3 biggest takeaways from the 1st half of the Cincinnati Reds 2022 season

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The Cincinnati Reds are not a good team. We're at the midway point of the 2022 season and the Reds have the worst record (28-53) in the National League and as many wins as the lowly Oakland Athletics.

I'm not sure anyone expected a winning season after watching the front office trade away the likes of Eugenio Suárez, Jesse Winker, and Sonny Gray. Cincinnati also failed to re-sign Nick Castellanos and allowed Wade Miley to walk for nothing.

But I don't think in anyone's wildest dreams they would have been predicted that Cincinnati would be occupying last place in the NL. That means that the Reds have a worse record than the Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs, and Pittsburgh Pirates.

While it's painful to look back on what can only be described as a lost season, let's examine the three biggest takeaways at the midway point of the 2022 season.

1. Injuries have crippled any chance the Reds had to compete in 2022.

According to Spotrac, no team in Major League Baseball has seen more players miss more time due to injury than the Cincinnati Reds. It's honestly not even close. The Reds have seen 26 players miss a combined 1,227 days while on the Injured List. The next closest team is the Chicago Cubs who've seen 26 players miss 1,097 days of action.

It's not just that the Reds have suffered injuries. Every team deals with injuries. But Cincinnati has seen some of their best players miss weeks and sometimes months. There've also been players who've spent two or even three separate stints on the IL.

Justin Dunn and Tejay Antone have yet to set foot on a major league field this season. Antone, perhaps David Bell's best reliever, is out for the season following Tommy John surgery. Dunn is expected to return later this month.

Jake Fraley, Donovan Solano, Daniel Duarte, Lucas Sims, Tony Santillan, Connor Overton, Max Schrock, Justin Wilson, and Mike Minor have all spent time on the 60-day IL. Sims and Wilson are both out for the remainder of the 2022 season.

Jose Barrero began the 2022 season on the IL and has yet to return from Triple-A Louisville. Jonathan India and Tyler Stephenson have both seen two separate stints on the IL. Tyler Naquin and Mike Moustakas have been on the IL three different times this season.

Injuries are never an excuse for poor performance, but it can definitely give insight as to why the Cincinnati Reds have struggled so mightily this season. The 1,227 cumulative days on the IL have also accounted for $15.1M in salary.

2. The Reds rotation is loaded with rookie pitchers.

With so many injuries, the Cincinnati Reds were bound to see several rookies make their major league debuts in 2022. Injuries to both Luis Castillo and Mike Minor forced David Bell's hand. And while they likely would've found their way to the big leagues this season at some point, both Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo (for all intents and purposes) were part of the Reds Opening Day roster.

Reiver Sanmartin was part of the Reds starting rotation to begin the season, but a disastrous start from the left-hander saw Cincinnati shift him to the bullpen. Both Sanmartin and last year's rookie Vladimir Gutierrez appear to be ticketed for a relief role moving forward.

But, the Reds got surprising contributions from Connor Overton. The former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher latched on with Cincinnati during spring training and his performance at Triple-A Louisville caught the eye of the Reds brass. Overton pitched very well in his first four games, but a back in jury in late-May landed the right-hander on the 60-day IL.

There was the surprise addition of Graham Ashcraft to the Cincinnati Reds rotation. In fact, Ashcraft received his first start in Toronto after it was revealed that Overton was headed to the Injured List. Ashcraft has shown that he has what it takes to compete at the highest-level, and the Alabama native can touch the upper-90s on the radar gun.

Might we see more rookie pitchers during the second-half of the 2022 season? Brandon Williamson was just promoted to Triple-A Louisville and Andrew Abbott is currently at Double-A Chattanooga. There's an outside chance that one or both could be called up to the big leagues later this season.

3. The trade deadline will be very busy in Reds Country.

Buckle up, Reds Country! I think we're in for Part 2 of the Cincinnati Reds Fire Sale. We've already seen Tucker Barnhart, Sonny Gray, Amir Garrett, Nick Castellanos, Wade Miley, Jesse Winker, Eugenio Suárez, and Shogo Akiyama either traded, released, waived, or go unsigned. It's not going to stop there.

Luis Castillo, Tyler Mahle, Brandon Drury, Tyler Naquin, and Tommy Pham may all have a new address by August 2nd. Two other names to keep an eye on are Kyle Farmer and Mike Minor. This could get ugly really fast.

One player who may be key to how the whole "trade season" plays out for the Cincinnati Reds will be Mike Moustakas. Will the Reds be able to find another team willing to take on Moose's remaining $22M salary for the 2023 season? If so, what else would the Reds have to give up?

This team is being built from the inside, and while the Cincinnati faithful wait with bated breath for prospects like Elly De La Cruz, Allan Cerda, and Matt McLain to come to their rescue, I'm afraid we're in for some dark days ahead.

The Cincinnati Reds have been one of the worst teams in baseball since the season began and I don't expect that to change as we head into the second-half. It's been difficult to find any silver lining this season, but maybe we'll be surprised.

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