The Cincinnati Reds are off to a .500 start through 6 games. They won the series against Boston before losing the series to Pittsburgh. The Reds are off today to travel to Texas to take on the 4-2 Rangers. Singer, Lowder & Burns will get the starts in that order starting tomorrow afternoon. Let's take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly to start the season.
The Good:
Sal Stewart is off to a promising start to his young career in Cincinnati. He is seeing the ball well hitting .474 in 19 ABs blasting 2 home runs. What has stood out the most to me is not the .474 average or even the two home runs but rather his plate discipline. He leads the team in walks. Sal is seeing the strikes well and the balls even better. He reminds me of a former Reds 1st baseman that also had a keen eye for the strike zone. That man is Joey Votto of course. Have the Reds found their next franchise 1st baseman? I would love to believe that.
Eugenio Suarez is doing exactly what the Reds signed him to do. He has a hit in the last 5 games including 2 home runs. One of those completing flipping the script on the Red Sox leading to a series win over Boston. Suarez hit 49 home runs in 2025 and while it is still early in the season, Suarez is on pace for 54 home runs. Circling back to my previous article that showed if the Reds had Suarez in 2025 they would have won a hypothetical 100 games, this is a great start to 2026 with him actually on the team. Now I don't believe the Reds win 100 games this season but I would like to believe they cross over the 90 win mark.
Out of the bullpen Tony Santillan has been the most impressive to me. He has thrown 3 scoreless innings allowing only 1 hit in his 3 appearances. While he has had a small issue with walks granting four batters a free base, he makes up for it by getting out of the jams with strike outs and weak contact. If Santillan keeps up this dominance over the opposition and Pagan continues with shaky outings, I could see the Reds moving Santillan to the closing role and Pagan up into the set up role. I would say that wouldn't happen until May at the earliest but that change would not shock me if it was made.
The Bad:
Reds catchers. I have faith in Tyler Stephenson being the every day catcher even with his slow start. Neither catcher has been solid this year hitting or defensively. Stephenson will be the one to change that. I think he ends the season with an average over .265 and 20+ home runs.
Emilio Pagan has had a less than impressive start to the season. Through 3 appearances he has an ERA of 13.50 giving up 5 runs, all earned. He has given up 2 long balls in pivotal parts of the game. He gave the Red Sox life in the 9th before Dane Myers sucked it out of them in the bottom of the 11th. Yesterday in the 9th Pagan entered trailing by a run and by the time the top of the 9th was over the Reds were down 5. That appearance included a bases loaded single that scored 2 followed by a 2 run home run to blow the game wide open. As previously mentioned, if this continues I could see him demoted to the set up role in front of Santillan.
The Ugly:
Or should I say very ugly. Two players that have had horrid starts to the season include Spencer Steer and TJ Friedl. They are a combined 3 for 39, all singles. Friedl striking out 8 times, Steer 7 times. Currently sitting on the Louisville roster is Rece Hinds. In 19 at bats he has 10 hits with 3 of them being home runs. I would love to see the Reds make the move promoting Hinds back to the Major League roster replacing Friedl or Steer. With the offensive struggles in 2025 the Reds should not waste time this year to move players up to the big leagues. The pitching staff is built to keep the team within striking distance more times than they won't. With the team built in that manner, they need to do everything in their power to send up hitters who can produce.
The Reds sit at 3-3 heading to Texas. Let's hope for a hot start to the series. I'd love to see Singer give the Reds 6 solid innings. Whoever catches tomorrow, probably Trevino, to get a hit. And both Steer and Friedl to get on via hits more than once. Let's enjoy the weekend series and hope for a second series win!
Prediction:
Reds: 5
Rangers: 3
As always, thanks so much for reading! Who Dey & Go Redlegs!
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