Cincinnati Reds Have Some Decisions to Make for 2018
By David Hill
The Cincinnati Reds were one of the surprise teams in baseball after the first month of the season before falling back to Earth. What do the Reds need to take care of heading into next year?
The idea that the Cincinnati Reds would have led the National League Central for more than a day or two early in the season seemed laughable heading into the 2017 campaign. Their team was essentially a cast of castoffs and has beens, along with Joey Votto. The corpse of Bronson Arroyo somehow managed to earn a spot in the starting rotation, which was an indictment of the talent on the roster than his own return to form.
And yet, there the Reds were on May 7, leading the division by half a game and on a five game winning streak. Then, the wheels fell off, and the Reds rapidly fell to the bottom of the division. By the time the season came to an end, finishing the year with a 68-94 record, 24 games out of first.
While there were some highlights for the Reds, such as when Scooter Gennett improbably hit four homers in a single game, the Reds still have quite a few decisions to make in the coming years. 2018 is likely to be another difficult season, but it may well be one that helps shape their future.
What should the Cincinnati Reds focus on for 2018? Let us look at the biggest decisions they will need to make moving forward.