Cincinnati Reds’ offense slows down as the losses start piling up

The Cincinnati Reds’ offense has been a strong point for the team all year, but it may be running out of gas.

The Cincinnati Reds rode the back of a great offensive start to the season by Zack Cozart and Billy Hamilton until they fell apart.  Cozart went down with a right quad injury.  Hamilton, on the other hand, just seemed to wear down entirely.

Cozart hasn’t stopped producing, but he has slowed down.  In April and May Cozart batted .352 and .344 respectively, while batting .231 in June when he landed on the DL.  His OBP likewise dropped from above .400 each of the first two months of the season to .310 in June.

Hamilton for his part has been on a roller coaster ride of a season in 2017.  He started off hot and then cooled down in April.  Then he played so well in May that he was getting All-Star hype before falling apart in June.

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The way these two players have done has closely mimicked the Reds’ season.  When they were both hot, the Reds were among the top teams in the National League Central.  When they have been slow, the Reds have been hard pressed to score runs and compete day-to-day.

The Cincinnati Reds have other players that have been producing this season, but the team appears reluctant to change the line-up.

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The two active Reds with the highest OBP right now are first baseman Joey Votto and third baseman Eugenio Suarez.  Right now they usually bat third and fifth in the Reds’ line-up.  With no one in scoring position for the resurgent Scooter Gennett and slugging Adam Duvall, it’s no wonder the team’s offense has slowed down.

Up until the last few weeks, the Reds’ offense was in the top ten in several categories, slugging, stolen bases, and runs scored.  They remain near the top in all of baseball in slugging and stolen bases, but not in scoring.

Quite simply, this is because the people that are getting on base are not doing so in front of the RBI producers.  Hamilton sits atop the order and has a measly .284 OBP for the season and .221 for June.  Meanwhile, bottom of the order batter catcher Tucker Barnhart has a season OBP of .323, but .341 for June.

It can be difficult to make decisions based on small numbers.  Hamilton, though, has a big enough body of work.  It demonstrates that his other worldly defense doesn’t make up for his poor hitting.

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The Reds need to realize this too.  Suarez needs to be table setting with Gennett while Cozart is out.  Hamilton needs to spend more time resting on the bench for the offense to return to its early season highs.