LOS ANGELES – When the Cincinnati Redswalked into Dodger Stadiumbefore the opener of their first series there since the playoffs in October, closer Emilio Pagán looked at teammate Jose Trevino to share his flashbacks.
“It’s been almost a calendar year, and it feels like we were just here,” Pagán told the catcher.
Which is not to say it hasn’t seemed like an especially long season for the Reds.
“It’s a good reminder of how fast things change in this league,” said Pagán, whose Reds opened the series in last place with a record five games underwater despite a recent hot streak that included consecutive series wins against playoff-positioned teams in the Cubs, Padres
and Brewers.
“We’re still playing hard. We’re still trying to do whatever we can to create as much momentum throughout the rest of the season,” he added, "but also into the offseason for the organization and where this core of this team is going to hopefully take this franchise to in the future.”
That’s where games and series like this one – and the five series after that – come into play for the Reds, who have less than three weeks to see what they’ve got in rookies such as leadoff man Hector Rodriguez and first-week big-leaguer Carlos Jorge.
To see what they have in familiar faces such as Brandon Williamson, who took over a 1-0 game from the young $105-million All-Star Chase Burns, in the fourth inning on Monday night after returning from the injured list last week.
To see just how far they think they are from the team they expected to be by the time they got back to Dodger Stadium this month – to see how close they are to being an October challenger to the two-time defending champs.
“It’s easy to say that I don’t think we’re very far,” said Pagán, who has been one of the best closers in the game since returning from a groin injury in July, with one more year left on his contract.
“With health in mind, if we have all our guys on the field, I like our chances,” said Pagán, who didn't get a chance for a save on this night in a 6-3 loss.
Injuries played a major role in the Reds’ free fall from first place to last place in one month flat in May — and their inability to get up once they’d fallen.
"There’s definitely other factors,” Pagán said. “We haven’t played well enough consistently enough when we have been healthy.”
But while the front office vows to try to retool over the winter to try to win in manager Terry Francona’s final guaranteed year of a three-year deal next year, it’s fair to wonder just how far away they are from having a legitimate playoff-caliber roster after watching more than five months of a lineup that doesn’t get on base enough, a pitching staff that walks too many batters and a group of fielders that make too many mistakes.
“In our game if you’re inconsistent in areas, you’re gonna get exposed,” Francona said. “And we’ve been that.”
So how far away?
“(Expletive), I don’t know,” he said. “For me, when the season’s over, we’ll figure out where the hell we’re at. Till they tell you to stop playing, you try to play your ass off.”
Players say they like their chances with a roster that starts with guys like two-time All-Star Elly De La Cruz, who opened the Dodgers series with a first-pitch homer in the first inning, and Burns, who’s 15-3 with a 2.73 ERA in 27 starts after his workload-limited, three-inning start against the Dodgers Monday.
They won’t have two-time Opening Day starter Hunter Greene in their rotation next season as he recovers from Tommy John surgery, but the rest of a potentially high-impact rotation could return if Brady Singer accepts a qualifying offer.
And then they have a 2025 rookie class that includes the Rookie of the Year favorite in Sal Stewart, who extended a rally in the sixth inning Monday when he won another ABS challenge for Ball 4 in a two-out walk to load the bases in a one-run game (before JJ Bleday struck out).
The two others Stewart joined on base with the walk were Jorge, who led off that inning with a single for his first big-league hit, and Rodriguez with a nice piece of hitting for a one-out single over the infield.
On the other hand, the reason the Reds trailed at that point was a three-base throwing error by Gold Glove third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, allowing a pair of unearned runs to score on the two-out play in the fifth.
“If we clean some things up, I think we’re right there,” said second baseman Matt McLain, who has shown some offensive flashes late in the season after slumping most of the year.
“If we play our brand of baseball – we pitch good, we play defense well and we take good at-bats, put up some runs – we can beat anyone. We just need to be consistent.”
But is that their brand? Or is the lack of execution that has plagued this team since the rebuild began three years ago the more recognizable brand they’ve built?
If if that’s the case, how much more retooling will they need to go with some of those frontline roster piece this winter?
The fact is they’re going to need a lot of new players, if only because of the anticipated free agent departures and likely non-tenders (just know that TJ Friedl and Eugenio Suárez weren’t the only Reds who cleared outright waivers last month).
They’ll need more guys who can help them score more runs – and just as important more players who can help the pitching staff prevent them by playing better in the field.
But the hot streak they took into Los Angeles and the handful of frontline talent they retain into the offseason keeps those in the clubhouse at least talking with optimism about how quickly they might be able to think about October again.
“Having said that, we can’t just say it. We’ve got to do it,” Pagán said. “I don’t think we’re far off. I don’t think the whole league would argue with that.
“I think there’s a good team in here that can compete for the playoffs next year.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How far are Cincinnati Reds from two-time-champion Dodgers on field?
