The A's May Have Fueled a Reds Playoff Run

As we said before the Trade Deadline, while he may not be a guy that's going to go out and hit a bunch of home runs and change the game with one swing of the bat, Miguel Andujar is a bat you want in your lineup for the postseason.

Since joining the Cincinnati Reds, he's proving that point every time he steps in the box.

This weekend, with the Reds trying to clinch a postseason berth for the first time since 2020, and their first in a full season since 2013, Andujar has managed to go 5-for-9 against the Milwaukee Brewers, bumping his average on the season up to .322. Four of those five hits have been singles, while he also added a double into the mix.

The Reds control their own fate for Sunday's finale, with a win earning them the sixth seed in the National League postseason picture. They could also make the dance with a loss, and a loss by the New York Mets. The two clubs are currently tied for the final postseason spot, but the Reds hold the tiebreaker over New York after taking the season series from the Mets, 4-2.

If the Reds make it in, they'd face the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have the third seed in the National League after winning the NL West. There are plenty of questions swirling around who will be pitching in relief for the Dodgers, and with Cincinnati having an underrated staff of their own, that series could be an interesting one.

Since joining the Reds on August 2 against Atlanta, Andujar has played in 33 games and gone 37-for-99 at the plate, good for a .374 batting average, along with a .415 OBP. While he doesn't have enough playing time to be a qualified hitter in that stretch, his 163 wRC+ would place him as the 12th-best bat in the big leagues.

That's better than Tyler Soderstrom (160) and Nick Kurtz (156), and just behind Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays, who is tied for the second-most home runs since August 2 with 18. Only Philadelphia's Kyle Schwarber has more (19).

In order to land Andujar, and seemingly help their postseason chances significantly, all it took was the Reds giving up righty Kenya Huggins, who is a hard-throwing arm that could become a bullpen piece in the future. He's still a work in progress, but there is plenty to like in his profile.

In a piece over at FanGraphs this weekend, they graded the midseason trades, and the Reds landing Andujar was one of the biggest additions any team made in terms of win probability added. Mason Miller's 1.18 WPA since the deadline ended up ranking third overall, behind Kyle Finnegan and David Bednar, but Andujar was the second-best bat (behind Josh Naylor) with a 0.77.

He's the perfect guy to have up in a big spot, and with the Reds challenging for a postseason berth, his bat could prove to be the difference in a tight series this October.