The Cincinnati Reds finished last in the National League Central division in 2026. Then, they waved goodbye to the likes of Brady Singer and Tyler Stephenson to free agency. Option decisions rendered them no longer in possession of the services of Pierce Johnson, Emilio Pagán, and Eugenio Suárez, and the rest of the roster they do have is full of voids all up and down.
There are a lot of needs for this club this offseason. And while the likelihood of them actually solving them all is near nil, here’s
the priority in which they should address them according to us here at Red Reporter HQ.
Starting Pitching
You can never have too much starting pitching. The 2026 Reds had too much starting pitching and still did not have enough starting pitching. Then, they lost even more of it.
Singer struggled through much of 2026, but he also combined to plow through 326.2 IP across the last two seasons before reaching free agency. Hunter Greene is gone for the year, Chase Burns slammed into his innings cap, and each of Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, and Rhett Lowder regressed.
There’s a distinct need for innings-chomping here with upside, and that’s before even diving into the team’s need for a new pitching coach and their priorities. Even if all parties listed turn in their best (and Brandon Williamson finally stays healthy), there’s the need for at least one other proven starter to carry the load across 162 regular season games (and hopefully more).
Catcher
Stephenson’s departure into free agency creates a Stephenson-sized hole since there’s not yet a readymade replacement in-house. Jose Trevino is a career backup, and is fine in that limited role, but the roster needs an everyday guy and top prospect Alfredo Duno is not yet ready.
The question is whether trying to bring back Stephenson makes sense since he’ll likely command a multi-year contract and Duno should be in the mix for 2028. Could the Reds find a way to get Ty Steves some time at 1B/DH enough beyond 2027 to make that make sense? Could they dump Ke’Bryan Hayes, finally, and let Sal Stewart play more 3B to make the puzzle work?
Between Stephenson, Tucker Barnhart, and Devin Mesoraco, it’s been a long, long time since the Reds have had this much uncertainty behind the plate.
Leadoff Hitter
TJ Friedl’s total and complete collapse at the plate in 2026 left the Reds searching for a way to better their lineup in front of Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart. Elly even assumed leadoff-man duties for much of the stretch run despite manager Terry Francona’s desires that he hit behind that spot.
Reds leadoff hitters posted just a 90 wRC+ (even with Elly there a bit), and that was worsted by only two clubs all year (Baltimore at 89, the Mets at 88). They also posted a poor .311 OBP despite getting on-base being the primary goal of leadoff hitters, and that’s got to improve.
No team had fewer RBI than the 51 put up by Reds leadoff men, and while RBI isn’t at all a stat you should base the foundation of your judgement on when evaluating leadoff hitters, it’s an indictment of just how poor at being on-base the team’s #8 and #9 hitters were in front of them. That’s a side-eye way of saying that Matt McLain, Hayes, etc. – also known as the ‘in-house’ candidates to take over at leadoff – aren’t simply ready for a promotion in 2027, and unless the likes of Hector Rodriguez or Carlos Jorge hit the ground running far better than they ever have, the Reds are going to need to search outside their own organization to find their new #1.
An entire bullpen
Pagán’s decision to opt-out of his $10 million deal for 2027 and reach free agency renders the Reds without their closer from the last two seasons. Johnson is a free agent now alongside Brock Burke, and the team moved on from both Sam Moll and Caleb Ferguson during the latter half of the 2026 season, too. In-house options like Zach Maxwell, Zach McCambley, Luis Mey, Connor Phillips, and Chase Petty all had their fair share of struggles all year.
This is a unit without a single defined role outside of perhaps Tejay Antone, who was leaned on far more than anyone imagined in 2026 as he came back from his third Tommy John surgery. That includes Tony Santillan and Graham Ashcraft, the two most proven arms projected to return for 2027 as both are also coming off injury-plagued seasons (and in Santillan’s case a pretty serious hip surgery).
There’s a case to be made that the team needs no fewer than four guys who could, in theory, be capable of pouring in 60+ apperances. That even factors in the Reds getting an innings-eater in the rotation first, as a failure to land one of those would put even more immense pressure on a bullpen that hasn’t even been built yet.
Were the Reds also not in such dire straits at other key positions, ‘adding an entire bullpen’ would be the single most daunting task. However, if the Reds don’t address the other three needs first, they aren’t going to have enough leads to protect to warrant sinking money into their relievers at all.
