National Analyst Issues Harsh Evaluation of Reds Offense in Latest Rankings

While nobody is predicting this Cincinnati Reds offense is going to be a top-five offense in Major League Baseball, it feels like an offense that can certainly be average to above average.

However, on Wednesday afternoon, ESPN's Bradford Doolittle gave a harsh grade to Cincinnati's offense when he ranked all 30 teams.

Doolittle ranked the Reds 24th out of 30 teams with the below grades for each section.

Hit: D
Patience: C
Power: D+
Baserunning: B+
Durability: C+
Depth: C
vs RHP: F
vs LHP: C-
Stars: 2
Holes: 3

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"Suarez hit 49 homers last season and now returns to Great American Ball Park, one of baseball's launching pads, where he has hit more than twice as many homers as any other venue," Doolittle wrote. "So think of what Cincinnati's power grade looked like before. The grade against righties is rough, however, and it's a reflection of Cincinnati's lack of lefty swingers, both in quantity and quality."

If Cincinnati's offense is in the bottom third of the league, I will be very surprised. The addition of Eugenio Suarez gives manager Terry Francona a fantastic 3-4-5 punch of Elly De La Cruz, Suarez, and Sal Stewart to work with. That is not even mentioning TJ Friedl, who got on base second-most among leadoff hitters last season.

Doolittle also didn't have Spencer Steer listed in his "base lineup prediction." Steer is going to play a lot and if you take out his first month of 2025 where he played hurt, he was an above average player last season.

My prediction is that Cincinnati's offense will somewhere between 10th and 16th.

You can see ESPN's rankings of all 30 teams here.

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