Cincinnati Reds Winners and Losers From First Half of Season

The Cincinnati Reds are 50-47 at the All-Star break and sit just 2 1/2 games back of a National League Wild Card spot.

Here are our winners and losers from the first half of the season:

Winners

Andrew Abbott

Abbott is having the best season of his career and was named a first-time All-Star. With Hunter Greene dealing with injuries, Abbott has stepped up to be the ace of the staff. The left-hander is 8-1 with a 2.07 ERA and an fWAR of 2.1, which is the highest among pitchers and the third highest on the team behind Elly De La Cruz and TJ Friedl. He has been known to give up a lot of home runs in the past, but is holding teams to less than a home run per nine innings this season.

Elly De La Cruz

To nobody's surprise, De La Cruz continues to get better and better. He was recently named a two-time All-Star at age 23. De La Cruz leads the team in fWAR (3.5), RBIs (63), runs (72), stolen bases (25), and so many other categories. He has a wRC+ of .130 and is slashing .284/.359/.495 with 18 home runs. He is showcasing his power and speed dynamics while reducing strikeouts and improving his plate discipline. Oh, and he's played in all 97 games this season.

TJ Friedl

You could have made a case that Friedl deserved to be an All-Star this season. Friedl has played in 93 of the team's 97 games this season. He is slashing .276/.368/.406 and his second on the team behind just Elly De La Cruz in fWAR (2.2). He is walking over 11% of the time and is striking out less than 16% of the time. Friedl has been a huge part of Cincinnati's success in the first half.

Noelvi Marte

Noelvi Marte started the season by being sent down to Triple-A Louisville after spring training. He found his old swing down there and was promoted quickly. Then, he dealt with a groin injury that kept him out for over a month. Now, he's back and playing well again. Through 28 games, Marte is tied for fourth (excluding pitchers) on the team with an fWAR of 0.9. The 23-year-old is slashing .284/.337/.547 with six home runs. His Isolated Power of .263 is the best on the team. Marte has struggled with throwing the ball from third base, but has looked better as of late. If he can continue to hit, he will be a huge part of the Reds' second half success.

Losers

Christian Encarnacion-Strand

As someone who thought Encarnacion-Strand was capable of hitting 30+ home runs this season, he was been one of the most disappointing players on this Reds team. He has once again dealt with injuries, causing him to play in just 36 games, and was recently sent back down to Triple-A Louisville. The slugger is hitting .208/.234/.377 with six home runs this season. He is striking out 23.4% of the time and walking just 2.2% of the time. There lies the problem. Encarnacion-Strand swings at way too many pitches out of the zone. It's hard to get away with that in Major League Baseball. That approach is not sustainable. I am hopeful that he will go down to Louisville and work hard on changing his approach.

Jeimer Candelario

Although he's no longer on the team, I had to add him to the list. Candelario felt like he had a chance to have a big bounce-back season after mightily struggling in the first year of the Reds giving him the big contract. However, that was not the case. Candelario played in just 22 games with the Reds in the first half before they decided to designate him for assignment after his rehab assignment was over and eat the rest of his salary. The veteran slashed just .113/.198/.213 for the Reds this season. There is no way to avoid saying that his signing was a failure.

Santiago Espinal

I will admit I am probably a little too harsh towards Espinal at times. I think he has a role on this team, but I don't think he's always put in the best position to succeed. At his best, Espinal can be a solid defensive player and hit left-handed pitching well. However, Espinal has been given 177 plate appearances against right-handed pitching this season and has an OPS of just .506 against them, which is one of the worst in the entire league. He is hitting .293/.343/391 against left-handed pitching this season and if his role was limited to playing against lefties and being a defensive replacement, I think Reds fans would think about him differently.

Matt McLain

I hate having to include McLain in this list and it might be a little unfair since he is coming off of major shoulder surgery. However, for the Reds to be a playoff contender, they need McLain to be one of the team's better players. Through 87 games this season, McLain is slashing just .201/.298/.337 with a wRC+ of 77 and 10 home runs. He has been a strong defensive player, but the Reds really need him to be a core part of the offense. If the Reds want to make a run at the playoffs, they need McLain to play much better in the second half.