CINCINNATI — Tyler Stephenson knows the 2024 Reds were a massive disappointment.
Yes, there were injuries and a key suspension at the start. There were injuries throughout the season. There were an inordinate number of one-run losses.
All of that factored into a team failing to reach the playoffs, a team that was supposedly built for its first postseason in a normal year since 2013.
The Reds were officially eliminated with Wednesday’s loss to Atlanta.
The team lost star infielder Matt McLain to a shoulder injury with two weeks left in spring training, Christian Encarnacion-Strand suffered a broken hand, TJ Friedl fractured his right wrist and Noelvi Marte was suspended 80 games for violating MLB performance enhancing policy.
Stephenson acknowledged after Wednesday’s 7-1 loss that the organization, front office and players have a lot of work to do to realize their full potential with a talented but young roster.
“Yeah, (we) come into the season with the expectations, and especially with how close we were last year, I mean, it hurts. We’ve got some work to do this offseason, and we all know that, and come out next year and be ready to go.”
What kind of work each player needs and exactly which players will be on the 2025 roster won’t come until the season actually ends and players and front office staff have had time to reflect.
“I think that’ll probably wait until after the season,” Stephenson said.
There’s no question that this Reds team had more than its fair share of obstacles, both with regard to injuries to its rotation and with position players. Friedl landed on the injured list three different times. Matt McLain never made it back from left shoulder surgery. Christian Encarnacion-Strand broke his hand in April and was never right, finally deciding to have season-ending surgery.
Nick Lodolo started on the IL with a calf issue, then came off and then suffered two different finger issues and finally a groin strain. Hunter Greene landed on the injured list with an sore right elbow after bumping it at home. Andrew Abbott had a sore left shoulder and never returned. Brandon Williamson fought all year to return from a strained left shoulder only to tear his UCL Tuesday and face Tommy John surgery. Graham Ashcraft looked good in April and then fell off a cliff after two Triple-A demotions. What will be his role in 2025?
And who will be his manager? If David Bell returns next year, it’s because the organization believes all of the above was out of his control and that he is still one of the brightest minds in the game, and their guy to take a young and talented roster to the postseason.
If he doesn’t, then the front office clearly believes a new and stern voice is needed to cultivate more accountability on the field (one-run losses) and off, where strength and conditioning need to be stressed.
“You lose a lot of key guys, and it’s tough, but that’s part of the part of baseball,” Stephenson told me after the 7-1 loss to the Braves. “And I know (the Braves), they’re dealing with it as well. But that’s the name of the game. You hate to see it, and especially with Brandon (Tuesday).
“When it rains, it pours sometimes, but we’ll just got to continue to just get healthy and have a good offseason and be ready to go next year because we know what type of team we are, and we all hold ourselves accountable and know what the expectations are. We should be in the playoffs. And yeah, I mean, we’ll all be dialed in.”
Stephenson sees the value in what Bell brings to the table every day. The daily messaging from the manager’s office has been clear – compete to the end.
“That’s something that David from the get go, I mean, in it or not, like, that’s who we are,” Stephenson said. “It’s our identity. We have fun, and yeah, we’re not in it, but we still have nine or 10 games. Like, let’s make most out of it while we’re here and have fun and in the season on a high note.”
The team was a season-high four games over at 14-10 and could never get any better. They spent the whole second half of the season trying to reach .500. After Wednesday’s loss to the Braves, the Reds would have to win seven of their final nine games to reach break-even on the season.
“It doesn’t change anything for us,” Bell said. “Obviously, that’s the goal, and that’s the only thing that matters. But at this point it doesn’t. That’s not going to change our approach to the rest of the games. I’m very confident seeing that with the guys we have in there, and we’ll continue to play hard like we have all year.”
