Reds Should Bob for Bullpen Over Batters at Trade Deadline

The Reds (44 - 40) are currently 5.0 games behind the Cubs for the NL Central lead, and 2.5 back of the final Wild Card spot.

The Reds clinched their series win over the San Diego Padres today with an exciting walk-off win in the 9th inning against closer Robert Suarez.  It was one of the best wins of the season, featuring a gutsy performance by starting pitcher Nick Lodolo and an all-hands-on-deck effort by the middle of the Reds lineup in the final frame.  The Reds, now sporting a 44 - 40 record, head to Fenway for a three-game series against the unremarkable 41 - 43 Red Sox, with an opportunity to continue their hot play two weeks before the All-Star Break.

The Reds have made June their coming-out party.  After the win today, the Reds are now 15 -10 in the month, and whether they win or lose tomorrow (their final game of June) it will be their strongest month of the season by far.  On May 31st, the Reds sat a distant 7.5 games behind the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central and looked like they were going nowhere.  Matt McLain wasn’t even hitting his weight, Spencer Steer was still struggling and the Austin Hays-sized hole in the Reds lineup was looming large.  As of today, the Reds have finagled their way to 5.0 games back of the Cubs and a mere 2.5 games back of the final Wild Card spot.  The Reds, as they say, are in the thick of things.

And yet, even with the series win over the Padres, who the Reds must leap to get into Wild Card position, the Reds remain a team with a couple visible flaws.  The Reds are talented, sure, but even with a rejuvenated McLain, a surging Steer and finally-healthy Hays bringing extra juice to a dehydrated lineup, and with the emergence of Tony Santillan and (despite the past two days) Lyon Richardson stabilizing a choppy bullpen, the Reds could still use a few more pieces.

At the very least, the starting pitching appears to be in a good spot, especially after Chase Burns burst onto the scene against the New York Yankees by striking out the first five batters.  Health will continue to play a part in the rotation’s success, but the Reds have built enough depth to weather the storm temporarily.  Hunter Greene is scheduled to throw a bullpen session in Boston this week as he continues to recover from a groin strain, and a potential rotation featuring a healthy Greene, Burns, Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo and Nick Martinez should get every Reds fan pumped about this team’s chances down the stretch.

Their recent June successes notwithstanding, the Reds are still lacking in two areas: their lineup, and their relief pitching.  Neither is a massive liability, but neither can be counted as a strength.  Their issues lie in their inconsistency.

A trade is realistically the only way the Reds can acquire the sort of player that will actually make a difference in the outcome of their season.  The waiver-wire is barren this time of year, as evidenced by the recent addition of Garrett Hampson, who didn’t even last a month in Cincinnati.  If the Reds are going to move the needle and give themselves the best-possible chance to reach the postseason, they’ll need to make a move before the Trade Deadline (July 31) for an impact player or two.

The thing is…where do they focus their attention: batters, or bullpen?  The Reds are a team with limited resources; they can’t trade away every last ounce of minor-league talent for a rental or a coin-flip.  They need to be exact and strategic.  Their priorities have to be in the right place.

That’s why the Reds should narrow their focus on advancing their bullpen over betting on one of the many unspectacular hitting options on the market.  Unless the Reds are willing to throw multiple big-time prospects together for someone like Jarren Duran, the Reds are better off adding an arm that can elevate their ‘pen.  Conveniently, the price tags will be a bit more reasonable too.

It’s not that competent hitters aren’t available.  Ryan O’Heard and Cedric Mullins are almost certainly on the block as the Baltimore Orioles remain far from contention, but both players have contracts that expire after the season, and don’t exactly project to be massive difference-makers.  Eugenio Suarez will similarly be a free agent, and could bring serious short-term firepower back to Cincinnati, but the Diamondbacks sit just a game behind the Reds in the Wild Card standings and will want serious compensation to hamstring their position in the race.

From there, though, the options aren’t so appealing.  Luis Robert Jr. brings speed and defense, but he doesn’t exactly outclass T.J. Friedl in either category in center field, and can’t hold a candle to Friedl’s bat.  Ryan McMahon brings a similar profile at third base – but he strikes out too much, and wouldn’t be a huge improvement over Santiago Espinal’s glove at third.  Josh Naylor is a better hitter than Steer, but Steer’s been on fire recently and is a far better fielder and runner than Naylor.  Unless the Reds are willing to go for an All-Star-caliber player like Duran, they’re better off heading to the land of plenty: the land of relief pitching.

Like always, relief pitching will be in demand, but the supply is always there to meet it.  Any team drifting from contention would be more than happy to have a conversation about a reliever or two.  And besides, with the volatility of relief pitching from year-to-year, grabbing a rental reliever is usually smart business.

Emilio Pagán has had a great year as the Reds closer, but his home-run rate is still scary at Great American Smallpark.  Santillan and Richardson are far from proven, and guys like Scott Barlow, Taylor Rogers and Ian Gibaut aren’t exactly shutdown artists either.  They’ll likely have Nick Martinez’s services out of the bullpen when the postseason shortens their rotation, but the Reds need more experience.  Fortunately, this is a perfect opportunity to get some.

Two elder statesmen, in particular, could be extremely appealing: 39-year-old Rangers reliever Chris Martin, and the still-fireballing-at-37 Aroldis Chapman of the Red Sox.  Reds fans will be familiar with the flamethrowing Chapman, who famously threw the MLB’s hardest-ever recorded pitch back in 2010 when he was a rookie with the Reds.  Chapman is still incredibly tough to hit these days, generating swings-and-misses like few pitchers in baseball.  He would instantly bring energy and a plethora of postseason experience to the Reds, having two World Series rings on his resumé in addition to a long track record of postseason success.

Martin is quite different stylistically from Chapman, but he has a ring on his resumé too, and remains a tough player to square up.  He’s made a living over his career of avoiding walks and inducing weak contact, and he could slide perfectly into a bullpen that’s had a bit of trouble with that in 2025.

As a lefty, Chapman would be quite the splash, as the best lefty the Reds can offer at the moment is Rogers, and he’s been a good-but-not-great solution this year.  Chapman would instantly give the Reds a bona fide shutdown presence in the playoff, whether he closes games or goes into a set-up role for Pagán.  Martin would also go a long way to raising the floor of the Reds bullpen, and either one would make a big difference.

There are other relievers who could fill a role for the Reds too.  It might hurt to send a prospect to a division-rival like the Pittsburgh Pirates, but David Bednar is a hard thrower with big strikeout numbers.  The Rockies Jake Bird and the Nationals Kyle Finnegan are two other relievers having good years who would be on the block.  

The biggest problem with the concept of adding a hitter is, outside of adding someone like Duran who a) the Red Sox might not be interested in moving, and b) would require several of the Reds best prospects to move in the first place, none of the available options would be a significant improvement over the pieces the Reds already have in place.

Another issue is the youth of the Reds lineup.  Young players like Noelvi Marté, Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Rece Hinds are oozing with promise, and anyone could break out and be the answer the Reds are looking for.  Even Will Benson, who suffered through a miserable 2024 season, has shown in 2025 why the Reds shouldn’t scoff at patience.

Their bullpen, though, could be greatly improved by the addition of just one more lockdown pitcher.  The trickle-down effect would be meaningful.  Pagán, Santillan and Richardson have held down the fort, but it’s time for some reinforcements.  There should be a full menu of relief pitching open to the Reds at the deadline – and whether they go for a big entrée or a couple appetizers, polishing this spot on the roster will give the Reds the consistency they need to continue their hot streak and finally break into the playoffs for the first time since 2020.