Reds keep winning behind elite pitching but one question still looms

Despite beginning the 2026 season without their two best starters, the Cincinnati Reds pitching staff has been elite. Brady Singer, Rhett Lowder, and Chase Burns were major contributors during the Reds' series against the Texas Rangers over the weekend, and Cincinnati's cadre of relievers helped finish off the series sweep.

While the Reds' pitching has been top-notch, their bats have been sleep walking through the first nine games of the 2026 season. The Reds rank fifth in all of Major League Baseball with a 3.25 ERA, but the team's .625 OPS is among the bottom-five in the league. At some point, the Reds' bats need to wake up.

The Reds' pitching staff needs some help from the lineup

It's much to early to panic, but Reds fans have seen this movie before. Cincinnati's pitching led the way in 2025, and while they squeaked into the MLB Postseason for the first time during a 162-game season since 2013, the Reds will need timely hitting in 2026 if they hope to make some noise this October.

The Reds have not lacked power in 2026. The team's nine home runs have them right in the middle of the pack among all 30 MLB clubs, and once the weather begins to warm up, fans can be sure that balls will be leaving Great American Ball Park with regularity.

But Cincinnati is dead-last in runs scored this season. Their 26 runs are tied with the San Francisco Giants for the fewest in baseball, and scoring less than three runs per game puts tremendous pressure on the pitching staff to be flawless.

The Reds ranked 14th in runs scored last season (4.41 runs per game), and after reuniting with Eugenio Suárez during the offseason, fans are expecting to see that number go up in 2026. But Geno can't do it on his own, meaning that Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, Spencer Steer, and others need to play up to their potential.

It can be difficult to get the three aspects of the game — hitting, pitching, and defense — to all click at the same time. Through the first week-plus, the Reds' pitching and defense have been up to the task. But as the season progresses, Cincinnati will need the lineup to start producing.

The most runs the Reds have scored in a game so far this season was six (March 28 versus the Boston Red Sox). The New York Yankees led all of MLB with 5.24 runs per game last season, so that level of production may not be attainable. But if the Reds could score closer to 4.5 runs per game — with this pitching staff — they'll have a great chance to win the division.