Reds end of season debrief Part 2: Nick Krall and Brad Meador on the outlook of the position player group

Let’s use a .643 OPS as a benchmark for a below replacement-level player.

In 2026, Will Benson posted a .643 OPS, was DFAd by the Cincinnati Reds during the summer, went unclaimed on waivers and accepted his assignment to Triple-A. A .643 OPS is 75 points below league average ((.718).

This season, the Reds gave 1,827 plate appearances to players with an OPS of .643 or worse. That accounts for over 30% of the total plate appearances by Reds’ hitters this season.

Simply put, the 2026 Cincinnati Reds didn’t have enough hitters who were producing enough to belong in the lineup.

“We didn’t do a great job at the bottom of the roster,” Nick Krall said. “We need to do a better job of filling in the bottom of the roster, whether it’s complementary players or even some of the starters. Doing a better job to get Tito more guys that he can platoon who are useful platoon guys.”

The flaws in the lineup started with the fact that the Reds paid over $30 million this year to Jeimer Candelario (a free agent signing from 2024 who was a bust and was released in 2025) and Eugenio Suárez (who finished strong but struggled so much on the whole in 2026 that when he was put on waivers in late August, no team picked him up).

During Krall’s tenure in charge, the Reds’ hit rate on lower-tier position player investments (guys like Nathaniel Lowe and Dane Myers) has been solid. The more significant big league position player investments (Candelario, Suárez, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Wil Myers) have been nowhere near good enough.

“We haven’t signed mid-tier Major League free agents well from the position player group,” Krall said. “We’ve missed on several guys over the last few years who haven’t panned out to where we wanted to get to.”

To use a cross-sport comparison, the Bengals determined after the 2025 season that Al Golden was the right defensive coordinator for the team going forward and ultimately blamed last year’s struggles on the roster having too many players in roles that they shouldn’t have been in (two rookie linebackers, Geno Stone, the anonymous defensive linemen, etc.)

The 2026 Reds committed a lot of at-bats to TJ Friedl (.510 OPS), Ke’Bryan Hayes (.419 OPS), Noelvi Marte (.550 OPS), Edwin Arroyo (.529 OPS) and others who had very poor offensive seasons.

“Noelvi Marte was bad,” Krall said. “We should have sent him down earlier than we did. Friedl didn’t work out. He lost some athleticism and struggled to do what he did in 2025. We’ve got to improve the roster first and foremost.”

Hitting coach Chris Valaika will return in 2027, and he remains the team’s director of hitting who sets the organizational philosophy. Krall cited success stories from the season — career years for De La Cruz, Bleday, Tyler Stephenson and Dane Myers and the emergence of Stewart — as factors that give him confidence in Valaika.

Krall said that the Reds have a “good hitting philosophy.” They believe in position players who are “hit over power,” who get on base and who work tough at-bats.

What they need are more players who fit that philosophy — an approach the Reds didn’t take entering 2026 when they splurged on Suárez and also ended up with Bleday and Lowe in bigger than expected roles.

“Last year, we came in and added more power,” Krall said. “We were second in home runs and last in runs scored. We need to get on base more, no question. First and foremost, we need to make more contact and get on base more. That’s the most important thing.”

General manager Brad Meador said, “We need to get back to that messaging of team offense. We emphasized and probably overemphasized impact, both as a front office and to our players last year going into the offseason. It needs to be more balanced. We need to be better at controlling the zone, getting on base, taking care of runners when we’re on base and getting them in however you can. That starts with having tougher at-bats and also in our work and preparation every day. That’s all stuff we’ve had a lot of discussions about.”

Heading into 2027, the Reds are not retaining assistant hitting coach Will Remillard. The Reds will add a new voice to the hitting group, and Meador said that the Reds are looking for a coach with a different skill set as well as more experience.

While the Reds have two very strong pillars in the lineup in Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart as well as Steer (when he’s back after having wrist surgery), they barely have anything set around that going into 2027. JJ Bleday will be in the mix vs. RHP. After that?

Terry Francona had to do a lot of reaching when he constructed the lineup last season. Bleday had to hit in the middle of the order vs. LHP. Dane Myers was a regular vs. RHP in the second half of last season. Too often, there wasn’t an ideal option to pick from.

Matt McLain quietly was very good vs. LHP last season (.777 OPS), but he had to play through all of his struggles versus righties. Carlos Jorge and Héctor Rodríguez were left-handed platoon bats down the stretch without a true partner.

The 2027 Reds will have a lot of needs this winter. The rotation needs more durability and depth, the bullpen will need to be rebuilt and the Reds will need a catcher. They won’t be able to fill every single need in the lineup. If they can’t attack every spot with an every day starter, they should be able to squeeze more out of what they have to spend by building a more platoon-centric position player group as well as a deeper overall roster.

Catcher

Tyler Stephenson, the longest-tenured Red, is now a free agent.

“We need to take a step back and figure out what’s it going to take, does it help us moving forward and do we need to use that money to improve something else,” Krall said. “We have a lot of questions that need to be answered over the next month as we approach free agency. He’s a great guy, and we’d love to have him back.”

As we saw when the Reds paid Trevino in 2025, the Reds value having multiple catchers that they’d trust to handle the lead role.

Alfredo Duno, the Reds’ top prospect who profiles as a middle of the order bat, has a lot of room to grow defensively. The Reds shouldn’t rush him to the big leagues. Duno, who finished last year in Double-A, is still just 20 years old. Stephenson didn’t debut until he was 23.

The Reds are making a change in player development at the catching position. Krall said that minor league catching coordinator Corky Miller has been reassigned to a coaching role.

First base

Meador said that Steer’s wrist surgery went well, and he’s scheduled to be ready to go right around the start of spring training in February (the start of spring training could be pushed back due to a potential lockout).

Considering the conversation about the Reds building a deeper, more offensively versatile roster, Steer’s defensive versatility should be critical again in 2027.

Francona prefers Stewart at first base, but he may need to play third more often unless Hayes takes a major step forward.

We should see prospect Carter Graham at some point next year. He was the breakout prospect in the organization this year, and he has shown impressive power.

Second base

The Reds were a much better team with McLain at second base this season compared to how they looked without him. He’s a tremendous defender, and McLain was still strong vs. LHP. Going forward, he needs to be much better at hitting fastballs from RHP.

“He feels the urgency,” Meador said “A lot of our guys do. He got into a point where he was trying to swing his way out of it. He and the hitting guys broke down what the offseason needs to look like. It starts with being on the fastball.”

Juan Brito and Oswaldo Cabrera add to the infield depth.

As poorly as this season went for Edwin Arroyo when he was in the big leagues, he’s still very young and has tools (contact ability, good hands in the infield) that give him a shot to take a step forward in 2027. Arroyo can also play shortstop and third base. Infield prospect Carlos Sanchez is intriguing, and he ended last year in Double-A.

Shortstop

Elly De La Cruz is under contract through 2029. On Thursday, Phil Castellini called him a “once in a lifetime talent.” When asked about how he views the Elly window, Castellini deferred to Krall and Meador, saying that’s in their realm.

Third base

The Reds hoped that the Hayes trade in 2025 would be their solution at third base for the rest of the decade, but that plan won’t work unless Hayes hits and stays healthy. So far in Cincinnati, Hayes has done neither of those things. He had a terrible 2026 season.

“He chased hits,” Krall said. “When he got unlucky early, he started chasing hits. He has to get himself into a position where he can be his own guy, not have to worry about everything else and go play. He really struggled offensively all season long. There’s no way around it.”

Hayes was a bench player for the second half of the season, and he’ll be competing for playing time in 2027. Krall says Hayes has to take care of himself and get in better shape to better take care of his back. But they’re not giving up on him.

“He was a three-win player three years ago,” Krall said. “Last year, he was a two-win player. If he can get to where he was last year and get on base a bit, that’s a productive player… Take this year out of it. If he’s a 1.5 win player, he’s well worth that contract. If he can be a bench guy who can be a quality defender, he’s well worth the contract. He has to get back offensively to where he can be that quality bench guy.”

Aside from Hayes, the Reds have Stewart, Arroyo Cabrera and Brito as options at third base on the roster. Prospect Cam Collier is in Double-A and needs to take another step.

Outfield

Bleday posted a .779 OPS vs. RHP and should benefit from more help around him in the lineup as well as a chance to play more often against more ideal matchups.

Steer will factor into the outfield mix when Stewart is at first base, and you can always find a low-cost first baseman in free agency (adding a Nathaniel Lowe-style player again in 2027 would allow Steer to play more in the outfield).

Blake Dunn is returning from elbow surgery.

Myers plays hard in the outfield and was very good vs. LHP. Meador said that Myers is having a procedure to clean up his AC joint.

Noelvi Marte has as much talent as anyone, but the story of his frustratingly inconsistent career has been chase rates that spike and derail his ability to be productive.

“If he can get the ball in the zone, he has a chance to be an impact player,” Krall said. “But unless he can do it, he has got to figure out how to get the ball in the zone and swing at quality pitches.”

Héctor Rodríguez and Carlos Jorge will be competing for spots on the Opening Day roster.

“Those guys are very much still prospects and need to finish developing,” Meador said. “Getting them here was really big for them to get through some of the growing pains and for us to see what it looks like. We need to make sure we do right by them individually.”

Rodríguez’s offensive upside was clear to everyone who watched the Reds down the stretch this season, but he needs to continue to refine his approach at the plate and cut down his chase rate so that he can be a consistent hitter. If he does that, he has a chance to be a top-half of the order hitter.

In this outfield mix, Bleday (lefty), Rodríguez (lefty), Jorge (lefty) and Myers (righty) have heavy platoon splits.

“We need to have more complements to be able to put guys in positions every day to succeed,” Krall said.

Another area that’s been identified as a need: Team speed.

“Defensively, we lacked team speed in the outfield,” Krall said. “Carlos Jorge is a top-end speed guy. Looking at him as a part of an outfield complement, he’s going to come in and have a chance to win a job. We need to bring in more guys who are like that. He can play defense and run the ball down.”