Cincinnati Reds: Three takeaways from disappointing series loss to Tigers

The first Reds series shows reason for excitement and concern.

The 2020 Reds baseball season, which took so long to get here, is now three days old. The opening series versus the Detroit Tigers looked like a great opportunity on paper for the Cincinnati Reds to get off to a strong start. After all, the Tigers were coming off a 2019 season where they lost 114 games.

The Reds entered the start of the season as a trendy surprise pick to win the World Series. The starting rotation of Sonny Gray, Luis Castillo, Trevor Bauer, Wade Miley and Anthony DeSclafani had the ability to rival any team’s starting five.

With the additions of Mike Moustakas, Nick Castallanos and Shogo Akiyama, the offense looked to be much improved as well. Couple that with a perceived soft opening series and the Reds had a great chance to start 2020 stronger than they did last year, right?

Not so fast. When the final out was made on Sunday afternoon, it was the Tigers, not the Reds celebrating a big series win. The Reds start the season with a 1-2 record and are hoping to find a way to end their first two-game losing streak of the young baseball season.

Losing the first series of the season should not mean much in the grand scheme of things, but with only 60 games to play, each series takes on added importance. Now the Reds get ready to host the 2-1 Chicago Cubs in a big three-game series starting today. Before we move on to the upcoming series, let’s look at three takeaways from the Reds three-game set against the Tigers.