Cincinnati Reds’ record follows their offense, wherever it leads

As the Cincinnati Reds’ offense goes, so goes their record as April turns to May in the 2017 baseball season.

The Reds started the season off hot offensively, but have since cooled down.  When the first two weeks of the season were complete, the Reds were challenging the Washington Nationals and Texas Rangers for the best offensive team in all of baseball and sitting atop the division.  Now as May starts, the Reds are in the middle of the pack.

Before this goes too far, this is not all gloom and doom.  The Reds are in the middle of the pack for stats.  They are not in the middle of pack in runs scored, however.

The Reds are third in the National League Central and tied for fourth in the NL in runs scored.  The Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers are above the Reds in both runs scored and ERA.  Those are also the two teams in front of the Reds in the standings.

The Reds are, however, in the middle of the pack in batting average and OBP.  Walks is another area where the Reds are in the middle of the pack.  So much of their offense has been driven by multiple opportunities this spring.

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What is keeping the Reds in the running is their slugging and base stealing.  They are tied for the major league lead in steals and in the top ten in slugging.  This is an unusual combination that they may not be able to maintain.

The Cincinnati Reds need to hit and get on base so that the speed and power can result in consistent runs.

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So far the Reds have proven that you can average a lot of runs without earning a lot of victories.  The amount of runs that the Reds have scored each game has varied greatly.  Unfortunately, it hasn’t been a predictable pattern.

With an OBP hovering just above .300 and an average just below .250, the Reds need to score on power to have big innings.  Being second in the NL in home runs helps.  Being second behind the Brewers because your pitching staff has given up eight home runs to Eric Thames is not good.

All the speed in the world doesn’t do any good without hits or sacrifice flies.  That is where the Reds are now.  They have occasional outbursts to out slug a team, but day to day the offense isn’t consistent enough.

Next: A look at who the Reds could get, if they can stay competitive

As the Reds struggle to stay around .500, they need to focus on getting on base.  It may be the time of year to slide low OBP hitters down in the order.  Without more batters on base, the offense cannot support the injured pitching staff.