Reds' pitching deserves praise but one pesky problem keeps popping up

Cincinnati Reds pitching has been somewhat of a mystery to begin the 2026 season. Chase Burns has been every bit as advertised, and then some. The Reds' bullpen started the year surprisingly solid, though they've suffered some ups and down of late.

With the established starters struggling, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before Cincinnati's staff truly got rolling. We've seen some encouraging signs recently from Andrew Abbott. Brady Singer's track record is enough to believe he'll get it together. Nick Lodolo is on the verge of returning.

Those things coming together should have the Reds ready to supercharge their pitching moving forward, but there's something lurking beneath the surface threatening to unravel it all. That would be the dreaded walk.

Reds pitchers — especially the relievers — are flirting with danger

Through 34 games, Cincinnati hurlers have given up 160 free passes, the third-highest raw total in the entire majors. The two clubs above them, the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Angels, have some of the worst staffs in baseball.

One mitigating factor has been the fact that the introduction of the ABS challenge system has risen walk-rates around the league. Over the last several years, the average walk rate has been sitting around 8.5%. Anything below that was good, and anything above 9% was truly cause for concern. Now, though, the average walk rate is flirting with the 10% threshold, while strikeout performance has remained flat.

In the rotation, the Reds don't have much to worry about on the base-on-balls front. The unit's rate is 9.4%, which isn't ideal but is better than the average today. The only starter with a mark above 9.5% is Brandon Williamson with a 15.6% rate. Williamson, however, ended April on the IL and was on the verge of being replaced by Lodolo anyway.

The bullpen is a different story, however. The unit as a whole owns a 15% walk rate, and it's not just a couple of bad apples who are dragging the team down. Nearly every key Reds reliever is in the danger zone.

Connor Phillips looks destined for a blowup at that 23.2% rate. Over 17⅔ innings, he's issued the same number of strikeouts (19) as he has walks (19). That's scary.

Tony Santillan and Graham Ashcraft are both seriously important relievers with free pass rates way above what should be a comfortable level. Even Brock Burke and Emilio Pagan are a touch high, though closer to the new normal we've seen with ABS. Only Pierce Johnson and Emilio Pagán have been an above-average performer in this regard.

This is a trend that screams the bullpen will regress. We've already seen it to a degree over the past week, with the pen's season ERA falling to 15th in baseball at 4.14 after opening the season as the league leader.

That might only be a taste of the pain to come if Cincinnati doesn't clean this up fast. Walks are the most inexcusable way to lose. It's one thing if you throw your best pitch and the hitter simply comes out on top, but when you give up bases because you can't hit the strike zone, you're creating unforced errors that can compound in a big way.

This isn't to say that the Reds can't overcome this flaw, but they need to acknowledge and address it now. Otherwise, it might be too late.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow