TORONTO (WMDJ) — A disappointing season came to an end Sunday afternoon for the Cincinnati Reds with a 5-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Cincinnati finished the year 75-87, one season after reaching the playoffs, as injuries, inconsistent pitching and prolonged offensive struggles kept the Reds from taking the step forward many hoped for.
Toronto took control Sunday with Brandon Valenzuela’s two-run homer in the second inning. Carlos Jorge drove in Cincinnati’s only run with an RBI single in the third, while the Blue Jays added two more runs later in the inning and another in the eighth.
The offensive struggles seen in the finale were a problem throughout much of the season. Among 398 Major League hitters with at least 150 plate appearances, five Reds ranked among the bottom 10 in wRC+, according to FanGraphs. The statistic measures a player’s overall offensive production compared with league average, with 100 considered average.
Ke’Bryan Hayes finished at 17, TJ Friedl at 43, Edwin Arroyo at 45, and Jose Trevino and Noelvi Marte each at 46. Although not in the top ten, Matt McClain also had a very rough season batting .188 in 489 plate appearences this seaosn.
Despite those struggles, Cincinnati did have several major bright spots.
Elly De La Cruz reached 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases for the first time in his career, while rookie All-Star Sal Stewart emerged as one of the Reds’ best hitters with 32 home runs and 111 RBI.
On the mound, Chase Burns developed into an ace, going 15-3 with a 2.86 ERA and 185 strikeouts in 154 1/3 innings. Cincinnati rewarded Burns during the season with a seven-year, $105 million extension.
The Reds were not as fortunate with Hunter Greene. Greene began the year recovering from elbow surgery and made only five starts before undergoing another Tommy John surgery, putting most, if not all, of his 2027 season in doubt.
Cincinnati now enters the offseason with a young core led by De La Cruz, Stewart and Burns, but also with plenty of work to do around them after a season that fell well short of expectations.
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