The first month of the season has been…strange. To start, injuries to some key players really affected the offense. Austin Hays and Tyler Stephenson began the season on the IL. Christian Encarnacion-Strand would join them shortly on April 17th. The pitching staff was excellent to start. Hunter Greene has established himself as a top pitcher in baseball. Nick Lodolo is establishing himself as the Reds 1A. Brady Singer is everything you could ask for in return for Jonathan India. Carson Spiers began the season as the 5th starter, but Andrew Abbott would earn the 5th spot and perform very well. Nick Martinez would be the weak link in the rotation at this point, but his last two starts he’s pitched pretty well. Emilio Pagan was unofficially named the team’s closer and has earned the everyday role. Pagan has looked like a much better pitcher than he was in 2024.
Pitching Leaders:
Wins: Brady Singer (4); Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo (3); Andrew Abbott (2)
Strikeouts: Greene (43); Singer (36); Lodolo (27); Martinez (26)
ERA: Lodolo (2.25); Greene (2.70); Singer (3.24)
Saves: Emilio Pagan (8)
The offense was nearly nonexistent to begin the season, minus a couple of outbursts—a 14-run game against the Rangers and an 11-run game vs the Brewers. The Reds lost 3 consecutive games 1-0 at one point to begin the season. Once Austin Hays joined the team, the offense seemed to wake up. The Reds have not had a scoreless game with Hays in the lineup. Noelvi Marte got a second chance and ran with it. He is batting .340 with 3 home runs, a triple, 3 stolen bases, and 16 RBIs in 50 at-bats to start the season. Elly De La Cruz ends April on a 13-game hitting streak. Gavin Lux had his 12-game hitting streak ended on the 30th. With Jeimer Candelairo going on the IL and Austin Hays having hamstring issues, the Reds need to find their identity without Hays in the lineup. With Tyler Stephenson coming up soon, potentially CES, and Will Benson waiting in the minors, they do have some potential reinforcements coming.
Batting Leaders:
Batting Average: Lux (.340); Friedl (.284); Elly De La Cruz (.271)
Home Runs: De La Cruz, Hays (5); McLain (4); Wynns, Marte (3)
Stolen Bases: Elly De La Cruz (13); Friedl (5); Marte (4)
OPS: Lux (.888); De La Cruz (.773); Friedl (.723)
The Reds end April two games above .500 and hope to build off of their end of the month. Alexis Diaz was demoted to AAA following his poor performance in game 2 of the double header vs. St. Louis and promoted flame throwing prospect Luis Mey up to pitch for their Thursday finale. If the Reds can remain healthy—I’m most concerned about Austin Hays—they could get on a hot streak and rattle off a couple series wins. May is a tougher schedule than April was and the Cubs will have an easier schedule, so they’ll have their work cut out for them.
April MVP: Hunter Greene
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