Nick Krall Makes Ridiculous Claim as Reds Fail to Address Biggest Need

After making the postseason for the first time since 2013 behind a dominant starting rotation, the Reds had one glaring need this offseason: an impact bat.

Earlier this week, Reds President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall went on MLB Network Radio and discussed the type of hitter they're looking for.

"I think everybody would like 50 home runs, right?" Krall told MLB Network Radio. "If you hit line drives in our ballpark, they're going to go out. When you look at left-handed hitters especially, if you can hit line drives, you're going to hit 25 homers.

"And I think if you're a right-hander and can use the whole field, it's going to go out anywhere. I prefer good contact hitters that get on base and hit line drives. The more quality at-bats you have, the more home runs you're going to have in our park."

While it sounds nice to say on TV that guys can hit line drives and they'll have 25 home runs at Great American Ball Park, it simply isn't true.

In 2025, the Reds had just two players who hit 20 or more home runs. Elly De La Cruz led the team with 22 and Specer Steer had 21. The next closest was Austin Hays with 15.

Was that season an outlier? Let's take a look at 2024. De La Cruz had 25 home runs. Jeimer Candelario and Spencer Steer each had 20. What about 2023? Spencer Steer had 23 homers and nobody else had more than 18.

Since the 2022 season, the Reds have had one player with 25 home runs in a season. ONE!!! The Reds had a chance to get one of the biggest power hitters on the market, and according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.com, they failed to match the Phillies' offer.

The next best option was Pete Alonso. They were reportedly never interested in him.

It feels like Krall says these things to make fans believe their process and approach will work and are working just fine. Here's the problem with that logic: Fans aren't stupid. If you give an interview about how easy it is to hit 25 home runs as a Red, it doesn't take long to see they've only had one player accomplish that in the past four seasons.

Instead of addressing the glaring need for power, the front office continues to talk past a fanbase that can plainly see the results aren’t there.

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