Five Reasons to Buy into the Cincinnati Reds in 2025

The Cincinnati Reds had high hopes of playing October baseball in 2024. That didn’t happen.

Hoping we could see playoff baseball in Cincinnati last season wasn’t necessarily a dumb thought. In 2023, the Reds had a bunch of top prospects make their way to the major league roster, joining a team that was already on their way to building their young core.

There wasn’t any one reason to point to as to why the 2024 season didn’t go the way they had hoped. The Reds dealt with a multitude of injuries including Matt McLain missing the entire season. Young guys who performed well in 2023 took a step back in 2024.

Finally, the Reds decided David Bell was not the right man for the job. Luckily, they were able to strike gold with Terry Francona sitting at home ready to take his place at the top step of an MLB dugout once again. Francona took this job for a reason. This club has a real shot at making some noise in 2025.

1. Elly De La Cruz

Elly De La Cruz is a superstar in the making.

The former top prospect posted a 6.4fWAR in 2024, 9th in all of baseball. De La Cruz hit 25 home runs and was the league leader in stolen bases with 67.

Defensively, De La Cruz was 15 Outs Above Average at shortstop. That mark was 11th in all of baseball, regardless of position. In his age-22 season, De La Cruz made an All-Star appearance and finished 8th in MVP voting.

People want to talk about the errors and strikeouts. Are those an issue? Yes. But, let’s not forget that De La Cruz is still very young. De La Cruz is already a superstar, yet still has room to improve.

In 2024, the 22-year-old’s strikeout and whiff rate both improved from his marks in 2023. They need to continue to improve in 2025.

De La Cruz needs to take a step with his contact rate on pitches in the strike zone. In 2024, his in-zone contact rate was 79.4%. If he can get that number to climb while continuing to improve the strikeout and whiff rate, watch out.

The shortstop’s power and speed combination is truly special. De La Cruz made a 99-point jump in OPS from 2023 to 2024. If he makes any jump in 2025, he will be at the top of MVP conversations.

That bodes well for a Reds team looking to make the leap to postseason contention in 2025.

De La Cruz is the engine that drives the train for this Cincinnati ball club. Number 44 brings more than just his incredible skillset to the table. The type of energy he brings every day is rare. Each time De La Cruz is up to bat, running the bases, or making a play in the field, you hold your breath as you prepare for the chance that something amazing is going to happen.

For a team with postseason aspirations, Elly De La Cruz is the exact type of player you should want leading the charge.

2. Matt McLain’s Return

Matt McLain caught people’s attention in 2023 posting a .290/.357/.507 slash line along with a 127 wRC+ across 89 games. Naturally, there were high expectations for McLain heading into 2024.

Those expectations didn’t materialize as McLain missed the entire season after having surgery on his left shoulder.

This Reds team needs help defensively and could definitely use some more power. McLain brings a lot to the table in those areas for this ball club.

In 2023, McLain mostly took his place at the shortstop position, doing more than just holding things down. As De La Cruz has solidified himself at short, and with the trade of Jonathan India, McLain is expected to make the move to being the full-time second baseman.

You can expect McLain’s solid defense at short to tick up with the move to second base. McLain’s 16 home runs across 89 games and .507 slugging percentage is certainly going to help this team in the power department. McLain also plays a huge role in the Reds wanting to be aggressive on the base paths as he added 14 stolen bases in that rookie campaign.

Without having to spend money in free agency or dip into the minor leagues to send some prospects away in a trade, the Reds added a power-hitting second baseman who is going to play really good defense and steal his fair share of bags.

After seeing McLain in 2023, it isn’t unreasonable to think McLain has a 30/30 season in the tank. If that were to come to fruition, the Reds would be in a great spot.

3. Terry Francona

On October 3rd, news broke that the Cincinnati Reds were hiring Terry Francona as their new manager.

Boom.

“Tito” is regarded as one of the best managers of this generation. He is a two-time World Series champion breaking the Curse of the Bambino in 2004 with the Red Sox and winning it all once again in 2007.

Francona managed the Cleveland Guardians from 2013 to 2023 before retiring due to health issues. In that time, he became Cleveland’s winningest manager in the club’s history. Along with his two World Series titles in Boston, Tito won Manager of the Year three times in Cleveland.

The Reds needed a new man to lead the club. In six seasons as manager, David Bell posted just a .473 winning percentage.

This club is filled with young talent. They needed a guy at the helm who would hold players accountable and demand more of them.

That is exactly what Tito brings to the clubhouse.

Will Benson appeared in 28 games for Francona in Cleveland during the 2022 season. Benson recently appeared as a guest on MLB network to discuss what the new skipper brings to the club.

“I think that’s a great move for our team because one, his presence alone is going to put a fire in us. I think what we needed most is for someone to hold us accountable…”, Benson said.

The fans know it. The players know it. Terry Francona is just the man to lead this team to October.

4. Sneaky Good Rotation

In 2024, the Cincinnati Reds’ starting rotation was 16th in baseball with a 4.09 ERA. In 2025, they are capable of making the jump to a top-10 rotation in baseball.

Why should we expect a jump? In 2024, Frankie Montas, Graham Aschcraft, and Carson Spiers combined to make 44 starts for the Reds. All three had ERA’s above 5. Those guys will not be making starts for the Reds in 2025. At least not at the start of the season.

Montas is a Met and Ashcraft and Spiers should both be in the bullpen or Triple-A.

Hunter Greene is the leader of six viable options to consistently make starts for this team. Behind Greene is newly acquired Brady Singer, Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, Nick Martinez, and 2023 first round pick Rhett Lowder.

It is fair to expect that if everyone were to be at their best, all six guys could have an ERA below 4. In fact, that was true last season, except for Nick Lodolo who had a 4.76 ERA across 21 starts. Lodolo is better than that. His problem, and the entire staff’s problem, is health.

Greene had the best ERA among these starters with a 2.75 across 26 starts. That can’t be a fluke. The Reds need him to repeat that output and make closer to 30 starts. The Reds need Greene to be an ace. An ace isn’t just someone who has great stuff or a low ERA. An ace is consistently there for you every fifth day to go out there and lead your team to a win.

Singer, Abbott, Martinez, Lodolo, and Lowder are all pitchers who give you a chance to win every time they toe the rubber. Huge jumps from multiple pitchers is not needed for this staff. They need Greene to be an ace and for Nick Lodolo to show why he was such a highly regarded prospect. Everyone else just needs to be who they were last season. And if they are any better, that’s a bonus.

If this staff can remain healthy, which is a big ask of pitchers in today’s game, they will have the chance to truly show their talent of being a top 10 rotation in all of baseball.

5. Their Luck Should Turn

The Reds had a 15-28 record in one-run contests in 2024.

It is fair to expect some luck to be involved and for that record even out a little bit. But, there are things the Reds can do to help themselves in those close contests. Specifically, they need to be better defensively and smarter on the base paths.

Francona has already mentioned those two spots as areas he is really focused on improving heading into next season.

Additionally, they need to be better in the bullpen. The pen ranked 18th in ERA across baseball and saw a down year from closer Alexis Diaz.

Diaz needs to bounce back. But, the front office needs to add to this bullpen as well. Whether that is a 9th inning guy to move Diaz down to the 8th, or getting one or two 8th inning guys to give your team multiple options on the back-end that Francona feels comfortable with.

Along with the production on the field from the team, the Reds need their core to actually be on the field.

This team was riddled with injuries in 2024. The Reds were missing key pieces for large parts of the season including McLain, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, TJ Friedl, Lodolo, and Jeimer Candelario.

The Reds can flip the script of one-run games heading into 2025. They have the right man in charge to help clean up the defense and base running. A Diaz bounce back and some bullpen help, along with just being healthier, should lead this team to a better record in 2025.

The Reds are ready to contend for the division. There are no excuses to make heading into 2025. There are a couple of pieces they still need to add. But, the foundation is set. Expect baseball to be played in Cincinnati come next October.