The mood in the home clubhouse was upbeat a day after a trade deadline in which few teams showed interest in the bevy of available Cincinnati Reds players.
There seemed to be a resolve among a group of guys who generally like each other, an attitude of embracing the underdog role to try to make a run down the stretch. Some players seemed open to the suggestion that they could use the fact no serious playoff contenders wanted them as a motivating factor.
“A lot of guys love playing here and have been wanting to stay,” Reds outfielder JJ Bleday said. “Whether teams were interested or not, we’ve still got to show up at 7 o’clock ready to go.”
Manager Terry Francona told reporters:
“I don’t care what makes them play better. But I don’t know why they’d have a chip on their shoulder, because they know they’re wanted. I think they’re happy to be here. … That’s the last thing you want is somebody to stay here and say, ‘I wanted to go somewhere else.’ ”
The Reds are 11-6 since the All-Star break. They are five games back in the National League wild-card race entering the Aug. 5 game against the Athletics at Great American Ball Park. That doesn’t seem like such a daunting deficit, especially since the Reds were six games back in the wild-card race on Sept. 5 last year and still made the postseason.
“We’re really not that far out,” relief pitcher Pierce Johnson said. “And if we to do what we’ve been doing, I feel like we’re in a pretty good spot.”
Let’s be clear, though, the front office went into the deadline looking to be sellers. It did not intentionally hold onto pending free agents Tyler Stephenson, Brady Singer, Eugenio Suarez, Brock Burke and Johnson in hopes of a magical run to the playoffs.
The reality is the Reds are looking up in the standings at five teams currently battling for the third wild-card spot. That's nearly double the number of teams the Reds had to leapfrog down the stretch last season. It’s difficult to move past that many teams with less than two months left in the regular season. The math is tough. And the NL is much stronger than it was last year, when the Reds clinched the third wild-card spot with 83 wins.
If the Reds are going to make a run, nonetheless, it must happen now. Because the September schedule is brutal with 16 games against NL division leaders Milwaukee, Los Angeles and Atlanta.
Bigger picture, it’s important the Reds play well down the stretch to give fans hope for 2027 (if there’ll be a season with the likely labor stoppage). Francona will be entering the final guaranteed year of his contract.
Next year could be the make-or-break season for determining whether this rebuild that started in 2022 is working. Otherwise, it's the same story this organization has been scripting for three decades.
Contact columnist Jason Williams at jwilliams@enquirer.com
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Could Cincinnati Reds actually make MLB playoff run? | Williams
