The Cincinnati Reds’ 2025 season has been built on grit, speed, and situational hitting. What it hasn’t been built on is power. The numbers don’t lie, Cincinnati ranks just 23rd in Major League Baseball in home runs, a far cry from the days when Great American Ball Park was one of the league’s most feared launching pads.
At this stage of the season, that lack of slug has become part of the Reds’ identity. They doubled down on it at the trade deadline too, when instead of chasing a middle-of-the-order bat, they acquired glove-first third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes.