2025 MLB Season Recap: Cincinnati Reds

The Pitching

The Good

The Reds didn’t have one particular area where the team succeeded. However, Cincinnati — a sum of its parts group — had enough to get past the finish line with a playoff spot.

Where the Reds truly improved, compared to 2024, was with the pitching staff. This year, the Reds were able to field a very good rotation, as well as have consistency in the late innings of games.

Hunter Greene, when healthy, was the true ace of the team. Greene struck out 132 over 107 frames and ranked in the top-25 in total whiffs off four-seamers, despite missing significant time with multiple groin strains.

Nick Lodolo struck out 156 over 156.2 IP. The 27-year-old gets it done in a lot of different ways, whether it be through the slurve-ish breaking ball or busting left-handed hitters inside with his sinker.

Brady Singer, acquired last winter for Jonathan India, wasn’t a ground-ball machine, a departure from his past with the Royals. Nonetheless, he was an important innings-eater.

Andrew Abbott, meanwhile, was the Reds’ lone All-Star pitcher this year. The 26-year-old was a true workhorse in 2025; Abbott threw six or more innings in 13 starts this season, controlled the strike zone, and worked in his secondary stuff to keep hitters off the fastball.

That group of four solidified a rotation that had its depth problems over the years. But aside from that, the bullpen also produced.

Emilio Pagan won the closer’s job and notched 34 saves. Tony Santillan put out a lot of fires himself. And, the Reds’ pen was able to give teams plenty of different looks, from the funky Brent Suter to the hard-thrower Graham Ashcraft, the latter of whom moved to the bullpen after working as a starter for years.

Connor Phillips, another former starter, struck out 32 over 25 frames and was a key reliever during the second half.

As for the offense, it was a mixed bag. Several players took a step backwards, which will be touched on in the next section. However, the show-stealers this past season turned out to be Austin Hays and Noelvi Marte, as well as Miguel Andujar.

Hays performed very well outside of Baltimore, where he was somewhat stifled in Camden Yards. The former Oriole collected 36 extra-base hits across 103 contests, while Marte — who had a bad calendar year in 2024-25 between the Majors, LIDOM, and 2025 Spring Training — had 33 over 90 games.

Andujar, acquired from the Athletics just before the deadline, hit .359/.400/.544 (.944 OPS) as a Red.

The Bad

Heading into the 2024 campaign, the Reds had a very impressive-looking offense on paper. However, things can change on a dime, and now, several youngsters have some catching up to do with their peers come 2026.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand was besieged by injuries in 2024 and was limited yet again in 2025. The 25-year-old didn’t hit that badly (.803 OPS) in Louisville this season. However, the story was that he struggled to muster much (.610 OPS, .261 wOBA) in the Majors. This led the Reds to send him back to Triple-A this season.

It doesn’t help that he expands the zone (46.6% Chase%) a lot.

Matt McLain, meanwhile, missed all of 2024 on the IL. This season, McLain played 147 of 162 games. On the other hand, McLain slashed .220/.300/.343 (.643 OPS). It was a far cry from the .290/.357/.507 slash line he posted two years earlier.

While Elly De La Cruz (.777 OPS, 22 HR) didn’t have a bad campaign, the 23-year-old was getting on top of the ball more. It also didn’t help that De La Cruz continued to make a slew of errors at short; he had 26 in 2025 and 55 overall across the last two seasons.

Lastly, the Reds had to take a hit on Jeimer Candelario, signed to a multi-year deal two winters ago. Candelario was cut after he slashed .113/.198/.213 (.410 OPS) across 22 games.

Early Projected Lineup

• C: Tyler Stephenson/Jose Trevino
• 1B: Sal Stewart
• 2B: Matt McLain
• 3B: Ke’Bryan Hayes
• SS: Elly De La Cruz
• OF: Gavin Lux (LF), TJ Friedl (CF), Noelvi Marte (RF)
• DH: Spencer Steer
• SP: Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Brady Singer, Andrew Abbott, Chase Burns
• RP: Tony Santillan, Scott Barlow, Brent Suter, Connor Phillips, Luis Mey, Graham Ashcraft, Lyon Richardson, [FA Addition(s)]

Cincinnati has several notable pending free agents, including Nick Martinez, Zack Littell, and Emilio Pagan. Additionally, Austin Hays has a $12MM mutual option that’ll likely get opted out on either side.

The obvious courses of action would be to look at potential outfield upgrades, or at the very least look for a depth bat, provided Hays or Miguel Andujar don’t return.

Aside from the outfield, the offense is mostly set. Sal Stewart hit five home runs in September with the big club and showed an MLB-ready approach down in the Minors.

Another reliever or two would make sense. The Reds may very well look to add a starter, as well. However, it’s been good to see Rhett Lowder make up for lost time down in the Arizona Fall League.