What's working (and what isn't) for the Reds so far in '26

This story was excerpted from Mark Sheldon’s Reds Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CINCINNATI -- It's been just over two weeks into the 2026 season and the sample sizes for the Reds remain small. It's too early to draw conclusions, yet not premature to start sizing up where things are going well and where they aren’t.

Let's get the elephant in the room out of the way first.

The offense
Despite making offseason efforts to upgrade and signing Eugenio Suárez, Cincinnati is near the bottom of the Major Leagues in runs scored with 48, while several hitters have numbers below their usual levels. Other than rookie Sal Stewart's hot start, no one in the regular lineup has found sustained success.

During Spring Training, it felt like several hitters were constantly squaring up balls and having success. But of course, that was just Spring Training and another reason not to put too much stock in Cactus League games.

“We’re fighting through frustrations on the offensive side of the game, but what I love is they’re playing the game right,” manager Terry Francona said. “The guys that we have are going to hit.”

As a team, the Reds are batting .208, which is 26th in MLB. But there are numbers that indicate some of their hitters have been a little unlucky. The team average is 18 points below its .226 expected batting average. That's the sixth-largest gap in baseball.

Take a look at weighted on-base average (wOBA), which weighs outcomes for how hitters reach. Their combined wOBA of .291 is 22 points below their expected weighted on-base average (xwOBA) of .313, tying Cincinnati with St. Louis as the second-unluckiest offense in baseball in that category.

“Seems like we haven’t had a lot of balls falling for us lately, but that’s baseball,” left fielder Spencer Steer said. “You go through time periods like this all the time during the season. Some are longer than others. This happens to be the time we’re going through one right now. We’ve just got to keep going, be there for each other. It’s the only way to get through this. The process is good. Guys are working hard. It’s a matter of time -- not if, just when.”

Steer was one of the unlucky ones during Friday's 10-2 Reds loss to the Angels. In both the second and fifth innings, he scorched a pair of drives at more than 100 mph off the bat to the center-field warning track only to see them get caught by Mike Trout.

“You can do everything right and hit the ball hard and you’re out," Steer said. "That’s the goal, hit the ball hard every time I’m up, find a way on base and be a tough out. That’s not going to change.”

Baserunning
This isn't about steals so much as it is about running smartly while on base. During the club’s 2-0 win at Texas on April 4, Elly De La Cruz was breaking to steal second base when Stewart shot a single into right field. Instead of sliding into second base, De La Cruz kept running and was able to score a run from first base. It's something the club worked on during camp.

“I’ve been working on it. I was able to pick up the ball,” De La Cruz said. “I didn’t slide into second. That helped me score.”

“Last year, Elly dove into second,” Francona said. “He certainly doesn’t score, and Elly is one of the few that does score on that ball. They’re trying to do the right thing, and that’s good.”

Defense
When scoring is a challenge, run prevention becomes a bigger deal. In this area, the Reds have been excellent. They played their first 11 games of the season without making an error until committing two in one game on Wednesday vs. the Marlins. It ended the club's longest streak of errorless games to begin a season since 1900, and it was tied for second-longest stretch by any MLB team to begin a season.

Second baseman Matt McLain credited two-time Gold Glove-winning third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes for setting the example others are following.

“That starts with Ke’Bryan. He is who he is,” McLain said. “That’s kind of who we all want to be on the defensive side. How good he is over there at third base.”

Pitching
Considering that Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo are both missing with injuries, the rotation held its own the first two weeks. The bullpen has largely been dependable.

Cincinnati has already thrown three shutouts as a staff, tied for the most in MLB. The team got off to an 8-3 start with pitching and defense leading the way and was 9-6 entering play Sunday.

“I think those are huge wins,” McLain said. “Especially when the offense isn’t there, we’re doing everything right and we still came out on top. For us to be able to do that early is good.”