Cincinnati Reds Rotation Tops Baseball in Surprising Category

Starting pitching has been the main reason why the Cincinnati Reds find themselves in playoff contention at this point in the season. With a record of 77-76, the Reds are two games back of a Wild Card spot, tied with the Diamondbacks and trailing the New York Mets. They lead MLB in a category they are not familiar with.

The Reds lead MLB with three complete-game shutouts in 2025: Andrew Abbott tossed a complete-game shutout versus the Cleveland Guardians on June 10, Nick Lodolo shut out the Nationals on July 23, and Hunter Greene shut out the Cubs on September 18. 

The Reds did not have a complete-game shutout in all of 2024. In fact, they have not had a complete-game shutout since 2022, and that was a rain-shortened seven-inning game from Hunter Greene. Anthony DeSclafani was the last Red to throw a complete-game shutout for the Reds prior to 2025; that was on June 11, 2021. Wade Miley threw a no-hitter that same year on May 7 versus Cleveland. Nick Martinez threw a complete game in 2024, but it was in a 1-0 loss versus the Chicago Cubs in his final start of the season.

The last time the Reds would throw three complete-game shutouts in a season was all the way back in 2014. Johnny Cueto threw two, and Homer Bailey had one that season. They threw four complete-game shutouts in 2009. Could they match it with nine games to go?