels so tricky. [Read more 🡒]
Hunter Greene Just Raised The Stakes For Reds Postseason Hopes
Hunter Greenes return has been one of the biggest developments hanging over the Reds for weeks, and now it is finally close enough to shape the conversation around the rest of the season. After elbow surgery and a strong run of minor league rehab starts, the right-hander is set to rejoin a rotation that has already found a breakout arm in Chase Burns, giving Cincinnati a rare chance to line up two high-end starters at the same time.
Burns has been pitching like more than just a promising rookie, with performances that have pushed him into early Cy Young chatter and made him a central reason the Reds can even think about October. The bigger question now is less about whether Cincinnati has enough front-line stuff and more about how it balances the workload if both pitchers keep dealing and the club stays in the race deep into the summer. [Read more 🡒]
Chase Burns Is Becoming Everything The Reds Desperately Needed
Chase Burns keeps giving the Reds exactly what they have been searching for in the middle of a push that has needed stability as much as anything else. He was effective again in Cincinnatis 7-2 win over the Brewers, and his season now looks like the kind of breakout that changes the conversation around a young starter, with a 10-1 record and a 2.40 ERA across 17 starts.
The bigger picture around him is just as encouraging for Cincinnati. ESPNs Bradford Doolittle recently slotted Burns third among National League Cy Young candidates, and for now he stands as the leader of the Reds rotation while Hunter Greene is expected back soon and Nick Lodolo works to get his form right. For a club that has spent much of the year searching for dependable pitching, Burns has become the rare arm that makes the whole group look more settled. [Read more 🡒]