The theme of this season for the Cincinnati Reds was trailing off. This team had two major awards candidates in Elly de la Cruz and Hunter Greene, both of whom had immense cases that dulled as the season went on. Greene, as he tends to, got hurt for a month or so despite having his best season to date, while de la Cruz simply cooled off despite leading the league in stolen bases. And as such, the Reds, despite some spikes in productivity and some cool stretches, once again couldn't bring this team to compete. The main issue, once again, was injuries, as the rotation was held together with scotch tape and some of the biggest pieces going into this year, like Matt McLain, Christian Encarnacion Strand, Brandon Williamson and T.J. Friedl, spent too much time on the IL.
That means that flawed seasons by the regulars who did stay healthy were more exposed. Will Benson has become an everyday guy for this team, despite being fairly one-dimensional as a hitter. This year, in 128 games, Benson hit .187 with 14 hits and 43 RBIs. The man had only 64 hits, and 154 strikeouts. And he wasn't great defensively either.
2025 Prediction: I think keeping him as a bench bat/DH is the better option, and hopefully his aim improves a bit.
Jake Fraley remained a starting outfielder this year and, by and large, did a fair job. In 116 games, Fraley hit .277 with 5 homers and 26 RBIs, plus some average outfield play. Fraley didn't have the exclamation point he'd carried in previous seasons, especially at the plate. I think you can attribute that to the sleepy feel of the lineup as a whole. I don't think he's done really overperforming offensively.
2025 Prediction: A bounce-back year, with 20+ homers.
Graham Ashcraft, since his rookie season, has struggled with both his control and his health. Last year Ashcraft had a good season even if his ERA was drifting towards 5, but he missed a month or so with injuries. This year he was even more injury-limited, and mustered a 5.24 ERA and a 5-5 record in 15 starts. The man has just been unlucky as a major league rotation option, because he's always gonna be valued by this club but the window is never fully open enough for consistent success.
2025 Prediction: Ashcraft is gonna have a month or so where he's one of the best things about the Reds next year. But I don't know if it'll be a full year thing.
Alexis Diaz has thankfully remained a pretty steady closing option for the Reds. Like his brother Edwin, Alexis is not immaculate, and he'll have the occasional blown save, but he can still walk away year after year with a pretty strong body of work to show for. This year, despite a 4 ERA, Diaz still had 28 saves and 55 Ks in 60 appearances. Not the 37 he had in 2023, but I don't think the Reds are in any rush to find a new closer at the moment either.
2025 Prediction: 30+ saves. I think he might outdo his brother.
Around when it became clear that the Reds would be without Matt McLain AND Spencer Steer to start the season, and Noelvi Marte as well, the Reds traded for Santiago Espinal from Toronto. Espinal ironically would have finally gotten some starting time had he stayed with the Jays, but he was thrust right in with the Reds, and...was a suitable enough replacement infield choice. In 118 games he hit .246 with 9 homers [MORE THAN FRALEY] and 45 RBIs. Fine enough, though obviously not to the caliber the Reds thought they'd be getting at 3rd this year.
2025 Prediction: Sort of returns to the level of playing time he was at in Toronto before.
One of the surprise heroes of this Reds team was Brent Suter, the former Brewers swingman who, unsurprisingly, found a lot of similar long relief and starting opportunities with this Reds team, much like fellow swingman Nick Martinez. Suter had a nice year, with a 3.15 ERA and 50 Ks in 47 innings. Suter's a very handy guy to have around, because he both can start and close out games, and was great in both situations this year.
2025 Prediction: Will be the Reds' most utilized reliever next year.
Ty France, in the midst of a subpar year with the Mariners, was swapped to Cincinnati to attempt to fill the hole at 1st. Compared to Dominic Smith, he did the better job, hitting .251 with 5 homers and 20 RBIs, despite some...suspect defensive moments. Kinda sucks how far France seems from his 2021-2022 peak, even 2 years later.
2025 Prediction: DHing somewhere, he has something of a comeback year.
And in the case of a late season reinforcement that went really well, in the deal that brought Frankie Montas to Milwaukee, the Brewers sent swingman Jakob Junis, who's become a really handy guy since his Giants days. Junis was a big star of the second half for the Reds, with a 2.85 ERA in 14 games, including 5 stars. Junis finished the year with a 0.780 WHIP and a 1.2 WAR, both very nice figures for a late trade piece.
2025 Prediction: Honestly I think he goes back to Milwaukee and does decently there.
Coming Tomorrow- Like usual I'm taking the holiday off, but come back boxing day for some extra Rockies.
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