The Reds look the part

In the Reds’ dugout during the bottom of the ninth inning on Sunday, Spencer Steer and Jose Trevino were chirping back and forth in a friendly fashion.

Trevino said, “I looked at Spence and was like, ‘Me or you, bro?’”

The Reds were down by a run but were rallying against Padres All-Star closer Robert Suarez, who has the most saves in MLB this season.

Trevino asked, “Who’s it going to (end it)?”

“Me,” Steer said.

“Me!” Trevino said.

They were smiling. Their teammates were on the top step of the dugout cheering for the guy in the batter’s box. They all were having fun. There was also an earned confidence.

The Reds continue to string together clutch and dramatic moments as they play their best baseball of the season. On Sunday, the Reds mounted a ninth inning comeback with a single by Elly De La Cruz, a walk by Gavin Lux, singles by Steer and Trevino and then the walk-off hit by Will Benson. The end result was a 3-2 win for the Reds, who took the series against the Padres.

“That goes to show what our team is about,” Trevino said after the game. “Gritty. Nasty. In it.”

There’s another word that could be used: Good.

The Reds have won six of their last seven series during a difficult stretch of the schedule, and they’ve also won 14 out of 21 games. The competition in the NL Wild Card race is very tough this year in a strong National League, and the Reds (44-40) are still 2.5 games out of a wild card spot.

But right now, this Reds team looks the part. The players are starting to smell it. They’re starting to talk openly about the playoffs.

“We’re just a tough team to beat when we play clean,” Steer said. “Our pitching staff has been doing it all year. As an offense, when we run the bases, that’s the kind of little stuff that makes us good. That’s how we have to play. It’s exciting when we’re playing like that and everyone is feeling confident and we’re going for it and we’re aggressive.”

De La Cruz said that he sees an exciting opportunity to go on a run.

“(The confidence) is really good,” De La Cruz said. “We’re really hype. We’re going to keep going.”

The biggest difference over the last month has been the Reds’ ability to come back late in games. Through the first 55 games of their season, the Reds had six comeback victories. In their last 29 games, the Reds have 11 comeback victories.

A players’ only meeting on June 6 put this run in motion. With more energy, more support from the top step of the dugout and more conversations between players about the opposing pitcher, the Reds have unlocked a gear that they had been missing late in games. Sunday’s win was the latest example. The offense was nowhere to be found early in the game against an unheralded Padres starter, but the Reds responded and came to life against Suarez.

On Sunday, it was Benson’s turn to be the hero. Over the last month, TJ Friedl, Matt McLain, De La Cruz, Steer, Tyler Stephenson and Christian Encarnacion-Strand have all had their equivalent moments. Also, the Reds just got one of its best hitters in Austin Hays back off the injured list.

“The team was doing pretty well without me,” Hays said. “There are guys who are playing great. Guys are stepping up. Matty and Spence went through it for a while, and now they’re the two hottest guys on the team. That’s how this game goes.”

Hays brought up a comparison between this Reds team and the 2023 Orioles. Hays played a big role on that young Orioles team, which went on to win 101 games.

“A big part of a team that’s very consistent and goes to the playoffs and makes a deep run is one-through-nine, anybody can beat you on any given night,” Hays said. “This (Reds) team has that. Our lineup has that. When we all buy into that, that’s what makes a team really special. That’s what made that 2023 Orioles team so special. I see that on this team. That’s what makes me so optimistic.”

A fired-up Hays then went on to tell the story of the Reds season: The bats were very cold in April, but some incredible starting pitching kept the team afloat. In May, the pitching struggled a bit more but the bats started to turn the corner. The Reds entered June one game under .500.

Then over the last month, even though the pitching still hasn’t been firing on all cylinders, the lineup has picked it up a notch and the team started playing a cleaner brand of baseball.

“The good teams, you do what you need to do to win,” Hays said. “When you stay optimistic, positive and confident in your way of thinking and the way you go about your business, that’s what happens.”

Looking at the big picture, the lineup looks strong. Friedl has cooled off a bit, but there’s not much concern that he’ll continue to do his thing. De La Cruz is hitting like a star. Lux is having a very underrated season. Over the last month, McLain and Steer have been the players the Reds expected them to be coming into the season. Stephenson continues to improve. Benson and Trevino are good pieces. Hays is now back in the lineup. Jake Fraley plans to put off shoulder surgery and should be back swinging a bat soon.

At this point last week, the rotation felt like it was in an ok spot. Since then, Nick Martinez, Brady Singer and Nick Lodolo have all turned in great performances. The Reds feel good about the direction they’re each trending.

Andrew Abbott should be an All-Star. Chase Burns just joined the mix. Injured starter Hunter Greene will face live hitters on Wednesday.

There’s a lot to like with this team. Add in the fact that Stephenson, Steer, McLain, Hays, Benson, Martinez, Lodolo and Singer can all realistically take it up another notch, and there’s real confidence in the clubhouse that the Reds can take another step.

“(We’re) understanding as a team what we’re capable of,” Trevino said. “It really doesn’t surprise me. I still think there’s more for us. There’s still a lot. We’re going to keep growing as a team. And we’ll keep getting better as baseball players.”

There are also plenty of realistic concerns. Encarnacion-Strand hasn’t looked good at the plate (his seventh-inning sac fly on Sunday, though, was really impressive). His playing time has started to decrease. Santiago Espinal has a .496 OPS this season vs. right-handed pitching.

Third base has been a weakness this season except for the brief stretch where Noelvi Marte was healthy and performing. Marte’s rehab assignment has been setback by rainouts, but he’ll return before the All-Star break. The Reds look like they’re counting on Marte to be the guy that he was for 19 big league games in 2025 and not the guy that he was for half a season in 2024. Marte is one of the biggest questions of the second half of the season.

The bullpen hasn’t been the same with Graham Ashcraft on the injured list. The lack of a trusted left-handed relief specialist (the old Sam Moll role) was exposed in Saturday’s loss to the Padres. Taylor Rogers just hasn’t been asked to pitch in that role during an inconsistent season, and Moll hasn’t performed well in Triple-A (Brent Suter is the long man and has pretty even career left-right splits). The rookie relievers and the prospects in Triple-A — Lyon Richardson, Connor Phillips, Luis Mey and Zach Maxwell — could be critical pieces in the second half of the year.

The Reds’ outfield defense has to get better, especially from Benson, Lux and Rece Hinds.

Injuries are always a concern. The Reds’ bench right now is Espinal, Hinds and Ryan Vilade. The Triple-A depth isn’t in a good spot right now.

The lineup looks pretty deep, but the Reds need a second star hitter to develop and emerge next to De La Cruz.

There’s the trade deadline factor: Will they be as aggressive as the teams they’re competing against? There’s a clear role for another impact bat, whether it’s at first base, third base or a corner outfield spot. Every team needs bullpen help, and Tony Santillan and Emilio Pagán could use some help in the final innings. If Marte struggles, add third base to the list.

There’s also the fear of the unexpected. In 2021, the Reds ran out of outfielders in September due to an unpredictable run of injuries. In September of 2023, half of the rotation got COVID.

For now, the vibes are immaculate and well-earned. It feels a lot different than it did in June of 2023. That summer was unbridled optimism from a group that didn’t know what it didn’t know. This is an older, more mature team full of guys who have experienced struggles. Many of them, including Trevino, Hays and Lux, have experienced winning postseason baseball and see promising qualities in this Reds team.

“There’s one way to play, and that’s the right way at all times,” Hays said. “Tito preaches that. This team has done a good job of that. That’s what good teams do.”