Reds’ discouraging NL Central record exposes a consistent problem they can’t disregard

Desinted to finish last in the NL Central for the first time since 2018, Cincinnati Reds fans will have a long offseason ahead of them wondering where things went wrong after the franchise crashed the playoffs in 2025.

There's certainly plenty of blame to go around — the Reds' offense and defense have both been unacceptably bad — but it's also worth noting just how outclassed Cincinnati was by their division rivals.

To put it succinctly, the Reds were clobbered by the NL Central this year. They finished with a 19-33 record, their fewest wins against division opponents since the schedule was rebalanced in 2023. They also failed to win a single season series, going under .500 against all four of their primary rivals.

Reds record vs NL Central opponents in 2026
Chicago Cubs: 4-9
Milwaukee Brewers: 4-9
St. Louis Cardinals: 5-8
Pittsburgh Pirates: 6-7

That's really bad. Of course, it doesn't help that the NL Central was historically competent at the beginning of the season, but that doesn't change the fact that the Reds' struggles in this department have been a continuous trend for years on end. Unless this changes, we can all give up on our dreams for this organization's first NL Central title since 2012.

Reds can't start thinking about playoffs again until they learn how to beat their division rivals

Over the past five years, the Reds have not had a winning record against their collective division rivals, only managing to even go .500 in 2025. That, of course, coincided with their most recent playoff berth, so there's clear proof that winning these games correlates to overarching success in a given season.

The last time they went over .500 against the NL Central was in 2021 (43-33), when they would have made the playoffs had the third Wild Card been introduced at that point. Over the past 15 years, they've exceeded a .500 record in the NL Central just five times: 2012-14 and 2020-21. Three of those ended with appearances in October.

It's true that this is one of the toughest divisions in baseball right now, with the Brewers seemingly a World Series contender every year and the Cubs recently joining them in that distinction. Factor in the always-relevant Cardinals and the finally-relevant Pirates, and you've got a gauntlet for the Reds to navigate for 52 games per season.

But if you can't beat the teams you see most often, you're probably not going to be doing much in the postseason. The Reds are fortunate enough that the division only contains one financial titan, and even they rarely flex their fiscal muscles in the same way that the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets do.

While making the playoffs consistently remains the long-term goal, it should become a focus of each Reds season to start beating their rivals again. Fail in that regard, and it's clear how easy it is to fall to the bottom of the pack.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow