Reds close out a painfully historic season vs. the Cubs

Reds Country, history is being made. Granted, in the worst possible way, but historic nonetheless. It was the week that wasn't for the Redlegs, however, in all honestly, it's been the season that wasn't for the Cincinnati Reds.

The Reds (60-99) went 0-6 last week and have dropped nine of their last 10 games to put the club at the brink of only their second 100-loss campaign in the franchise's long history. How bad have the last couple of weeks been? Abysmal may be too kind of a description.

Cincinnati has gone 10 straight contests scoring three runs or less. The last time they dented the plate more than a trio of times was in a 5-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on September 21st.

The Reds are on the brink of 100 losses in 2022.

Additionally, coupled with the Pittsburgh Pirates victory yesterday, the Cincinnati Reds are now tied with the Bucs for last place and are on the verge of finishing in the basement of the National League Central for the first time since the 2018 season.

One loss over the next three days and the 2022 club will join the 1982 Reds as the only teams in Cincinnati history to cross the 100-loss threshold. If you're looking for a ray of sunshine, I have one for you. The 1982 Reds, who went 61-101, followed a 1981 club that posted the best record in baseball during the strike-shortened season. So there's that.

Here's hoping no current Reds pitcher is mentioned in the same breath as Mario Soto. Let me explain. The former Reds pitching great was tagged with the loss when the 1982 club reached triple digits in the loss column following a 4-2 defeat to the Houston Astros on October 2, 1982. Nonetheless, Soto compiled a remarkable 7.6 bWAR for that historically inept squad.

David Bell's Reds ball club had no chance for success in 2022.

November 2021 served as a harbinger for the 2022 edition of the Cincinnati Reds. Within a matter of days to open the month, the Reds waived Wade Miley, arguably the club's best pitcher last year, and traded two-time Gold Glove Award-winning catcher Tucker Barnhart to the Detroit Tigers as general manager Nick Krall claimed the team had to "align payroll to match the club's resources."

However, as painful as November was for Reds Country, nothing could have prepared the fanbase for the March 14, 2022 deal that saw the Redlegs deal former All-Stars, and fan favorites, Eugenio Suarez and Jesse Winker to the Seattle Mariners for Justin Dunn, Jake Fraley, and a pair of prospects.

It was painfully clear, the front office was providing field skipper David Bell with a club that had zero chance to be competitive in the NL Central.

Unfortunately, once the season began, things only got worse. Cincinnati dropped 22 of their first 25 contests and never recovered. As the trade deadline drew near, the club sent starting pitchers Luis Castillo to the Mariners and Tyler Mahle to the Minnesota Twins essentially raising the white flag.

Add season-ending injuries to Tyler Stephenson and Joey Votto, and all the ingredients for a historically poor season are in place. Mercifully, the 2022 campaign will reach its conclusion in three days.

Prediction: Reds lose 100 games for the 2nd time in team history.

The Cincinnati Reds will be better in 2023, however, that won't prevent them this year from becoming the second Redlegs club to lose 100 games in a season, as the Reds, despite taking two of three from the Cubs, end the campaign with a 62-100 record.

On a personal note, I can't thank the readers of Blog Red Machine enough for your continued support in what has been an unbelievably trying season for our beloved Reds. Let's do it again starting next March because Reds Country, where else are we gonna go?