Breaking down the differences between the 2025 Reds and the 2024 Reds

Are the Reds better right now than they were entering spring training in 2024?

Let’s break it down position-by-position.

Infield: 2024>2025. Elly De La Cruz is a star, but the story of the season will be what the Reds get from the rest of the infield.

When I watch the postseason every year, I’m reminded of the sway that game-changing stars have on a series.

In 2024, De La Cruz showed that he’s ready to be that guy, which is the hardest thing to find in baseball.

The rest of the Reds’ season will be defined by the state of the rest of the Reds’ infield.

At this point last year, I would have written that Matt McLain was going to be an All-Star, Noelvi Marte would be a Rookie of the Year candidate, Jeimer Candelario’s consistency and stable presence at the plate would raise the floor of the lineup and Christian Encarnacion-Strand was going to hit 20-to-30 homers.

None of those players’ 2024 seasons went anywhere close to according to plan.

I’m still very high on McLain, but he hasn’t played big league baseball since August of 2023. Candelario took a dip as a hitter in 2024 and has to show that he can still play third base. CES will compete for a roster spot, and Marte could start the year in Triple-A.

Gavin Lux is a better fit for his role than Jonathan India was for the role that India would have played on the 2025 Reds. Lux has a chance to be the Reds’ best offseason addition, but which positions Lux can play is one of the biggest unanswered questions entering spring training.

The Reds love Espinal, but he doesn’t have quite the same upside that they thought Marte was providing in 2024.

Looking at the overall infield depth, Nick Krall should look to add some help that could start the year in Triple-A.

Marte could be the Louisville Bats’ third baseman to open the season, but he has to show significant signs of improvement before the Reds could count on him at the big league level.

Tyler Callihan is a natural hitter and is ranked as a mid-tier prospect, and he should start the season in Louisville. But he has had trouble staying healthy and hasn’t proven to be a consistent defender yet.

There’s a reason why last season, the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts went 45-90. That team’s infield will become the Bats’ infield in 2025 if Krall doesn’t add some better non-roster invitees. Last season underscored the importance of position player depth.

Outfield: 2024>2025 (for now). Is the breakout year we were expecting from the Reds’ outfielders on a one-year delay?

Last spring, a daily debate at spring training was how they were going to find enough playing time for all of their impact outfielders.

Spencer Steer was coming off of a terrific rookie season in 2023, Will Benson and Jake Fraley were two of the most impactful platoon outfield hitters in baseball in 2023, TJ Friedl was one of the best two-way center fielders in MLB and the plan was for Jonathan India to make some starts in the outfield heading into 2024.

Similar to the infield, none of this went according to plan.

I haven’t lost any confidence in Steer even though his numbers took a step back in 2024. Fraley is a candidate for a bounce back 2025 season, but he wasn’t the same player in 2024 as he was in 2023 and is entering a prove-it year. Benson will have to earn a roster spot, and Friedl has to stay healthy.

It’s hard to imagine this outfield having worse luck in 2025 than it had in 2024. Steer, Friedl and Fraley should all play at a starter-caliber level or better, providing the consistency the Reds’ outfield lacked last season. They all also have untapped potential.

Austin Hays should be an impact role player at a minimum and raises the floor of the group. He’s a well-rounded veteran who can bring an immediate upgrade on defense and vs. LHP.

The depth behind these players is improved and more experienced than what the Reds had last season.

Fairchild showed last year that he’s a reliable platoon piece who plays standout defense. Blake Dunn, Rece Hinds and Jacob Hurtubise all got cups of coffee in the big leagues last season and have another year under their belts. At a minimum, they should be able to make more of an impact than they did last season.

Rule 5 pick Cooper Bowman (who also plays the infield) is a speedy contact bat and is also in the mix for the final spot on the roster.

Looking at the entire outfield as well as the entire infield, the Reds will almost definitely have better injury luck and get better overall production than the team received in 2024.

Whether or not it’ll be enough to make the postseason will come down to those players’ ability to live up to what expectations were for them individually entering the 2024 season.

Catcher: 2025>2024. The most improved position group over the last 12 months.

Outside of Elly De La Cruz and Hunter Greene, Tyler Stephenson was the Reds’ most improved player in 2024. While Stephenson’s OPS+ jumped from 85 (below average) to 112 (well above average), he made even bigger improvements behind the plate.

Stephenson’s confidence as a pitch caller, his consistency as a defender and his presence in conversations with pitchers led to an All-Star caliber season.

New backup Jose Trevino should be one of the best backup catchers in baseball, and he replaces a catcher in Luke Maile who had a negative WAR last year. Trevino has won a Platinum Glove and was the starting catcher for the Yankees for three years before rookie Austin Wells took over the role in 2024.

Trevino has historically hit well against left-handers, and he was Gerrit Cole’s personal catcher.

After starting Stephenson behind the plate as much as possible in 2024, Trevino gives the Reds the ability to keep their starting catcher fresher in 2024 because they can be confident in what they’re getting from Trevino.

Austin Wynns returns as the No. 3 catcher, and the 34-year-old’s skill set is par for the course for a veteran in that role. Behind Wynns, younger catching depth remains just as much of a question as it was a year ago.

Rotation: 2025>2024 (for the most part). A much better top four, but depth questions and the need for guys in Triple-A to step forward.

While the Reds had more depth last season and more prospects on the verge of breaking into the big leagues, the 2025 Reds have more upside, more of a track record of durability and more experience at the top of the rotation.

Hunter Greene has earned the Opening Day start this year. Brady Singer has a better resume than Frankie Montas did last season with Montas coming off of shoulder surgery, and Singer has proven that he can pitch a complete season at a middle of the rotation level.

At this point last year, Nick Lodolo’s ability to come back from his leg injury was a question. He had a relatively normal, complete offseason in 2025, and the idea is that an improved offseason program will give him a better foundation for the season. He’s a better bet to stay healthy in 2025 than he was a year ago.

Nick Martinez, the No. 4 starter entering 2025, was slated for the bullpen at this point a year ago. He was terrific down the stretch in the Reds’ rotation last season and proved that he can start, which was more of a question last season.

The Reds’ clearest path to a playoff spot is the rotation becoming the strength of the team and picking up the entire roster. Last season, the Royals, Braves and to an extent the Yankees (who had a bad lineup outside of Judge and Soto) followed that model.

Behind the top four, there are more questions around the rotation entering 2025 than there were entering 2024.

Andrew Abbbott, the favorite for the fifth starter spot, wasn’t as sharp in his second year in the big leagues and allowed more home runs than he wanted. If he can reestablish his fastball as a swing and miss pitch and build up a strong foundation with his offseason program, he can take a step back in the right direction in 2025.

Graham Ashcraft had a down year last season and has a lot to prove this year.

Rhett Lowder was awesome as a rookie and will be a factor this season. Carson Spiers is dependable in his role.

But behind these two pitchers, the Triple-A depth as a whole won’t be as exciting to start 2025 as it was in 2024.

The arrows on Brandon Williamson (the Reds’ most consistent starter in 2023, now coming back from Tommy John surgery), Connor Phillips (a former top prospect who had a few great starts in the big leagues in 2023 before having a terrible 2024 season in the minors), Lyon Richardson (another former top prospect who had a similar experience and has dealt with injuries) and Julian Aguiar (coming back from Tommy John) have all gone down over the last year.

Chase Petty is the wild card at the Triple-A level. ESPN ranked him as a top-100 prospect. A big year from him makes the Reds a lot more confident in their overall depth behind the big league rotation, Lowder and Spiers.

Teams typically need eight-to-15 starters over the course of a season, and lacking depth has cost the Reds over the last few years. The Reds will need a lot more from their sixth-to-15th starters this season than they’ve received over the past few years for this team to contend.

Bullpen: 2024>2025. More wild cards at the back of the bullpen and more question marks in the depth spots.

Heading into spring training last season, the Reds had so much bullpen depth that I didn’t have Fernando Cruz on my initial 26-man roster projection. He ended up being one of the better setup relievers in MLB over the first three months of the season. The Reds also had so much bullpen depth in May that they had to option Sam Moll to Triple-A.

This spring, there will be just as much competition for the final bullpen spots. Except this time, that competition will be between relievers who have a lot more question marks.

Let’s start at the top, though.

Alexis Díaz has more to prove than he did entering last year following an up and down 2024 season. Sam Moll and Brent Suter return, and Taylor Rogers replaces Justin Wilson. Tony Santillan was the Reds’ breakout reliever of 2024, going from Triple-A to a setup role and shining down the stretch. Santillan fills Lucas Sims’ old role.

Emilio Pagán and Graham Ashcraft are the big wild cards.

Pagán had a down, injury-riddled 2024 season because he didn’t get to have a normal offseason due to sports hernia surgery. The Reds signed him prior to last season because they saw him as a potential setup man. Pagán wasn’t quite that last season due to the impact of the injuries, but he has been durable in every other big league season. He’ll be able to tap more into his big fastball this season, and that would make a huge difference.

Ashcraft will compete for a rotation spot. If he ends up in the bullpen, he’d give the Reds something they lack as a hard-throwing, versatile relief pitcher who could pitch high-leverage innings.

Big years from Pagán and Ashcraft will give the Reds a better back of the bullpen in 2025 than they had in 2024, but they’ll both have to prove it this year.

The Reds need a better back of the bullpen because the low-leverage arms carry a lot more questions.

Last spring, the competition for the final two spots included 2023 setup reliever Ian Gibaut, the dependable Buck Farmer, Cruz and his spectacular splitter, Tejay Antone returning from injury but impressing with a new approach, Alex Young (who had a sneakily solid 2023 season) and Santillan (who had a dominant spring training).

The competition ended up being decided by injuries as Moll, Young and Gibaut got hurt. Cruz and Antone made the Opening Day roster as a result.

This spring, the reinforcements aren’t nearly as established. And injuries inevitably pop up every spring.

Zach Maxwell and Yosver Zulueta have the best stuff and the highest upside in this next group but have much less experience. Gibaut returns but missed nearly the entire 2024 season due to multiple injuries. The Reds already have three left-handers, which would make it tough for Young to get a spot. Bryan Shaw spent nearly the entire 2024 season in Triple-A.