Though it’s something we hoped to ignore, tried to shield our eyes from, this Cincinnati Reds season has long been unraveling. The eight consecutive series losses, many against teams that have already hung up their boots for this season, was the most glaring example from a bottom-line perspective, but a quick glance at the team’s roster showed this was simply something that wasn’t going to be sustainable.
Long gone is Nick Senzel, with Jesse Winker’s one-game cameo his lone appearance over what will end up being the season’s final two months. Shogo Akiyama and Tyler Naquin are sidelined indefinitely, too, Tyler Stephenson temporarily hit the mystery IL in the middle of the COVID pandemic, and Wednesday’s news from the Reds didn’t get any better.