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Diamondbacks Hire J.R. House As Third Base Coach

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The D-Backs are hiring J.R. House as third base/catching coach, reports Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic. The 45-year-old has held that role with the Reds for the past seven seasons.

House had a brief big league playing career as a part-time catcher. He coached and managed in the D-Backs’ farm system for most of the 2010s and still lives in Arizona. House tells Piecoro that the proximity to home was a big reason for him to leave the Reds for what amounts to a lateral move.

The Diamondbacks had hired a first-year third base coach, Shaun Larkin, last offseason. Larkin struggled in that role and had a few bad sends that led manager Torey Lovullo to remove him from the job in the middle of August. Larkin remains on staff as an infield instructor. Piecoro writes that Tim Bogar, who worked as third base coach for the final five weeks of the season, will return to a minor league player development role.

That may be the only change to Arizona’s staff. Lovullo told The Burns & Gambo Show earlier this month that they’d bring back all their coaches, though he left the door open to some role shuffling. The Reds will now need to make at least one coaching change going into Terry Francona’s second season at the helm.

Nine Players Elect Free Agency

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Now that the season is over, we’ll start seeing several players choose to become minor league free agents. Major League free agents (i.e. players with six-plus years of big league service time) will hit the open market five days after the end of the World Series, but eligible minor leaguers can already start electing free agency.

To qualify, these players must have been all outrighted off their team’s 40-man rosters during the 2025 season without being added back. These players also must have multiple career outrights on their resume, and/or at least three years of Major League service time.

We’ll offer periodic updates over the coming weeks about many other players hitting the market in this fashion. Unless otherwise credited, these free agent decisions are all listed on the official MLB.com or MILB.com transactions pages, for further reference.

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Outfielders

Pitchers

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Hui, Imagn Images

Nick Krall Downplays Possibility Of Reds Trading Starting Pitching

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It was starting pitching depth that carried the Reds to their first full-season playoff appearance in more than a decade. Their bats ranked 14th in runs per game, 19th in OPS, and 24th in wRC+. Their gloves ranked 20th in errors, DRS, and FRV. Their bullpen ranked 14th in ERA, but 27th in xERA and 27th in SIERA. Yet, the Reds finished 83-79, edging out the Mets for the NL’s final Wild Card spot. How did they pull it off? Andrew Abbott, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Brady Singer, Nick Martinez, Zack Littell, and Chase Burns had a whole lot to do with it. Those seven arms combined to start 152 of Cincinnati’s 162 games, pitching to a 3.69 ERA (84 ERA-) in 832 innings. Their collective 16.4 FanGraphs WAR and 8.64 Win Probability Added as starters helped the Reds finish with the second-best rotation fWAR and third-best WPA in the sport.

Martinez and Littell are set to hit free agency, but Greene, Lodolo, Abbott, Singer, and Burns will be back. Three promising arms who missed 2024 with injuries – Rhett Lowder, Brandon Williamson, and Julian Aguiar – should factor into the mix as well, as could top prospect Chase Petty. That’s a lot of names for one rotation.

Yet, president of baseball operations Nick Krall doesn’t seem overly eager to deal from that area of strength. “I wouldn’t say no,” he told reporters (including Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer), when asked about the possibility of trading a starter this winter. “But when you trade pitchers, you’ve got to go [back]fill them somehow. We all know how it works, where you run out of innings at some point in the season, guys get hurt, things happen.”

The POBO’s comments hit on a key point. The 2025 Reds didn’t just succeed because their starting pitchers were excellent, but because their staff was so deep. Trading away too much of that depth could leave the team scrambling in the case of injuries next season. Greene, Abbott, Lodolo, and Singer are presumably locks for 2026. Meanwhile, Burns, Lowder, Williamson, Aguiar, and Petty all have minor league options; presuming one of them wins the final rotation spot out of spring training, the other four (if healthy) can wait in the wings at Triple-A. Excluding openers, the Reds used 10 different starting pitchers in 2025. They’re going to need more than five to get through another campaign.

That’s especially true with this group of arms. Singer has proven himself to be a durable workhorse over the past few years. But no one else on Cincinnati’s staff has ever made 30 starts in a season. Abbott qualified for the ERA title for the first time in 2025, but Greene and Lodolo have yet to accomplish that feat. Burns, Lowder, Williamson, Aguiar, and Petty have started a grand total of 49 games in their young careers, and 26 of those belong to Williamson. As general manager Brad Meador mentioned, the Reds are “going to have to manage the innings of a handful of those guys.”

Krall also acknowledged that trading from his major league pitching depth might not be the most straightforward way to improve other areas of the roster.

“It’s really hard to say we’re going to go trade a pitcher – and I’m not sure you’re going to trade a pitcher for offense,” he explained. “You might end up trading the pitcher for a prospect and then go have to sign the offense.”

[Related: Cincinnati Reds Offseason Outlook, for MLBTR Front Office subscribers]

None of this is to say the Reds won’t end up trading a starter. It’s just not a given. Asked about the possibility of dealing Greene, an All-Star on an incredibly team-friendly contract (he’s guaranteed just $42MM over the next three years), Krall could have shut down the line of questioning. Instead, he replied, “I don’t want to speculate on anybody that’s going to get traded or not traded at this point.” The Reds aren’t actively shopping any of their young starters, but it doesn’t sound like anyone is untouchable either. After all, if anyone were untouchable, one would think it would be Greene.

That said, for all the same reasons the Reds wouldn’t want to trade Greene, he would bring back a nice return in a deal. All of Cincinnati’s starters are cost-controlled, with Singer, Lodolo, and Williamson still in their arbitration years, and Abbott, Burns, Lowder, Aguiar, and Petty not yet eligible for arbitration. Yet, Greene is both a proven ace and a high-upside young arm, and he is under team control through the 2030 season. That’s a valuable player.

If the Reds are looking to shave payroll, trading Singer would be their best course of action; he is projected to make $11.9MM in his final year of arbitration eligibility. If they’re trying to bring back an MLB-ready position player without significantly weakening their rotation for 2026, then it’s Petty, still a top prospect, who makes the most sense to move. However, if the goal is simply to find the best possible return, it’s Greene who would command such a package.

Nothing Krall said suggests Greene is on the block. But he had a chance to say Greene was off limits, and he didn’t take it. Instead, the POBO only said that he didn’t want to speculate about trade candidates because he hadn’t “had any conversations with other clubs.” Of course, Krall also said that when a team trades a pitcher, they have to somehow fill his spot. Greene, it should go without saying, wouldn’t be easy to replace. So, a trade still seems improbable – but perhaps it’s slightly closer to being a real possibility than Reds fans might want to believe.

Offseason Outlook: Cincinnati Reds

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The Reds made the postseason in a 162-game schedule for the first time in 12 years. They looked overmatched against the Dodgers and were swept out of the Wild Card Series. This year was a nice stepping stone, but the Reds need to add a couple bats to pull alongside the true best teams in the National League.

Guaranteed Contracts

  • Hunter Greene, RHP: $41MM through 2028 (including buyout of ’29 club option)
  • Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B: $36MM through 2029 (including buyout of '30 club option)
  • Jose Trevino, C: $11.25MM through 2027 (including buyout of '28 club option)

Other Financial Commitments

Option Decisions

  • Team, OF Austin Hays hold $12MM mutual option ($1MM buyout)
  • Team holds $6.5MM option on RHP Scott Barlow ($1MM buyout)
  • Team holds $3MM option on LHP Brent Suter ($250K buyout)

2026 financial commitments: $37.5MM
Total future commitments: $105.5MM

Arbitration-Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; projected salaries courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)

Non-tender candidates: Lux, Espinal, Gibaut, Moll, Benson

Free Agents

The Reds ranked 14th in MLB with 4.42 runs per game. That's an underwhelming mark for a team that plays in one of the league's most favorable hitter's parks. They'll need to improve upon a .245/.315/.391 batting line. The offense should be the offseason priority, but their first couple decisions are in the bullpen.

Cincinnati holds options on relievers Scott Barlow and Brent Suter. It's an easy call to move on from Barlow, who'll receive a $1MM buyout. They'll probably also opt for a $250K buyout on Suter, as the Cincinnati native struggled to a 7.36 ERA after the All-Star Break. Closer Emilio Pagán hits the market following one of the best seasons of his career. Nick Martinez will again be a free agent after playing this year on a $21.05MM qualifying offer salary.

If Pagán walks, the Reds could be in the market for a closer. They're not going to spend at the level it'd take to bring in Edwin Díaz, nor does a splash for Robert Suarez seem advisable given their needs on offense. Old friend Raisel Iglesias will be available on a one or two-year deal at age 36, though he pitched well enough with Atlanta to command an eight-figure salary. Kenley Jansen will sign a decent one-year deal, while Ryan Helsley and Michael Kopech are probably looking for pillow contracts. Devin Williams, Brad Keller, Luke Weaver, Kyle Finnegan and Pagán himself should all be looking at multi-year contracts -- though it'd be a surprise if Pagán commands more than two guaranteed years entering his age-35 season.

Tony Santillan, Graham Ashcraft and Connor Phillips are Cincy's top returning leverage arms. Santillan has a little bit of closing experience, while Phillips has shown wipeout stuff with hit-or-miss command. If the Reds find the prices too high on free agent closers, perhaps they'll let Santillan and Phillips compete for the ninth inning while pursuing a setup type like Tyler Rogers or Phil Maton. In any case, they should bring in at least one back-end arm.

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Emilio Pagán Interested In Returning To Cincinnati

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After recording a career-high 32 saves in 2025, right-hander Emilio Pagán has expressed interest in rejoining the Reds. “I’d love to be back and run it back with them and take another run at it,” Pagán told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer. The pending free agent has spent the past two seasons in Cincinnati’s bullpen.

Pagán stepped in as manager Terry Francona’s preferred 9th inning option after Alexis Díaz went down with a hamstring injury in the spring. He entered the year with 33 career saves across eight MLB seasons. Pagán nearly doubled that mark as the Reds’ stopper, going 32-for-38 in save opportunities. He notched a 2.88 ERA across a career-high 70 appearances. Pagán was tied with Aroldis Chapman and Jhoan Duran for fifth in the league in saves.

A solid campaign with Minnesota in 2023 earned Pagán a two-year, $16M deal with Cincinnati ahead of the 2024 season. Injuries limited him to 38 innings in his first year with the team. He spent time on the IL with triceps tightness and a lat strain. The latter issue cost him more than two months. Pagán struggled when healthy, pitching to a 4.50 ERA with a bloated 1.34 WHIP. He was set to open the 2025 season on the periphery of Cincinnati’s late-inning mix, but Díaz’s injury opened the door for another reliever to step forward. Despite having former closers Taylor Rogers and Scott Barlow on the roster, it was Pagán and Tony Santillan who emerged as the top candidates for the role. Both pitchers earned a save within the team’s first 10 games, but Santillan wouldn’t get his second save until early June. By then, Pagán had run away with the job.

The closer role wasn’t completely foreign to Pagán, but it had been a while since he had spent the majority of a season in the position. He served as Tampa Bay’s primary closer in 2019 after Diego Castillo and Jose Alvarado faltered. Pagán earned 20 saves that year. He was dealt to San Diego in the offseason, and then to Minnesota a couple of years later. Pagán opened the 2022 season as the Twins’ closer, but lost the job to Duran after an extended stretch of poor performance.

Pagán will be one of many intriguing names on the closer market this offseason. Devin Williams, Ryan Helsley, and Raisel Iglesias are free agents. Edwin Díaz and Robert Suarez could opt out of their current deals and hit the open market. Kenley Jansen, Luke Weaver, Kirby Yates, Ryan Pressly, and Kyle Finnegan have extensive late-inning experience. Pagán’s best choice might be to stick with the club where he just posted a career season. It sounds like the interest is mutual, too. Team president Nick Krall told Wittenmyer that Pagán would be “tremendous to have back.” Krall added that the veteran “fits in the culture of our bullpen.”

The Reds should certainly have the financial flexibility to add in free agency. FanGraphs’ RosterResource tool has them below $100MM for next year’s payroll, though the team does have an ample group of arbitration-eligible players. The club had a payroll of around $120MM this past season. Cincinnati is stuck paying $13MM to Jeimer Candelario next year, but he’s currently the only player on the books for more than seven figures in 2026, assuming they decline the $12MM mutual option on Austin Hays. If the Reds don’t make any additions to the bullpen, they’re likely looking at patching together the closer gig with Santillan and converted starter Graham Ashcraft.

Curt Casali Retires

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In a move that wasn’t publicly reported earlier this season, longtime catcher Curt Casali retired and took a job in the Reds front office, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.  Casali signed a minor league deal with the Braves last winter but was released before the end of Spring Training, and he didn’t play at all in 2025.

At age 36 and after 11 Major League seasons, it appears as though Casali decided to call it a career and move onto a new phase of his baseball life.  The nature of his duties with the Reds isn’t specified, but Slusser wonders if Casali could emerge as a future managerial candidate….even as soon as this winter as the Giants look for a new dugout boss.  That would continue the trend of catchers moving into managerial jobs, and Slusser notes that Buster Posey (obviously a former backstop himself) seems to be looking at ex-catchers in the early stages of San Francisco’s managerial search.

Casali has plenty of links to the organization, as he played with the Giants in 2021-22 and again during the 2024 season.  In the first year of Casali’s time in San Francisco, he was Posey’s backup during what ended up being Posey’s final big league campaign.

A 10th-round pick for the Tigers in the 2011 draft, Casali was dealt to the Rays in March 2013, and he made his MLB debut in a Tampa uniform in 2014.  Casali was mostly a part-timer over his four seasons with the Rays, but he received the bulk of the catching duties in 2016, playing in 84 games and making 256 plate appearances.  He didn’t hit much during that extended look, however, and Casali left the Rays organization and bounced around to a few teams on minors deals, including a return to Tampa Bay before the Rays dealt him to the Reds in May 2018.

Casali spent the next three seasons in Cincinnati, and his bat came alive to the point that he moved into a virtual timeshare with Tucker Barnhart.  Casali hit .260/.345/.440 over 485 PA during the 2018-20 seasons, but the Reds still chose to non-tender Casali during the 2020-21 offseason, paving the way for his next contract with the Giants.

At the 2022 trade deadline, San Francisco dealt Casali to the Mariners as part of a noteworthy trade that also sent Matthew Boyd to Seattle’s bullpen for the stretch run.  Casali backed up Cal Raleigh for the remainder of the 2022 campaign before entering free agency again, and his final two MLB seasons were spent revisiting old haunts in Cincinnati (in 2023) and San Francisco (in 2024).  While Casali’s big league playing time during those two seasons was spent with the Reds and Giants, he also was briefly part of the Marlins and Cubs organizations on minors deals.

Overall, Casali will finish his career with a .218/.312/.369 slash line and 48 home runs over 1579 PA and 543 games across his 11 seasons in the Show.  Beyond that modest offensive production, Casali was well-regarded for his ability to handle pitchers and call a game.  If Slusser’s report is any indication, Casali’s knowledge of the game might well develop into coaching or managerial jobs if he wishes to pursue that direction.

We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Casali on a fine career and wish him the best in his post-playing career.

22 Players Elect Free Agency

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Now that the season is over, we’ll start seeing several players choose to become minor league free agents.  Major League free agents (i.e. players with six-plus years of big league service time) will hit the open market five days after the end of the World Series, but eligible minor leaguers can already start electing free agency.

To qualify, these players must have been all outrighted off their team’s 40-man rosters during the 2025 season without being added back.  These players also must have multiple career outrights on their resume, and/or at least three years of Major League service time.

We’ll offer periodic updates over the coming weeks about many other players hitting the market in this fashion.  These free agent decisions are all listed on the official MLB.com or MILB.com transactions pages, for further reference.

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Infielders

Outfielders

Utility Players

Pitchers

Poll: Who Will Win The Wild Card Series?

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The 2025 regular season is in the books, and the baseball world is now gearing up for what might be a wild postseason.  It took until Game 162 to finalize the full slate of playoff teams and matchups, but now we know the eight clubs who will take part in the wild card round that begins on Tuesday, as “October baseball” gets started a bit early this year on September 30.  All WCS matchups are best-of-three, and will take place entirely in the home ballpark of the higher-seeded team.

The Guardians will meet the Tigers again after Cleveland posted a 5-1 record against Detroit over a pair of series in the last two weeks, contributing to the AL Central’s epic shakeup.  The Tigers held a 9.5-game lead in the division before going 3-13 over their last 16 games to barely eke out a wild card slot.  The Guards, meanwhile, went 19-4 over their final 23 games to overtake Detroit and claim Cleveland’s third division title in the last four years.

After all of that, the two clubs find themselves facing off in the postseason for the second straight year.  The Guardians needed the full five games to oust Detroit in the 2024 AL Division Series, as last season the Tigers were the team surging into the playoffs after a late-season hot streak.  All of the momentum is on the Guardians’ side at this point, and even though the Tigers will have Tarik Skubal going in Game 1, Cleveland’s pitching has been on such a roll that the Guards have the overall pitching advantage.  The Guardians held an 8-5 record against the Tigers in regular-season play this year.

One of baseball’s greatest rivalries will be renewed again in October when the Yankees host the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.  The Yankees lost the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Blue Jays to fall just short of the AL East crown, despite an eight-game winning streak to finish the regular season.  New York’s rotation and homer-heavy offense seem to be clicking at the right time, yet the Sox had seemingly had the Yankees’ number this year, with a 9-4 record in head-to-head play.

After falling short to the Dodgers in last year’s World Series, the Yankees are eager to return the Fall Classic and finally win the first championship of the Aaron Judge era.  Boston hasn’t quite been the same since Roman Anthony was lost to an oblique injury in early September and the rookie star’s status remains unclear for postseason action.  However, the Red Sox have a well-rounded roster and an ace of their own in Garrett Crochet, plus the organization is hungry for postseason success in their first playoff trip since 2021.

The Cubs have also just ended a mini-drought in reaching October for the first time since the shortened 2020 season, as Chicago stepped up to win 92 games after posting 83-79 records in both 2023 and 2024.  They’ll now host the Padres in the first postseason meeting between the two clubs since 1984, when San Diego fought back from a 2-0 series deficit to win a best-of-five NLCS and deny Chicago a trip to the World Series.  Forty-one years later, it’s the Padres who might feel slightly more cursed at the moment, since the club has yet to advance beyond the NLCS in their three previous playoff trips in the last six seasons.

There’s plenty of pressure on the Friars to finally reach the pinnacle of this era of success, though Chicago is hoping for more than just a playoff appearance after its win-now trade for Kyle Tucker last winter.  After starting 38-22, the Cubs have been more okay than elite (54-48) over the better part of the last four months.  The series’ Wrigleyville locale could be impactful, as the Padres were only 38-43 on the road this season.

The Dodgers host the Reds in a matchup of two teams with very different recent postseason histories.  Los Angeles has won 12 of the last 13 NL West titles, and is looking to become baseball’s first repeat World Series champ since the 1998-2000 Yankees pulled off the three-peat.  Cincinnati, meanwhile, is in the playoffs for just the fifth time in the last 30 years, and the Reds haven’t won a playoff series since all the way back in 1995 — when they beat the Dodgers in the NLDS.

Winning “only” 93 games counts as a relative disappointment by the Dodgers’ standards, and the club will need to navigate an extra playoff round.  This puts more pressure on the beleaguered L.A. bullpen, and Will Smith’s participation is a question mark due to a hairline fracture in his right hand.  The rotation is on a roll, however, and naturally there’s a lot of built-in playoff experience for the reigning champs.  The young Reds gained some seasoning in beating out the Mets for a wild card berth, and of course manager Terry Francona is no stranger to October.  Cincinnati’s rotation and bullpen will need to continue their excellent form to counter Shohei Ohtani and company, and the wild card series would be a great time for the inconsistent Reds lineup to get on track.

Which four teams do you think will reach the Division Series?  Vote now in our polls:

Reds Attempted To Acquire Josh Naylor Before Trade Deadline

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The Mariners’ acquisition of Josh Naylor is looking like one of the key moves of the 2025 season, given how Naylor has helped carry Seattle to the AL West crown and a first-round playoff bye.  However, the M’s weren’t the only team who was looking to land Naylor, as USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes that the Reds “were close to” working out a trade to obtain the first baseman from the Diamondbacks.

Exactly what the Reds offered the D’Backs isn’t known, or if Cincinnati was the runner-up in the trade talks.  It is worth noting that the Diamondbacks made their decision to move Naylor somewhat early — the Naylor trade was completed on July 24, a week before the July 31 trade deadline.  It could be that Arizona simply liked the Mariners’ offer (young pitchers Brandyn Garcia and Ashton Izzi) enough that it felt the Reds or any other teams weren’t going to top it, or the Reds weren’t given a chance to potentially make a counter.  Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen and Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto are also frequent trade partners and have a well-established rapport, whereas Arizona’s trade history with Cincinnati is pretty scant in recent years.

The Reds were known to be looking for extra bats at midseason, and Miguel Andujar has hit tremendously well in a part-time role since being acquired from the Athletics.  Apart from Andujar, however, Cincinnati’s other pre-deadline trades saw the team pick up more pitching (Zack Littell) and a defensive specialist in third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes.  While the Reds were surely hoping Hayes’ offense might improve with a change of scenery, his .239/.320/.348 slash line in 175 plate appearances since the trade is still subpar, and only a slight step up from his dismal numbers in Pittsburgh.

It is natural to assume that Naylor would’ve been a boost to the Reds lineup, and that he would’ve taken over as the everyday first baseman.  That would have pushed the struggling Spencer Steer into a bench role or part-time DH role, which might’ve also had an impact on how things have played out.  Steer has had a tough year overall but saved some of his best hitting for last, as he has hit .257/.366/.500 over his last 82 plate appearances.

Obviously plenty of sliding-doors scenarios are possible if a Naylor-to-Cincinnati trade had actually happened, as that trade would’ve had a massive impact on pennant races in both leagues.  If Cincinnati does fall short in its bid for the final NL wild card slot today, some second-guessing is sure to follow about what moves the front office did or didn’t make either at the deadline or last winter.

This isn’t the first time that the Reds have been linked to Naylor, as the team also inquired about the first baseman last winter when he was still a member of the Guardians.  This longer-standing interest could potentially make the Reds a candidate to sign Naylor in free agency this winter.  Between Naylor’s strong performance in Seattle, his big 2025 season as a whole, and his broader track record of success over the last four years, he’ll command a healthy multi-year deal on the open market, so signing Naylor would stretch the budget of a Reds team that has traditionally had bottom-third payrolls.  Dipoto has already made plain his desire to re-sign Naylor, and several other clubs will surely have interest in adding a power bat.

Reds Notes: Hays, De La Cruz, Lowder

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The Reds completed a four-game sweep of the Cubs over the weekend. They’ve won five straight and pulled into a tie with the reeling Mets for the National League’s last playoff spot. Cincinnati went 4-2 against New York, meaning they have the tiebreaker. They also hold the tiebreaker over the Diamondbacks, who find themselves one game back.

Cincinnati now controls their own destiny. They’re off tonight before hosting the Pirates for three games. They finish the year with a weekend set in Milwaukee. That’s a tough series on paper, but the Brewers could have already secured home field advantage through the postseason depending on the result of their ongoing series against the Padres.

As they enter that critical stretch, the Reds are facing a potential absence from their left fielder. Austin Hays made an early exit from Saturday’s game with back spasms. He sat out yesterday’s series finale. Manager Terry Francona said on Saturday the team is hopeful that Hays will be ready for the start of the Pittsburgh series tomorrow (via the MLB.com injury tracker). The off day gives him a little extra rest.

If Hays is unable to go, Cincinnati could kick Will Benson to left field and plug Noelvi Marte in right. Pittsburgh is set to run a trio of right-handed starting pitchers — Johan Oviedo, Paul Skenes and Braxton Ashcraft — against Cincinnati. Hays hits in the middle of the lineup regardless of handedness, but he does most of his damage against left-handers.

A bigger factor for Cincinnati is getting their franchise player on track. The Reds have made their push back into the playoff picture despite a disappointing stretch from Elly De La Cruz. The switch-hitting shortstop has hit .212/.271/.315 in almost 200 trips to the plate since the beginning of August. He homered off Porter Hodge on Friday, his first longball in more than six weeks. The slump got to a point where Francona felt he needed to drop De La Cruz in the batting order. He has hit sixth or seventh over the past week after operating as the team’s #3 hitter for the entire season.

De La Cruz still has decent numbers overall. He’s up to 20 homers with a .263/.336/.436 batting line across 673 plate appearances. He’s tied for sixth in MLB with 36 stolen bases. Yet he clearly hasn’t played to his potential over the past few weeks. C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic observed over the weekend that De La Cruz has played through a pair of leg injuries (quad and hamstring) while starting all but one of the team’s 156 games. He certainly won’t come out of the lineup at this stage of the season, but it’s possible he’s battling fatigue.

On the pitching side, rookie right-hander Rhett Lowder seems likely to miss the entire season. The 2023 seventh overall pick has been on the injured list all year because of forearm and oblique injuries. Lowder made a two-inning rehab appearance at Triple-A Louisville on September 13. MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon writes that he was scratched from his second scheduled rehab outing after feeling that his shoulder didn’t recover as hoped from the first.

Lowder has already undergone imaging that came back clean, but it’s yet another setback that makes it difficult to imagine him returning even if the Reds make a deep playoff run. The Triple-A season is over, so Lowder won’t get any more game action. The Wake Forest product impressed late last season, working to a 1.17 ERA through his first six MLB starts.

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