Cincinnati Reds coming to life in the second half

After winning six straight series, the Cincinnati Reds have looked like a completely different team since the All-Star break. What has keyed their surge, and can it be sustained?

A glance at the standings doesn’t generate much hope for the Cincinnati Reds or their fans. They currently sport a 44-63 record and are a monolithic 22 games behind the Cubs in the NL Central. Few expected the Reds to be competitive this year, but it’s never fun to lose, and lose often.

If you haven’t been paying attention, it might surprise you then that Cincinnati has been one of the hottest clubs in baseball since the second half got underway. The Reds have gone 12-6 since the All-Star break, and yesterday’s 7-0 victory over the Cardinals gave them their sixth consecutive series win. According to Mark Schmetzer of the Dayton Daily News, the last time the Reds won six series in a row was in 1999.

So what gives? Is this a rebuilding team that is slowly starting to put it together? Did they sorely underachieve in the first half? Just a stretch of good fortune?

Whenever a bad team goes on a bit of a run, it’s hard not to take a look at the schedule first. The Reds have gotten the best of some similarly poor clubs in the last few weeks, namely the Brewers, Braves, Diamondbacks and Padres. They did, however, manage to take two out of three from the Giants and Cardinals. True, the Giants in particular have scuffled recently after their torrid first half, but these are two talented clubs with postseason aspirations.

If you’re looking for the biggest difference between the current Reds and the first-half version, it has to be the pitching. Prior to All-Star week, Cincinnati had easily the worst pitching staff in the league. Their 5.46 ERA as a unit ranked dead last, 0.38 points higher than the team that plays half its games at Coors Field. Since play resumed on July 15, Reds hurlers have pitched to a 3.37 ERA – good for the eighth-best mark in baseball.

That’s a night-and-day transformation, and it encompasses the entire staff. Perhaps no development has made more of a difference than the return of starter Anthony DeSclafani from injury in early June. Over 10 outings this year, the 26-year-old righty sports a 2.93 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 4.0 K/BB ratio in 61 innings of work. Who knows if it will last, but right now DeSclafani is looking like a guy who can lead a rotation.

23-year-old Brandon Finnegan has also strung a couple solid starts together. Across his last two outings he has allowed six hits and zero runs in 12 frames. The young lefty has been inconsistent this season, but the Reds will look at some of his earlier outings (namely an eight-inning, one-run effort against the Dodgers on May 23) as evidence of what he can do.

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Over in the bullpen, closer Tony Cingrani appears to have settled down. He owned a 4.43 ERA on June 1, but since then he has posted a 1.85 ERA while limiting opponents to a .188 batting average. He converted nine of ten save opportunities during that span after starting the year four-for-eight.

Cincinnati’s offense has also experienced a boost over the past month, although not as pronounced as the pitching staff. Before the All-Star break, they ranked 20th in runs scored (376) and 28th in OPS (.694). In the second half, they have scored the ninth-most runs (89) and have the sixth-highest OPS (.775).

It must be noted, of course, that the Reds shipped Jay Bruce, one of their most prominent offensive weapons, to the Mets on deadline day. 25 home runs, 80 RBI and an .875 OPS are quite hard to replace. His absence will be felt the rest of the way, but the team does have the pieces to keep putting runs on the board.

Joey Votto is in the middle of another nice season, slashing .289/.420/.492 with 18 homers and 54 RBI. Ever the on-base machine, his .420 OBP leads the National League. Adam Duvall was a surprise All-Star this year and will help pick up some of the power-hitting slack with 26 round-trippers so far. 15-year veteran Brandon Phillips is also showing signs of life, batting .303 since the start of July.

Next: Can the Tigers catch Cleveland?

Are the Reds suddenly a good team? That’s probably a bit of a stretch. A rematch with the Cardinals next week in St. Louis, along with upcoming series against the Marlins, Dodgers and Rangers will likely tell more of the story. But this is the kind of hot streak that every rebuilding team likes to see once or twice throughout the course of a down year. It reminds you of the potential of the pieces you have, while giving you a taste of what you’re working toward.

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