Cincinnati Reds begin playoff push on road against New York Mets

This is a 4th place Cincinnati Reds team at the moment.

Despite all the fanfare of the Terry Francona hire and the excitement of Elly De La Cruz in the heart of the batting order, this is a Reds club that has still struggled to kick off the training wheels and actually pick up some speed.

There’s abundant talent on this roster, particularly in the arms available for their theoretical starting rotation. There’s also a wealth of potential around the diamond behind them, though too few of them have been able to put it all together at the same time enough to begin a true playoff push.

They’re 3 games over .500, and while that’s infinitely better than they’ve so often been at this point of the…