Reds desperately need this one bat to stay hot or it’s all over

With one swing of the bat earlier this week, Spencer Steer kept the Cincinnati Reds' dreams of a postseason berth alive. Granted that may be a bit of a stretch, but you get the point. Steer's heroics during the series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers helped Cincinnati avoid being swept for the first time this season, and gave the team hope heading into the second half. Can he keep it up?

From June 24 through July 10, Steer was the hottest bat in the Reds lineup. He was hitting .347/.396/.714 with five home runs, 12 RBI, and a 203 wRC+. After battling through injuries to begin the year, Steer finally looked like the player Reds fans were hoping to see throughout the season.

Steer then entered another slump, however, and things looked grim once again. In his 50 at-bats prior to the two-RBI triple against the Dodgers on Wednesday night, the Reds' first baseman had just six hits — all of them singles — to go along with a horrific .140 slugging percentage and 20 wRC+. The Reds cannot afford to see Steer go into a slump over the final two months of the season.

Reds desperately need Spencer Steer to stay hot or it’s all over

In addition to Steer's go-ahead triple on Wednesday night versus the Dodgers, his three-run homer against the Atlanta Braves on Thursday tied the game in the eighth. Though Cincinnati fell to Atlanta in extra innings, Steer's round-tripper showed that his bat could be the difference over the second-half of the season.

The Reds have been lacking a power-bat all season. It's one of the biggest reasons Reds fans were advocating for the team to bring back Eugenio Suárez at the trade deadline. Instead, Cincinnati added a top-flight glove in Ke'Bryan Hayes. Though Hayes smacked a home run during his Reds' debut on Thursday, fans should not expect that to be the norm.

The Reds need power-packed contributions from the quartet of Steer, Elly De La Cruz, Noelvi Marte, and Austin Hays over the final two months of the season. Of those mentioned, only Steer has a slugging percentage below .400. Though his shoulder injury at the outset of the season is likely to blame for some of his below-average production, that can't be an excuse when the stakes are this high.

Steer needs to be a reliable bat in the middle of the Reds batting order down the stretch or else Cincinnati's playoff hopes could be all but lost.

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