Reds close out a painfully historic season vs. the Cubs

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?