The Cincinnati Reds have not given loyal fans much to cheer about over the last 11 years. Since the 2014 season, the Reds have made the postseason once, but that was during the COVID-19-shortened season, during which teams only played 60 games. The team has made significant moves to improve this offseason, and with star players returning from injury, the 2025 season looks bright for the Reds.
Key offseason moves for the Cincinnati Reds
Firstly, the front office made a huge splash by hiring Terry Francona as the new manager. He took the season off last year, but over his 23 years as a manager, he has won the World Series twice with the Boston Red Sox (2004 and 2007). His track record proves he can get the best production from the talent on his teams.
During his managerial career, he has coached the Philadelphia Phillies (1997-2000), Boston Red Sox (2004-2011), and the Cleveland Guardians (2012-2023), where he achieved 17 winning seasons. Four of his six losing seasons were the four years with the Phillies. With the talent Francona has at his disposal in Cincinnati, fans can expect massive improvements as early as this upcoming season.
The front office also made two significant pitching moves to improve a pitching staff that ranked 18th in team ERA (4.09). The first move was trading Jonathan India to the Kansas City Royals for starting pitcher Brady Singer. With Matt McLain returning after missing all of the 2024 season, India was expendable, and starting pitching was a need.
Brady Singer strikes out three batters in his first inning in a @Reds uniform 😎 pic.twitter.com/STiLvCRIn0
— MLB (@MLB) February 24, 2025
Last season, Singer started 32 games, posted a 3.71 ERA, and had 170 strikeouts. He has a six-pitch arsenal, sinker, slider, four-seam fastball, sweeper, changeup, and cutter, where his slider and sweeper had a 35.4 and 34.3 whiff percentage, respectively.
The second significant move was trading prospect Braxton Roby to the San Francisco Giants for relief pitcher Taylor Rogers. Last season, Rogers pitched 60 innings, posted a 2.40 ERA, and had 64 strikeouts. The lefty's experience closing games out could enable him to fill the closer role, at least until Alexis Diaz returns from a hamstring strain.
He eliminated the four-seam fastball and cutter from his arsenal by only throwing a sinker and a sweeper in 2024, but they are both lethal. Batters last season only hit .195 off his sinker, and his sweeper had a 31.6 whiff percentage.
Singer and Roger's durability is greatly needed for a team that placed 38 pitchers on the injured list in 2023 and 33 last season.
What prospects can Reds fans expect to see promoted this spring?
With the Reds' pitching durability issues over the last two seasons, we will likely see the team's top two prospects, Chase Burns and Rhett Lowder, called up at some point. Burns threw one inning in spring training and struck out three batters. He was drafted second overall in the 2024 draft, but with no professional experience, he was optioned down to AA.
Chase Burns (MLB No. 26) racks up three punchouts in his first professional inning 🔥
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) March 5, 2025
The @Reds' top prospect showcased his filthy fastball-slider combo, reaching 100 mph four times in the outing.pic.twitter.com/oYLizjpIMr
If he comes anywhere close to the stats he posted for Wake Forest in 2024 — 100 innings thrown, 2.70 ERA, and 191 strikeouts — the Reds cannot ignore the impact the righty could deliver in a starting rotation that strives to strike out batters.
Like Burns, Lowder lacks professional experience, although he did throw 108.2 innings in his lone professional minor league season last year. Lowder did receive a partial call-up last season, starting six games, posting a 1.17 ERA, striking out 22 batters, and allowing only a .219 batting average against him.
He is not the fireballer that Burns is, but Lowder knows how to coax weak contact from hitters. He has been experiencing elbow discomfort this spring, but an MRI showed no structural damage. He is throwing on flat ground now, so fans may not have to wait too long to see him back on the mound at Great American Ball Park.
Noelvi Marte has spent parts of the last two seasons in the big leagues. In 114 at-bats in 2023, he hit .316/.366/.456 and had a 119 wRC+, but last year, he struggled mightily. He had 229 at-bats but hit an abysmal .10, .248, .301 with 75 strikeouts and an atrocious 46 wRC+.
In 35 games in 2023, Noelvi Marte looked like a top prospect in all of baseball. Strong arm, solid glove at a new position at 3rd and he hit with gap power to all fields. He would hit 3 home runs, 7 doubles and slashing .316/.366/.456
— Ricky Logan (@ItsRickyLogan) February 4, 2025
2024 was disappointing in many ways, but I’m… pic.twitter.com/MqYg5zrH5B
He is blocked in the middle infield by Elly De La Cruz and McLain, andat third base by the newly acquired Gavin Lux in a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers, so Marte will require an injury to get another shot in the big leagues.
Reds 2025 season outlook
If the Reds can stay healthy, then an NL Central title is very achievable. McLain is an enormous power boost to a team that ranked 19th last season with 174 home runs. He missed all of 2024 with an oblique strain and then required shoulder surgery, but in his rookie year, 2023, he was phenomenal. He slashed .290/.357/.507 with 16 home runs and 50 runs batted in over 365 at-bats.
The big question will be if the pitching staff can stay healthy. The starting rotation could be one of baseball's best rotations. They do not have the big names some teams have, save for Cy Young candidate Hunter Greene, but they will rack up plenty of strikeouts.
Greene, Singer, Nick Lodolo, and Nick Martinez all posted over 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings over their handful of Spring Training starts. Spring training caveats apply, so those numbers likely will not translate entirely to the regular season, but it gives fans a glimpse of what could happen if they stay healthy.
In a winnable NL Central, the Reds may just be the sleeper pick that actually emerges as the favorite.