Reds fixed last year's biggest weakness only to uncover an even bigger problem

The Cincinnati Reds play half their games in a home run-hitter's ballpark. While some refer to Great American Ball Park as a hitter's paradise, more specifically, it's a home run-hitter's paradise. According to Baseball Savant, Dodger Stadium is the only ballpark that's more tailored for the long ball.

It stands to reason then why Reds fans were somewhat dismayed with the team's lack of pop in 2025. While the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees took full advantage of their hitter-friendly confines, the Reds ranked 21st in homers last season.

This year, however, thanks to the loud bats of JJ Bleday, Nathaniel Lowe, Sal Stewart, and Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati is among the top-10 in Major League Baseball with 92 round-trippers on the season. Eugenio Suárez went deep twice during the team's 12-0 victory over the New York Mets on Monday night, but unfortunately, the increase in home runs has not equated to an uptick in wins.

The Reds are three games under .500, 10 games back of the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers, and buried behind several teams in the chase for the final NL Wild Card spot. What happened? Wasn't adding power to the lineup the key to success? As it turns out, there's more to winning baseball games than just the long ball.

Reds' poor pitching has offset Cincy's power surge in 2026

Anybody who's watched baseball for more than a year or two quickly comes to the conclusion that good pitching will always beat good hitting. It's along the lines of that old cliché in football that says, "Defensive wins championships."

The Reds are proving just how vital good pitching is to a team's overall success this season, and the lack of performance among this year's pitching staff (specifically the bullpen) has crippled Cincinnati's postseason chances.

It's much to early to focus on playoff odds, but the Reds' chances of playing baseball into October currently sit at 6.2%. Only the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies have worse odds.

You can search far and wide for any sort of meaningful stat that suggests Reds fans have something positive to look forward to, but Cincinnati's pitchers ranks near the bottom of almost every significant category. The Reds rank third in walks, fifth in home runs allowed, and 26th in strikeouts. Reds relievers have blown 15 save opportunities this season.

The only hope the Reds have is the impending return of Hunter Greene and Emilio Pagán along with some relevant upgrades at the MLB trade deadline. But until Cincinnati starts winning (and gives the front office reason to believe they can compete) reinforcements are unlikely to arrive from outside the organization.

Though the Reds' lineup has been inconsistent, they have enough power (and play in the type of ballpark) to quickly pile up some runs. That was never more apparent than on Monday night when Cincinnati put a dozen runs on the scoreboard. The bigger concern is keeping the opponent off the scoreboard, and that's something nobody expected when the 2026 season began.

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