It seems as though the Cincinnati Reds have been “rebuilding” for quite a long time now. And though the team has had a few somewhat successful moments scattered throughout the past few years, the Reds are certainly a shell of their old selves.
The year 2018 has been another typical one for the modern Reds, featuring some shining moments in an overall forgettable season. After a 3-15 start, Manager Bryan Price was fired and bench coach Jim Riggleman was named the interim until a permanent manager was to be put in place. After hitting the reset button on the rebuilding process yet again, the Reds improved from bad to inconsistent. Instead of losing every game, they would win a couple, lose a couple, maybe go on a streak and win seven, then lose five straight down the road, and so on.
Despite a long and troublesome season, great players made plays regardless of the game’s outcome. Scooter Gennett is currently having one of his best years with 22 home runs, 88 RBIs, and a .321 batting average. Gennett made some noise in the 2018 Major League Baseball All-Star Game alongside teammate and Reds veteran Joey Votto. Votto, who has been with the franchise since 2007, continues to produce for the Reds, collecting the title of National League Player of the Week for April 23-29 and hitting .282 with a .420 on base percentage.
The Reds history is so incredibly rich and the franchise has accomplished more than some teams ever will, but will we ever see another “Big Red Machine?” Probably not anytime soon. It’s been five years since the Reds made the playoffs, when they lost 6-2 to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2012 National League Wild Card Game. And if you want to find the last time the Reds won a playoff game, you have to go all the way back to 1995 when they defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-0 before falling to the Atlanta Braves 4-0 in the NL Championship Series.
With Gennett and Votto, along with other impactful players of the 2018 season such as Eugenio Suarez, Raisel Iglesias, and Jared “The Ostrich” Hughes, it’s time for the Reds to graduate from rebuilding to contending. H&A
This article was originally posted by Hall & Arena.
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