Reds' shocking social media nugget makes Nick Krall's future even harder to defend

Anyone who's watched the Cincinnati Reds this season knows the lineup has been bad. Like really, really bad. But a recent social media post shared to X (formerly Twitter) revealed just how bad things really are.

An X user with the handle @Soly_Reds shared a shocking statistic earlier this week. His post read, "The Reds have 5 of the worst 9 hitters in all of baseball (>150 PA's). Nick Krall traded for 4 of those players."

At first glance, most Reds fans can probably think of at least three players right off the top — Ke'Bryan Hayes, TJ Friedl, and Noelvi Marte — but who are the other two? That would be rookie infielder Edwin Arroyo and backup catcher Jose Trevino. And as @Soly_Reds correctly pointed out, Friedl is the only player of that group who wasn't acquired via trade.

The statistic used to draw this somewhat horrifying conclusion is wRC+. According to MLB.com, it's a stat that measures a hitter's overall offensive value compared to league average. A wRC+ of 100 means a league-average hitter, and a wRC+ of 150 means a hitter is 50% better than league average. Every point of wRC+ above or below 100 is equal to one percentage point above or below average.

Unsurprisingly, Hayes (17 wRC+) is the worst hitter in baseball. It's almost indefensible that he's still on the Major League roster at this point. Friedl (43 wRC+) was recently DFA'd, Arroyo (46 wRC+) was optioned back to the minor leagues, and Marte (47 wRC+) is there as well.

As a backup catcher, Trevino (46 wRC+) gets a bit of a pass, but it shows how unreasonable it is to head into the 2027 season with the former Platinum Glove award-winner as the Reds primary backstop.

To make matters worse, Hayes and Trevino are both under contract for next season and will take home a combined $12.25 million. Friedl's time with the organization may be up, but it's hard to see the Reds moving on from Marte and Arroyo — both of whom they acquired from the Seattle Mariners in 2022.

To be completely transparent, the Reds have six players with a wRC+ above 100, though Tyler Stephenson, Spencer Steer, JJ Bleday, and Dane Myers are all just marginally better than a league-average hitter. Elly De La Cruz (142) and Sal Stewart (116) lead the way.

How can Nick Krall survive when the Reds lineup is this bad?

All signs point to Krall returning in 2027, and that's a bad look for the Reds and their ownership group. There's just no way you can look at the on-field results this season and think to yourself, "Let's do that again." It's utterly foolish in every sense of the word.

The lone hope among Reds fans is that recent pressure from Hall of Famer Barry Larkin and former MVP Joey Votto, and the lengthy online discourse from the fanbase surrounding Krall's job status will be enough to sway the Castellini's to part ways with their top executive during the offseason.

The upcoming Collective Bargaining negotiations are undoubtedly a huge reason why Cincinnati is rumored to be staying the course. But outside of Elly, Sal, and Chase Burns, the cupboard is bare, folks. What's the point of maintaining continuity if you're just continuing on a path toward mediocrity?

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