SERIES PREVIEW: Will the REAL Cincinnati Reds Please Stand Up

CINCINNATI -- I remember early September of 2013 vividly. The Reds were in the thick of the National League pennant race.

In the second weekend that month, the Reds hosted the Los Angeles Dodgers with two of the games on national television. Friday night's game was a nail-biter, with the Reds clinging to a 3-2 lead in the top of the ninth and Aroldis Chapman on the mound.

As Chapman faced then-Dodgers rookie Yasiel Puig, Reds TV play-by-play announcer Jim Day said on the broadcast, "This is what it's all about." The crowd at Great American Ball Park was on its feet, as Chapman struck out Puig and then fanned Adrian Gonzalez and Hanley Ramirez for his 35th save of the season in a 3-2 win.

Game two of the series was Joe Morgan Day at Great American Ball Park. Morgan's Big Red Machine teammates were there, the game was nationally televised on FOX, and the Reds won on a walk-off single by Todd Frazier in the bottom of the 10th. Not to mention, Billy Hamilton walked and stole second to set up Frazier's walk-off.

The next night, on Sunday Night Baseball, Jay Bruce homered twice off Clayton Kershaw and Ryan Hanigan's walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth won the game and finished off the sweep.

Remember how much fun those games were? Pennant race, the Dodgers in town, games on national television, some of Major League Baseball's best talent on the field? That's what this week could feel like at Great American Ball Park.

These are games you live for as fans, and these are games you dream of playing in as players. The reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers coming to your ball park with all of their talent that includes Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman.

But the Reds also have talent, including Elly De La Cruz, TJ Friedl, and Chase Burns, who is starting Monday night for the Reds. The Reds have been hovering at just a few games over .500 this season, but they're now six games over that mark for the first time this season. They're on the brink of being serious contenders, and who better to prove they are than by facing the Dodgers in late July.

This is what Reds fans wanted this season, which is for this team to be playing meaningful games in late July and proving that the front office should be buyers. Late Summer nights in Cincinnati when the Reds are good—currently just one game out of the third NL Wild Card spot. We have been waiting for nights like this.

The job Terry Francona has done in his first season as manager has been solid, navigating this team through injuries and a slow start to being 56-50 on July 28th. De La Cruz and Andrew Abbott were both All-Stars, and other players have stepped up and showed their potential to be mainstays on the Major League roster.

Los Angeles has been to the Playoffs in every season since 2013, and it has won the NL West in 11 of the last 12 seasons. The Dodgers are the gold standard of the National League with four pennants and two World Series titles.

The Reds have been searching for long-term consistency since the Big Red Machine days and the early 2010s. This team has the talent to set the franchise up for sustained success, but that's also going to require beating the best teams, like the Dodgers.

To this point, the Reds have put themselves in position to be in position. Now, the measuring sticks have arrived. Where do the Reds stand? We'll find out in this three-game series Monday-Wednesday.

Will the real 2025 Cincinnati Reds please stand up!