Reds playoff hopes may hinge on gutsy gamble Terry Francona must take

Entering play on Friday, the Cincinnati Reds trail the New York Mets by just two games in the race for the final NL Wild Card spot. The Reds own the tiebreaker over the Mets, so if both teams finish the season with the same record, Cincinnati will be headed back to the MLB Postseason for the first time since 2020.

In order to do that, however, Reds manager Terry Francona may have a critical choice to make during the final week of the season. Will the Reds' skipper realign his starting rotation during the final week of the regular season in order to give Hunter Greene two more starts, or will Francona maintain the status quo?

After watching Greene dominate on Thursday night at Great American Ball Park, the idea of shaking up the starting rotation has to be on the table. Monday's off-day provides Francona with the ability to send Greene out to the mound on Tuesday — on normal rest — and then have his ace available for the season finale against the Milwaukee Brewers next Sunday.

Will Reds manager Terry Francona reshuffle his rotation in order to give Hunter Greene two more starts?

The current Reds rotation will send Nick Lodolo to the hill on Friday against the Chicago Cubs. Cincinnati will then trot out Zack Littell on Saturday and Andrew Abbott will get the ball for the series finale on Sunday. If the rotation holds, Brady Singer — who's been phenomenal for the Reds of late — would start Tuesday's series opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

If Tito decides to shake things up, Greene could get the start on Tuesday, followed by Singer, and then Lodolo — who'd be getting an extra day of rest. The Reds then close out the season with a trip to Milwaukee where presumably the rotation would be Littell (Friday), Abbott (Saturday), and Greene (Sunday).

There is a drawback to this plan, however. If Francona decides to push in all his chips and allow Greene to pitch twice during the final week of the season, he'll be unavailable (presumably) for the Reds' Wild Card Series if they make it to the postseason. That's what makes this move so risky.

But if the Reds aren't able to snag the final Wild Card spot in the first place, it doesn't really matter who's available to pitch, does it? Would you rather send Greene to the mound twice to close out the season, or save him for a start in the postseason that may never come? That's the question that Francona will have to wrestle with, and his decision may become clearer depending on how the next few games play out.

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