The All-Star break is over, and the Reds are back in business with little room left for patience. Cincinnati enters the second half at 43-52, a record that has left the club buried far from any realistic playoff picture. Now comes a weekend trip to Coors Field, where the Reds will try to start cleaning up a season that has gone sideways.
The assignment isn’t exactly a glamorous one. Colorado is sitting at 39-59 and deep in the National League basement as well, which makes this series feel like a chance for Cincinnati to at least stop the bleeding against a team in a similar spot.
Friday’s opener gives the Reds Brady Singer, who has had a rough year and arrives with a 3-9 record. Cincinnati will also turn to Rhett Lowder in game two, his first start since he was shifted to the bullpen before the All-Star break after Hunter Greene returned. With Nick Lodolo now dealing with blister issues again, Terry Francona has put Lowder back into the rotation mix.
The finale on Sunday belongs to Greene, who is trying to build on a much better second outing after an ugly first start of the season against the Baltimore Orioles. In that second start, the Reds’ hard-throwing righty punched out 12.
Colorado’s pitching plan begins with Gabriel Hughes in the opener. He has allowed three runs over nine innings and is coming off a start against the Dodgers in which he gave up three runs over six innings in a 4-3 loss.
The Rockies have not named a starter for Saturday. On Sunday, Ryan Feltner will take the ball.
He is 3-3 with a 4.55 ERA, and in his last start he allowed four runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings. Colorado is 6-7 in games he has pitched this season.
The second half is here, and the Reds need a quick spark if they want any chance at turning this summer into something memorable. Whether this West Coast trip becomes the moment everything changes is another question entirely.
In Other News...
Eugenio Surez Just Reached A Painful Crossroads With The Reds
Eugenio Surez came back to Cincinnati with the kind of expectations that usually follow a familiar face returning to a place where he once mattered. Instead, the season has been defined by interrupted rhythm and missed time, including a left oblique strain that cost him 25 games, and by the broader frustration of a Reds club sitting in last place and looking toward the August 3 trade deadline with a sellers mindset.
For Surez, the crossroads is less about nostalgia than about whether there is still enough production left to matter in the stretch run. His offensive numbers have lagged, his defensive value has slipped, and even with Terry Francona publicly showing faith in what Surez can still provide, the bigger question around the veteran is whether Cincinnati can get enough out of him to change the conversation at all. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Just Got A Costly New Reality On Jacob Misiorowski
The Reds long-term bet on Chase Burns has already sent a ripple through the division, and it is the kind of move that tends to reset the market for young pitching. A seven-year, $105 million extension gives Cincinnati cost certainty on a right-hander with front-line upside, while also putting a fresh price tag on what elite, pre-arbitration arms can command when teams decide to buy out the future early.
For Milwaukee, that matters because Jacob Misiorowski is now the next name to watch in the same conversation. The Brewers have a pitcher whose performance this season has only strengthened his case, and the Burns deal suggests any serious extension talks would have to climb well past that benchmark. In other words, if the Brewers want to lock Misiorowski in, they may be staring at a number that gets uncomfortable in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Prospect Just Made The Kind Of Debut Fans Notice
Ben Wereski did not need long to make an impression in the Reds organization. The Double-A right-hander, now with the Chattanooga Lookouts, was named Player of the Week after a dominant first outing that immediately put him on the radar in a system that has been leaning hard toward college arms and polished, ready-made talent in recent drafts.
Wereskis path makes the debut even more notable. He pitched at Columbia and Rutgers, spent time in independent ball before landing with Cincinnati, and arrived with the kind of backstory that often comes with a little extra urgency. With the Reds continuing to build around college players and with draft rules potentially shifting in ways that could change how clubs like Cincinnati attack future classes, performances like this one only sharpen the conversation around who might be next to rise. [Read more 🡒]