The Cincinnati Reds Have Reached Rock Bottom

Tuesday night was a boiling point in what's been a frustrating season for Reds fans.

Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz (44) walks for the clubhouse after the 10th inning of the MLB interleague game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Tuesday, May 13, 2025. The Reds lost 5-1 in 10 innings. / Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

CINCINNATI -- I'm running out of things to write about for this Cincinnati Reds team, which isn't great for someone in the sports writing industry.

Okay, that may not be true. Sports writers are known for generating thought-provoking content even when it may look and feel like there isn't anything to write off of.

But this Reds team is becoming a team that is the same every single night. The same mistakes keep occurring, and, as a result, the narrative about the Reds isn't changing. I wish I was writing something different about this Reds team throughout the season. That, though, may not be the case this season. It's certainly appearing that way.

This is so frustrating. Baseball is supposed to be fun. The nature of it being every day should make us enjoy that we get to watch our favorite team every day and go through the twists and turns of a six-month long baseball season with them.

That's all we want. We want a team to get excited about as summer approaches. When Major League Baseball is the only one of the major four professional sports happening in June, July, and August, we want our city's MLB team to be fun to watch and in contention throughout the summer.

After losing to the Chicago White Sox Tuesday night, is there still a chance this team is playing meaningful baseball in the summer? They're only three games under .500, but this team should be better than that. That's why the Reds 20-23 record feels worse than it is.

The same mistakes keep occurring.

Think about Tuesday night alone. Elly De La Cruz hits a game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth. Finally, Elly gets a clutch hit. The Reds' biggest superstar gets the biggest hit of the game, but it could have been a walk-off home run had the same base running mistakes we've seen all season not occurred again on Tuesday night.

Looking at the season overall so far, the Reds' self-inflicted mistakes are wasting a terrific season from their starting pitching.

The Reds have scored one run or less in 12 of their 43 games this season. How is that even possible?! Not to mention, they have struggled to consistently win at home all season and since De La Cruz was called up two years ago.

Matt McLain has been moved down to the No. 8 spot in the lineup and TJ Friedl left the game Tuesday night with an injury. Your three best players are all struggling and now one of them is injured.

This isn't how it was supposed to be when the Reds won 12 straight games in June of 2023. They were supposed to build off of that. Instead, the exact opposite has happened.

Is this a baseball team that inspires you right now? Are you excited to watch them every day?

I'm always excited because I'm a Reds fan and have been my whole life. But this team makes it hard to watch them every night when the same mistakes and narratives stay at the surface.

The aftermath of Tuesday night feels like rock bottom. I just hope there isn't a lower point coming.

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