Cincinnati Reds issues go back to their inability to develop pitching

It has been a long time since the glory days of the Cincinnati Reds. Given their inability to develop pitching, their current futility may last even longer.

With the Cincinnati Reds languishing at 3-15 on the season, it is easy to blame Bryan Price for the team’s failures. He had managed into his fifth season, never finishing better than fourth in the standings. Overall, Price, who got the axe on Thursday, had a 279-387 record, never having a winning season, the worst winning percentage of any manager in team history with over 500 games at the helm.

And yet, the problems go far beyond Price and his competence as a manager. Since the Reds last won the World Series in 1990, they have had only seen winning seasons. Out of those seven seasons, three of them, along with three of the Reds four playoff appearances since that last World Series victory, came under the guidance of Dusty Baker, the man who Price replaced.

Needless to say, the problems facing the Reds extend beyond whomever is managing the franchise. Poor decisions, and the frustrations of the front office and ownership, have played a part in their struggles over the past few seasons. Baker had been allowed to leave after his 2013 campaign, where the Reds won 90 games but lost in the Wild Card Game. Price then went on to a fourth place finish in 2014, with 76 wins, before bottoming out the following year.

However, short of Dusty Baker, it may have been a futile quest to imagine that any manager would succeed with the Cincinnati Reds. Their complete inability to develop pitching, or even acquire competent arms, has been their undoing.