Situational Hitting Continues to Haunt the Cincinnati Reds

If the Reds can't bring runners around to score, nothing else matters.

Cincinnati Reds hitting coach Chris Valaika (76) during the annual team picture day at the Cincinnati Reds Player Development Complex in Goodyear, Ariz., on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Since the end of April, things have gone badly for the Cincinnati Reds. There are many different issues you can see with this team.

You can blame the issues on the bullpen, you can blame injuries, and you can blame trusting aging veterans for too long. But the toughest issue the Reds have to figure out is situational hitting.

For what feels like a decade, the Reds have struggled to hit with runners in scoring position. Going into Monday night's game vs. the San Diego Padres, the Reds are the 3rd-worst team in baseball with a .230 team batting average. they're 29th in hits, 24th in RBI, and 24th in on-base percentage. While this doesn't apply strictly to RISP, it does provide a lot of issues that the Reds have been dealing with.

There are certainly guys hitting very well. Elly De La Cruz was hitting great before he went to the IL, Spencer Steer had a 23-game on-base streak, and JJ Bleday is coming off being named the National League Player of the Month in May. As a team, though, it's been pretty rough.

The Reds are the worst team in the Majors with a batting average with runners in scoring position at .219. It gets worse. In the month of June, the Reds are 6/53 with RISP, leaving 52 runners on base. To break it down even farther, in the weekend sweep vs the St. Louis Cardinals, the Reds were 4/29, leaving 23 on base. You aren't going to win many Major League Baseball games with numbers like that.

The question now becomes how Terry Francona, Chris Valiaka and staff get the Reds to figure this out. Some would say it comes with experience, but the young crew from 2023 has been in the big leagues for 3-4 seasons. You can argue they're pressing on that opportunity. You wouldn't be wrong, but where do the coaches or veterans come in to tell these players to loosen up?

Baseball is a marathon, not a sprint. Anything can change on a dime, but the Reds' current trend is extremely concerning, considering how bad the season is going. So yes, they need to get healthier, they do need their Bullpen to be much better, but if they can never hit with Runners in Scoring Position, nothing else really matters. It's time they figure it out, or this season will go from bad to worse.