Cincinnati Reds issues go back to their inability to develop pitching

The Cincinnati Reds four decades of pitching woes

Back in the 1970s, the Cincinnati Reds were one of the great teams in baseball. The Big Red Machine only had one year where they did not finish either first or second in their division. They reached the postseason seven times, with four World Series appearances. The Reds took home two championships in that time, as they were one of the great teams of their time.

However, once the 1980s came about, they began to struggle. Those struggles came about due to their inability to develop their own pitchers, which began during their run of success. Just take a look at what they have produced, as pointed out by USA Today’s Sean Lahman:

This is their career total, not their total with the Reds.

If we use 1978 as the starting point, then Soto becomes the best pitcher to put on a Reds uniform. This also moves John Franco into a tie with Aroldis Chapman as the fifth most valuable Reds pitcher in the past 40 years, at 6.3 WAR. Meanwhile, 72 pitchers in the past four decades have produced more value, based on WAR, than Cueto in his time in a Reds uniform. Stretching that list out to the Harang Line of 7.7 WAR, 165 pitchers have been better than the Reds fourth best pitcher.

Obviously, there is a problem here. And it goes beyond the struggles of just one manager.