Reds' Top Bats Gone Quiet as Reds Hit 40-Game Mark

CINCINNATI -- Reds fans can point to a lot of reasons for why this team is 19-20 through 39 games into the 2025 season.

For me, though, it's plain and simple. The Reds three best hitters, or the three hitters that were supposed to be this team's best hitters, simply aren't playing at the level we thought they would be.

TJ Friedl, Matt McLain, and Elly De La Cruz, collectively, aren't performing like the trio we thought they could this season. Each of them individually has had stretches where they looked like they were putting it all together, but they haven't collectively had a stretch where they consistently set the tone in games and series.

Through 39 games, Friedl is hitting .272 with three home runs and 16 RBIs. He also has a .339 on-base percentage and eight stolen bases on two attempts.

McLain, who missed all of 2024 with a shoulder injury, is hitting .170 with four home runs and 12 RBIs with an on-base percentage of .290.

De La Cruz, who was an All-Star in 2024, is hitting .258 with five home runs and 25 RBIs.

For all three of them, it's not good enough. That's not the production this team needs to be a contender.

When guys like Austin Hays, Noelvi Marte and Jake Fraley going on the injured list creates a doom and gloom feel around the Reds because of their production, that's a problem. The feeling should be that the big three on this team will carry the Reds through the time that depth pieces are on the injured list.

Take Thursday night in Atlanta, for example, when the game was tied 2-2 in the top of the seventh with one out. McLain and De La Cruz were due up. How many Reds fans were confident that either of them would come through with the go-ahead hit?

We shouldn't even be questioning if they will come through. It should be expected that one of them, at least, gets the big hit. That's not happening right now. The players who are getting the big hits? Well, they're, ufortuantely, injured.

Friedl, McLain and De La Cruz are the keys to this season. Right now, all three of them are falling short of what they're capable of and the production this Reds team needs from them. If Reds fans want to point to anything for why this team is just 19-20 on May 9th, it may be as simple as the best players not performing up to standard.

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