Cincinnati Reds’ Power Shortage Exposes Flawed Hitting Philosophy

The Cincinnati Reds entered Thursday night 19-41 at PNC Park against the Pirates since 2018. There is no other way to say it, but the Reds have been absolutely dominated by the Pirates in Pittsburgh over the last seven seasons. And what's worse? The Pirates have been bad over that stretch.

After what felt like a huge series win over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, this four-game series against the Pirates felt like a series you needed to find a way to win three out of four. It's still possible, but after the Reds fell 7-0 to the Pirates on Thursday, they need to win the next three.

Tonight is the 25th time this season that the Reds have scored one run or less. 25 times. They are 2-23 in those games.

The Reds got seven hits off of Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes, which is the most he's allowed in his career, but they could not convert those hits into runs.

This is a team that lacks power and the front office continues to make moves that keeps high-contact, low-power players on the roster over players like Will Benson, Rece Hinds, Ryan Vilade, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand.

In a day and age where pitchers throw 100 mph and have nasty breaking stuff, the Reds are trying to teach a hitting philosophy that feels outdated. You don't win games by hitting singles, but the Reds seem to think home runs aren't that important.

They are 16-32 when they don't hit a home run. They are 44-24 when they hit at least one home run.

Entering Thursday night, the Reds’ .125 Isolated Power over the past month ranked last in all of Major League Baseball.

“We’ve been trying to get guys that can hit first (over power),” Reds President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall told Charlie Goldsmith. “(Matt) McLain. Cam Collier, there’s a good hit tool there. Sal Stewart. Look at the draft and where we’ve gone the last four years. We’re looking to get guys that can hit. You’ve got a small ballpark. You can hit here, and you’re going to hit some home runs. We just need to continue to get good hitters.”

The Reds have not had player hit more than 25 HR since 2021.

It just feels like this roster is not good enough to compete day in and day out offensively. Playing in one of baseball’s most home run–friendly parks while treating power like an afterthought doesn’t exactly sound like a winning formula.

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