There were no fireworks, no on-field celebrations. There were not cases of Miller High Life, warmed and shaken, waiting for them in the locker room with snorkels and goggles.
Saturday afternoon’s loss to the Toronto Blue Jays was the 86th such result for the Cincinnati Reds during this miserable 2026 season, and this was no year when another doormat chose to rebuild within the division. There was no 100-loss tanker, no club who was doomed from day one in their own eyes.
In this division, being competitive
this season was going to be paramount, with even the Pittsburgh Pirates on the up and up. So, with 86 losses through 161 games, odds were stacked that the Cincinnati Reds might well find themselves within the basement of the division. As it turns out, Saturday’s loss clinched that title outright.
The slumping St. Louis Cardinals have still managed to stave off a last place finish, as locking in their 77th win of the season earlier in the week paired with Cincinnati’s slide means that the Reds, once again, have mathematically claimed being last within their own division.
The Reds rode the Nick Krall wave up and out of last place once he was promoted, and they’ve actually not finished last within the division since all the way back in 2018 despite it feeling like they’ve been terrible throughout. That’s because since 2018 they’ve finished no better than 3rd in any of those years, with only the miserable Pirates propping them up out of the division cellar.
You may recall that they did finish last for four consecutive years during the transition from the Jocketty/Dusty era into the Williams/Price timeframe, however.
Congratulations to the team’s front office for putting together this mess.
