Cincinnati Reds Have One Clear Issue They Must Fix Moving Forward

The Reds have a couple of issues they need to address, including generating more offense and improving consistency in their starting rotation. However, there is one big issue that the Reds have battled all season long.

MLB.com picked one thing each team needs to do better for the rest of the season.

For the Reds, it was issuing less walks out of the bullpen.

"A big reason for the club's early success in close games, Cincinnati's relievers collectively had MLB's best ERA (2.83) through April 28 and have mostly struggled since, posting a 9.00 ERA over the last 11 games," MLB.com's Mark Sheldon wrote. "The biggest issue is too many walks. The Reds' bullpen leads MLB with 103 walks, 15 above the Nationals for the most in the NL. Now they're trying to get by without closer, who will miss 1-2 months with a left hamstring strain, so the group will have to rally to regain its edge."

Just a little over a week ago, Rhett Lowder and Connor Phillips walked seven straight batters, including four with the bases loaded, in a loss to the Chicago Cubs.

While Cincinnati's bullpen has been fine overall, their walks are catching up to them. The old saying of 'walks will haunt' is true. Another example of where walks came back to bite the Reds last week also played out in the Cubs' series. The Reds led 3-0 after three innings. In the fourth, Chase Petty, who was pitching well, walked the first two batters he faced. He then was forced to face Seiya Suzuki with two men on base and Suzuki took him deep to tie the game at three. Solo home runs won't kill you, but three-run home runs will.

You can MLB.com's full list here.

Terry Francona Discusses Ke"Bryan Hayes' Offensive Struggles

During yesterday's win over the Houston Astros, Reds broadcaster Barry Larkin was critical of Ke'Bryan Hayes' struggles offensively and questioned whether the Reds can keep running him out there on a daily basis.

After the game. Francona was asked about Hayes.

“He’s having a tough time,” Francona said. “He’s not gotten rewarded when he has hit the ball well as much as he needed to. Like human nature, sometimes you try to do more.”

Hayes is slashing .139/.194/.228 with just four extra-base hits this season. While he hasn't been a good hitter for most of his career, his career average OPS is .664, which is significantly higher than in 2026.

Francona has been sitting McLain and Hayes more often lately as the Reds search for some offense.

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