Ke'Bryan Hayes' historically bad season requires Reds to reevaluate roster priorities

Anyone who watched the Cincinnati Reds this year was well aware of the team's inept offensive attack. They were terrible in terms of situational hitting (and just making contact in general); ranking 27th in the league in runs scored despite finishing fourth in home runs. The Seattle Mariners, who finished just behind the Reds in total runs, had 31 fewer homers.

That's obviously a team-wide issue, but it also comes to back to the myriad individuals who plagued the roster. Between TJ Friedl (43 wRC+), Edwin Arroyo (46), Jose Trevino (46), and Noelvi Marte (49), the Reds had four players take more than 150 plate appearances while providing production more than 50% worse than the league-average hitter. That doesn't even include Matt McLain, who walked up to the plate nearly 500 times and barely scratched out an OPS above .600.

But no one -- and I mean no one -- was more abhorrent that Ke'Bryan Hayes. That might sound harsh, but his numbers were historically bad. I don't say that to exaggerate; he was literally one of the worst single-season hitters in all of baseball history this year.

Reds must build a more cohesive roster after one-dimensional players sank the ship in 2026

Obviously, something has to change. What that is might be anyone's guess, but I'd wager it's one of Nick Krall's top priorities this offseason.

The roster he put together in 2026 simply has no through line. There's no cohesion in the players that feel arbitrarily smashed together, like an island of misfit toys. The best teams have players who complement one another, but it feels like the Reds were constantly working against each other in 2026.

You had players like Nathaniel Lowe and Eugenio Suárez brought in for their offense, and while they more or less delivered on that front, they torched the team's defense and clogged up the basepaths. Their contributions wound up hardly mattering in a lineup that couldn't consistently churn out runs.

Then there were defensive-focused players like Trevino, McLain, and Hayes, but they were so bad at the plate that they combined for -1.0 fWAR. As it turns out, even the value they provided with their gloves was washed out by a defense that ranked 27th in defensive runs saved.

Even the Reds' best baserunners had their impact mitigated by the slow, plodding veterans who couldn't get a move on. The Reds also finished below average in FanGraphs' baserunning runs above average statistic (BSR), totaling -1.0 as a team.

Simply put, there were too many one-dimensional players haunting Terry Francona's depth chart this season, highlighted by the truly terrible efforts of Hayes at the plate. Not everyone is going to be Elly De La Cruz and provide elite value in every aspect of the game, but it's time to stop hunting the specialists at the cost of a well-rounded group.

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