Two Big Questions Following Reds' Heartbreaking 6-4 Loss to Giants on Opening Day

The Reds let one get away from them on Opening Day against the Giants

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Ian Gibaut (79) is pulled by manner Terry Francona after giving up a go-ahead three-run home run to San Francisco Giants designated hitter Wilmer Flores (41) in the top of the ninth inning of the MLB Opening Day game between the Cincinnati Reds and the San Francisco Giants at Great American Ball Park in downtown Cincinnati on Thursday, March 27, 2025. The Giants won 6-4. / Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

That was a depressing way to lose a ball game, especially on Opening Day.

The Reds could not have gotten off to a better start, leading 3-0 after three innings and Hunter Greene cruising on the mound.

Even after the Giants got two runs back in the top of the fourth inning, the Reds hung onto the 3-2 lead all the way into the top of the ninth.

That's where the game completely got away from the Reds, particularly Ian Gibaut.

Why was Ian Gibaut on to close out the game and not Graham Ashcraft?

Prior to today, Giabut had just four major league saves. It's worth mentioning manager Terry Francona didn't have many relievers with closing experience at his disposal. Alexis Diaz is on the injured list.

That's going to make the late innings, especially the ninth, a rollercoaster experience until Diaz is healthy or a full-time closer emerges.

Speaking of rollercoaster experiences, that's what Giabut provides every time he's out on the mound. In 2023, his only full season with the Reds, Gibaut's ERA was 3.33 in 74 appearances. That was after he posted a 4.67 ERA in 33 appearances in the back half of the season in 2022.

Ashcraft doesn't have any closing experience, but there's one thing he does that makes relievers, particularly, closers great; the ability to throw hard.

That's what Ashcraft could have done today; come into the game in the ninth inning and just start throwing gas right at the Giants hitters. We've seen how good Ashcraft is the first time through an opposing team's lineup. In a closers role, he only has to go through an opposing team's lineup one time. Ashcraft could be really good in that role, and it would have been good to see him get that opportunity on Opening Day.

Why did Francona leave Giabut in the game after he gave up the game-tying hit to Patrick Bailey?

Gibaut was clearly rattled after blowing the save, despite building a 1-2 count against Wilmer Flores after the game was tied.

That would have been a good for Francona time to go to left-hander Sam Moll, who was warming up in the bullpen. Moll has been one of the Reds most solid relievers over the last year-and-a-half, with a 2.31 ERA in 73 appearances.

Moll struck out the only batter he did face on Opening Day, but that was after Gibaut gave up a crushing three-run home-run to Flores that proved to be the game-winner.

Sure, stuff happens. But it just means more on Opening Day for the Reds and for Reds fans. The Reds were this close to winning, and then the game completely turned.

While it is just one game, winning on Opening Day just makes the holiday in Cincinnati that much better.

Gibaut has always given Reds fans a rollercoaster experience, even with his solid 2023 season, and Thursday was no different.

If there's a silver lining from today, it's that each of Francona's World Series-winning teams in Boston lost on Opening Day.

The Major League Baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint.

But the two questions I aformentioned are ones I will be sleeping on tonight and thinking about on the Reds off day on Friday. Opening Day just means more in Cincinnati, and, as Lance McAlister said on 700WLW after the game, the bullpen, which was perfect through 3 1/3 innings today, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

The Reds bullpen is a major key to a successful 2025 season. The good news is there's still 161 games for them to get better and for a full-time closer to emerge. Maybe that's Diaz. Maybe that's Ashcraft. Regardless of who it is, it's a key to the Reds making the playoffs in 2025.

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