1 crazy stat from the Reds last playoff appearance that will blow your mind

The 2020 season was probably one that Reds Country would just as soon forget. The coronavirus pandemic struck during the spring and baseball was at a standstill for months.

The decision was made to play an abbreviated 60-game season and expand the postseason from 10 team to 16. It represents the last time the Cincinnati Reds appeared in the playoffs, and a two-game thrashing at the hands of the Atlanta Braves in the first-round of the playoffs ended the club's hopes rather quickly.

The Reds had loaded up during the offseason with the likes of Mike Moustakas, Nick Castellanos, Shogo Akiyama, and Wade Miley. The previous summer, Cincinnati traded for eventual Cy Young Award-winner Trevor Bauer as well. But one stat from that season is absolutely maddening and fully explains the mess that this franchise is in right now.

What is bWAR and how is it calculated?

Wins Above Replacement (WAR) have become a measuring stick in Major League Baseball. According to Baseball Reference, the idea behind the WAR framework is that we want to know how much better a player is than a player that would typically be available to replace that player.

WAR, and in this case bWAR, is an inexact science and there are certainly some flaws. But overall it's a good way to evaluate a player's performance. The Top 5 Reds players in franchise history, based on bWAR, are Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Barry Larkin, Joey Votto, and Frank Robinson. There are probably very few who would argue with that list.

Joe Morgan, who only played eight years of his 22 years in Cincinnati, was worth 57.9 bWAR as a member of the Reds. For his career, Morgan registered 100.4 bWAR. For reference, that ranks 31st all-time.

This 1 stat from the Reds' last playoff appearance will blow your mind.

But let's look at the 2020 Cincinnati Reds roster. Remember, this was the team that was supposed to sneak up on the National League and take home the division crown. One could, of course, make tthe argument that had it been a 162-game season, things may have gone differently. But, such as it is.

Looking at the Reds Top 12 performers from that season according to Baseball Reference, no one from the 2020 Cincinnati squad is currently on the active roster. That's right, not a single player who's currently on the Reds 28-man roster was among the club's best players the last time Cincinnati made the playoffs.

Trevor Bauer (3.0 bWAR) led the charge for Cincinnati that season. He's since joined the Los Angeles Dodgers and was suspended by Major League Baseball. Jesse Winker (1.3 bWAR), Luis Castillo (1.1 bWAR), and Eugenio Suarez (0.6 bWAR) are all playing for the Seattle Mariners. Tyler Mahle (1.0 bWAR) and Sonny Gray (0.8 bWAR) are up in Minnesota, and Shogo Akiyama (0.8 bWAR) is back in Japan.

The catching duo of Tucker Barnhart and Curt Casali, who combined for 1.3 bWAR in 2020, are both wearing different uniforms this season. So is Amir Garrett (0.5 bWAR), who was traded to the Kansas City Royals before this season began.

The only two players among the Cincinnati Reds Top 12 in 2020 who are still on the roster are Lucas Sims (0.5 bWAR) and Tejay Antone (1.0 bWAR). Both players are on the 60-day IL. Sims appearred in just six games this season before being sidelined with a back injury, and Antone missed all of 2022 following Tommy John surgery.

In all, those 12 players, 10 of which are no longer with the franchise, were responsible for 11.9 bWAR during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Already this season, three of the Cincinnati Reds' Top 12 players according to Baseball Reference are no longer part of the ball club, and the Top 3 remaining players are all rookies (Alexis Diaz, Nick Lodolo, and Graham Ascraft).