I knew I wanted to write a blog post this morning, but I couldn’t think of a lede. I can now thank Stugotz and Billy Gil of the God Bless Football podcast for gifting one to me: While listening to their latest episode, I heard Billy say, “When are they gonna figure things out in Cincinnati?”

He was talking about the Bengals and their terrible defense displayed in an NFL preseason game. But he just as easily could have been referring to the other professional team in the Queen City.

When are the Reds going to figure things out? When are they going to not only get back to the postseason, but win a game there? (They haven’t done the latter in 29 seasons – the longest drought in MLB.) When are they (read: ownership) going to figure out that winning costs money?

Of course, my frustration as I write this is rooted in some recency bias. After winning two out of three games against the second-place Cubs in Chicago, the Reds – who can’t seem to rattle off a long winning streak this year – lost their third game in a row last night. The two most recent losses were against the last-place Pittsburgh Pirates, who just salary-dumped their slick-fielding, light-hitting third baseman on the Reds just before the trade deadline. (That’s Ke’Bryan Hayes, one of the rumored names I mentioned via MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon in my last post.)

Last night’s loss was perhaps the most frustrating defeat of the 2025 season. Phenom starter Chase Burns dominated the Pirates, tossing 6 innings while allowing only 1 run and striking out 10 batters. It was the best start of his young career. The Reds hitters awarded him with only 2 runs of support.

Then came the bottom of the 8th inning. Tony Santillan, the bullpen’s main setup guy who has had an awesome season, came to the mound to protect the 2-1 lead. He promptly walked the Pirates’ No. 9 hitter. A few batters later, he gave up a go-ahead triple to Bryan Reynolds that got by defensive replacement first baseman Santiago Espinal (who has very limited experience at the position) and then was misplayed by right fielder Noelvi Marte (who is still very new to the outfield).

Santillan gets the biggest slice of the blame pie for that disaster of a half inning, but I forgive him because he’s been so reliable this season overall. More broadly, though, that triple – and the loss in general – put the Reds’ flaws on display:

• One of MLB’s worst offenses (by several advanced stats such as wRC+) predictably did not score enough to support the team’s strong pitching.
• Relatedly, the Reds did not hit a home run and continued a powerless streak, despite playing half their games in one of the league’s most dinger-friendly ballparks.
• Guys are learning new positions on the fly because of poor roster construction.

Let me just take a step back and note that I have my tail between my legs as I’m writing this. After the Reds lost to the Pirates on Thursday night (getting shut out by Pittsburgh’s superstar pitcher Paul Skenes), I rolled my eyes at the amount of Reds fans on X/Twitter rattling off their takes about how bad the team is. It’s one loss against a really good pitcher, I thought to myself. We just won a series against one of the best teams in baseball. Take a breath.

Well, maybe those fans were right to complain. This team is mediocre. As I wrote in my post just before the trade deadline, it just doesn’t have enough talent. An example: For most of the season, Austin Hays and Gavin Lux have hit in the No. 4 and 5 lineup spots, respectively. Those two guys are solid players, but they are seriously under-qualified for those roles. They do not provide enough protection for the team’s superstar regularly in the No. 3 spot, Elly De La Cruz. 

Hays and Lux also were both key offseason acquisitions going into this year. Much like the front office’s three trades at the deadline, those moves were good in a vacuum. But they were half-measures. They didn’t carry much risk, or much chance of a reward. Nick Krall, Brad Meador and the team’s ownership have simply been hoping that their young players would turn into stars (or at least improve enough to impact the win column) and that Tito Francona would work some managerial magic along the way. They didn’t go get what this team most obviously needs – a power hitter or two – in the offseason or at the trade deadline because, well, power is expensive. In my last post, I wrote that I wanted to see Krall and the front office make some gutsy, win-now moves. They were buyers, to be fair. But they didn’t really go for it. They haven’t really gone for it in a long time.

Perhaps I’m being just as reactive as those fans on social media. Maybe the Reds will win the next two games in Pittsburgh and have a successful homestand next week against the Philadelphia Phillies and first-place Milwaukee Brewers, and I’ll eat my words. 

But remember: We’re fans of the Cincinnati Reds. We’re damaged and perpetually disappointed. We haven’t been able to root for a legitimately good team since the 2010-13 stretch, and even those teams did not win a playoff series. Their last World Series win came a year before I was born.

I’m getting tired of it.