MID-WEEK ROUND-UP: Why the Reds Next Series at Colorado is Their Most Important of the Season

CINCINNATI -- Remember when the Cincinnati Bengals were 8.5-point favorites, at home, against the New England Patriots in Week 1 of the 2024 NFL Season? Well, that didn't turn out the way Bengals fans hoped for, to say the least.

Or, remember when the Bengals were 7.5-point favorites at home against the Washington Commanders? Monday Night Football, Tee Higgins making his season debut and the Commanders having a rookie quarterback making just his third career start... and the Bengals couldn't stop a nose bleed that night.

The point: Sometimes the games you should win are the most important games of the season. It's because those are the games you absolutely cannot lose. Lose those games, and you're chasing them the rest of the season. Not only that, but the pressure on your shoulders only increases. That's what happened to the 2024 Bengals. They were chasing the loss at home to New England all season, and by the time they offset it it was too little too late.

At 12-13, the Reds are in an okay spot. They haven't played themselves out of the pennant chase by any means. Since they started the season 2-6, they are 10-7 in their last 17 games.

But that's what makes this series at Colorado so important. The Reds cannot afford to lose any games to a team that currently sits at 4-20. Winning the series won't be enough this weekend. A sweep is the expectation, especially for a Reds team throwing three of their best pitchers this weekend.

Andrew Abbott, Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo are all throwing this weekend for the Reds. All three of them have an ERA below 3.00. The Rockies have the worst offense in Major League Baseball, with just 77 runs scored. That's 77 runs in 24 games, which is an average of just over three runs per game.

Coming home after a sweep, which would put the Reds at 15-13, would get fans excited for the upcoming homestand and build momentum going into May. The alternative? That's not something Reds fans want to think about.

So far this season, there have been multiple games the Reds could have won but didn't. Those losses can't keep piling up because you can only chase so many of those as a team. Losses to the Rockies would be the epitome of chasing those losses later in the season.

That's why these games this weekend are so important. Take care of business this weekend, and the Reds will have momentum coming back to Cincinnati and going into May.

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