November 12, 2026
November 12, 2026
The Reds’ 2026 season began with Cincinnati sitting alone atop the NL Central and ended with the club buried in last place. Terry Francona’s second year at the helm produced the franchise’s fastest start in two decades, then a five-month slide that erased every inch of it. Yet amid the wreckage, three young stars delivered seasons that will shape the next era of Reds baseball.
Cincinnati entered spring carrying real belief. The 2025 club had snapped a four-year postseason drought by seizing the final National League Wild Card, even if the Dodgers swept them out of October. The front office aimed to build on that momentum rather than rebuild it.
Closer Emilio Pagán returned after a career-best 32 saves. Eugenio Suárez came back to Cincinnati in February after a 49-homer 2025, signing a one-year deal with a mutual option. Nathaniel Lowe and JJ Bleday arrived as complementary bats. The optimism took an early hit on March 11, when ace Hunter Greene underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove bone chips from his right elbow. Nick Lodolo soon joined him on the shelf with a finger blister. The rotation would open the year leaning on youth.
Few teams in baseball played April with more nerve. Cincinnati lost 3-0 to Boston on Opening Day, then turned close games into a weapon. Through early May, the Reds went 12-0 in games decided by two runs or fewer, including a perfect 7-0 in one-run contests.
Rookie Sal Stewart hit cleanup and tied for the MLB lead in RBIs. Elly De La Cruz launched 10 homers in his first 31 games. Chase Burns and Rhett Lowder steadied a thin rotation, while the bullpen ranked among the league’s best. A 6-4 win over Colorado on April 30 left the Reds at 20-11 and alone in first place. That was their fastest start since 2006.
The collapse arrived without warning. Cincinnati opened May by losing eight straight, a skid that included sweeps by Pittsburgh and Chicago. The one-run magic vanished, and an offense that already ranked last in the majors in batting average had no cushion left.
There were flashes of the April team. On May 14, Bleday hammered two home runs and drove in six as Cincinnati routed Washington 15-1. Those nights proved the exception rather than the rule. Francona shuffled lineups and leaned on his bullpen, but the losses kept stacking up faster than any adjustment could stop them.
The Reds finished May at 10-17, and June was worse. De La Cruz strained his right hamstring and missed about three weeks. Pagán lost nearly two months to a hamstring injury of his own. Suárez struggled badly, striking out at a career-worst rate. Cincinnati went 9-17 in June and stood at 40-46 by July 3, the only losing team in the division.
Greene returned on July 4, and for a moment the rotation looked whole again. His first start went sideways, as Baltimore tagged him for eight earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. Then he struck out 12 Cubs across seven scoreless innings and looked like the ace Cincinnati had been missing.
The comeback lasted five starts. Greene landed back on the injured list with elbow soreness in early August. Within days, the club confirmed a partially torn ligament. He underwent his second Tommy John surgery, a procedure expected to sideline him through all of 2027.
The Reds clawed back into the fringes of the race by late July. Winners of eight of 12, they sat at 53-58 and 5 1/2 games out of the final Wild Card spot at the deadline. Nick Krall chose a middle path. Lowe went to Cleveland for infielder Juan Brito and pitching prospect Alejandro Rivera, opening room for Stewart at first base. Reliever Caleb Ferguson went to St. Louis for international bonus space.
Tyler Stephenson, Brady Singer, Suárez, Brock Burke, and Pierce Johnson all stayed. Krall said the offers simply did not meet his asking prices, as detailed in MLB.com’s deadline recap. The decision kept the clubhouse intact, but it never sparked the late push the front office hoped to see.
Stewart turned a lost summer into a historic one. The 22-year-old first baseman played all 162 games and hit .263 with 32 home runs and an .787 OPS. He became only the second Reds rookie to reach 30 homers, joining Frank Robinson’s 38 in 1956.
He also set the franchise rookie RBI record before August ended. Stewart led all NL rookies in homers, RBIs, extra-base hits, and total bases. He collected the Players Choice Award and landed in the thick of the NL Rookie of the Year race. No Cincinnati rookie had ever paired 30 homers with 100 RBIs.
De La Cruz saved his loudest stretch for the final month. He hit nine homers in September and led the majors in batting average and slugging for the month. On September 25 at Rogers Centre, he ripped a two-run double and then slid headfirst into third for his 30th steal.
That swipe completed a 30-30 season, placing him beside Eric Davis, Barry Larkin, and Brandon Phillips. He finished at .283 with an .880 OPS in 143 games. Both he and Stewart were later named Hank Aaron Award finalists.
With Greene gone, Burns became the anchor of the Reds’ 2026 season on the mound. The right-hander went 15-3 with a 2.86 ERA across 29 starts. He struck out 185 batters in 154 1/3 innings during just his second professional season. Burns now stands as the club’s clear No. 1 starter heading into 2027.
The bullpen supplied its own quiet bright spots. Brock Burke posted a 2.30 ERA over 74 1/3 innings and became one of Francona’s most trusted arms. Pagán returned from his hamstring injury to collect 25 saves, holding the late innings together even as the standings slipped away.
The final month delivered the season’s lowest point. On September 11 in Milwaukee, the Brewers pounded Cincinnati 20-0 and clinched a postseason berth in the process. It was one of the most lopsided defeats in franchise history. Three days later, the Reds were officially eliminated from playoff contention.
They went 10-14 in September and finished 75-87, fifth in the NL Central and 28 games behind Milwaukee. According to the 2026 Reds season record, Cincinnati went 55-76 after its 20-11 start. It was the franchise’s worst finish since 2022.
How does a team go from first place to last in a single summer? The Reds’ 2026 season answered with injuries, a punchless supporting lineup, and a rotation that lost its ace twice. Players inside the clubhouse called for accountability, and the frustration was earned.
Still, this was no wasted year. Stewart, De La Cruz, and Burns each produced seasons that rank among the finest by young players in franchise history. Stephenson, Singer, and Suárez now face free agency, and the roster needs help across the outfield, behind the plate, and in the bullpen. The Reds’ 2026 season stripped away the illusion of April, but it also proved that Cincinnati’s foundation is real.
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