Cincinnati Reds First Impressions Of 2026

It was a rough Opening Day for the Cincinnati Reds as they were shut out en route to a 3-0 loss in front of a sold-out crowd, but they bounced back to take the next two from Boston.

It was a good inter-league matchup with storylines after storylines to uncover. To preface this, a three-game sample is obviously too small to put true opinions out there, but there were flashes of what the 2026 Reds team will look like.

Cincinnati Reds First Impression Of 2026

Starting Pitching

By now, nobody should be surprised that the Reds have an extremely deep starting rotation. They currently have two guys on the shelf, ace Hunter Greene and lefty Nick Lodolo. Their timelines are a bit different, as Greene is out until at least July, while Lodolo is simply dealing with blisters. However, that doesn’t change the fact that the Reds have had to enter the season without two major starters.

The age-old belief of entering Spring Training with eight or so viable starters has never been truer than now, as the Reds have seamlessly filled the injured spots.

The three starters for their opening series against the Red Sox were Andrew Abbott, Brady Singer, and Rhett Lowder. Abbott was his usual self, tossing six scoreless and reassuring fans that his Spring Training struggles were just that: Spring Training struggles.

Brady Singer, while he wasn’t brilliant, wasn’t bad, as he allowed three earned runs in four innings. This should come with a bit of a caveat, as he was pitching through blisters that he got in Spring Training.

Rhett Lowder’s outing was perhaps the most impressive. Before this start, he had not thrown a big league pitch in over 500 days due to missing all of 2025 with various injuries. However, he picked up right where he left off in September of 2024 and delivered a strong outing of two earned runs in five innings.

While it is still early, not all starters have toed the rubber yet, it is an extremely good sign that the Reds’ rotation has stepped up so far. Without their ace, they seem to be able to function just fine.

Bullpen Concerns

Emilio Pagan returned to the Reds in the offseason and retained his closer status. He had an unfortunate start to the 2026 season, blowing a save in his first outing of the year, but thankfully, the offense was able to provide an extra-innings win.

There is no concern regarding his ability to close games. The concern is his setup man, who, despite two scoreless innings, did not look very good. Tony Santillan was arguably overused last season, appearing in 80 games, a near inordinate amount for a reliever.

The workload may have seeped into the new season, as he has been sitting 93 to 94 on his fastball so far despite sitting 96 to 97 last year. His command has been off, too, walking four batters in two innings. While he didn’t surrender any runs, it’s not a good sign for Santillan.

Heading into the season, he and Pagan’s roles of setup man and closer were penciled in. The team’s success relies heavily on the bullpen, especially the back end, to be a lockdown unit.

Now, there is obviously the possibility that he’s still getting his feet wet. The cold weather in Cincinnati could also contribute to these inconsistencies. It’ll be foolish to write him off after two games in March, but there will definitely be a closer eye on him in the following weeks.

Balanced Offense

An apple a day keeps the doctors away, and a home run a day keeps the critics away as well. Excluding an awful Opening Day where the Reds recorded just four hits (three by rookie Sal Stewart), the Reds’ offense wasn’t firing on all cylinders, but found contributions from all over.

Matt McLain looks like his 2023 form again, a dream come true for the Reds. After injuries in 2024 and an awful 2025, McLain looks as locked in at the plate as ever. He had a fantastic Spring Training, clubbing a league-leading seven home runs.

It looks like he hasn’t skipped a beat going into the regular season, as he slashed .400/.571/.500 in this opening series. He smacked a double at over 110 MPH, which was the hardest hit ball of his career.

With four walks and two strikeouts, all signs point to a breakout season, which would be huge for the top of the lineup that had previously relied entirely on Elly De La Cruz (who also homered).

The biggest story for this offense, though, is 22-year-old rookie Sal Stewart. With a 2.069 OPS, that pretty much sums up how good he’s been. He’s hit one home run and three doubles, pretty much cementing his spot in the four hole.

The Very Big Grain of Salt

It is simply human nature for baseball fans to “overreact” to early-season performances, whether positive or negative. However, it is still important to realize that a three-game sample size is so small that it shouldn’t even be considered a sample.

Nevertheless, starting the season off on a good note is obviously a good sign, and this Reds team could be a fun one.