Is The Cincinnati Reds Season Starting To Fall Apart

Cincinnati Reds Season

The Cincinnati Reds are playing some decent baseball on the season so far and this is definitely going to be an improvement for the team that has not really been able to do well. I mean seriously last year the Reds were unable to find the way out of the paper bag and ended up falling into last place. This made the Reds a laughing stalk of the league and left a lot of the fans, like myself, with some doubts as to if the Reds were going to be able to bounce back from the challenges they were facing. What shocked us, as a fan of the Reds was they actually came out and started to win some games on the year and for a while were in first place. Now, we are starting to see the Reds slip back into their old habits of losing games. Here is what we think is the root cause of the Cincinnati Reds faltering on the year.

Is Hitting An Issue For The Cincinnati Reds? 

The Cincinnati Reds have had some issues at the plate, but they have definitely not been a team that has been treading water on the plate. They have really managed to pick up the hitting quite a bit and that has helped them out tremendously in getting the chance to put the runs across the plate on the year. However, one aspect that the Reds are still struggling with is the small ball as they do not have a lot of steals on the season and as far as bunting the runner over we simply have not seen it much this year. The small ball is one thing the Reds were well known for before and now they are a team that looks to have lost that identity. Thankfully the Reds are able to do quite a bit with the offense and the power hitters have helped pick the teams offensive prowess up quite a bit.

The Pitching Staff

Now we have the root of the problem here and that is the pitching staff. The staff started off with a great year, but here recently the arms are starting to look like it is already September and they are not able to go deep into the games. I was actually reading on Twitter the other day and one of the sports guys for Cincinnati was commenting on how the Reds have not had a starter go past the fifth for a while. The lack of quality starts is meaning a lot of the opponents are getting to the bullpen. By reaching the bullpen it is going to make the Reds relief staff worn out and that is exactly what happened lately. So this looks like it is the root of the problem for the Cincinnati Reds.

Can The Reds Tame The Problem?

This is the best part. The season is still young and the Reds do know what some of the problems are. We have not even reached June yet and the Reds are going to be able to right the ship. Now does this mean that we think they will have a chance to make the playoffs? No, we think the team is still a season or two off from the playoffs, but they will definitely make themselves into a team that can contend. It is all going to depend on if the Reds are able to bounce back and actually find a starting rotation that is able to take control of the games and allow the relievers to get some rest.