Some stats to backup what we already know, that the "other guys" on this roster aren't producing anything at all.
Reds regular starting 8 has contributed 12.3 WAR
Other Reds hitters have contributed a combined -0.7 WAR (this gets even worse without Heisey's great defensive rating)
Reds rotation + closer have contributed 7.6 WAR
Other Reds pitchers have contributed a combined -1.1 WAR (Broxton keeps it from being even worse)
I get that backups are backups for a reason, but we're getting no production at all from anyone outside of the core. Only Broxton, Heisey, Santiago and Pena are even replacement level among guys not in the top 14 described above. That leaves 7 other roster spots. Those 7 spots have combined for a total of -3.5 WAR this season.
This is not normal, even for the bottom of a roster. The Cardinals have 13 hitters in the positive and just added Oscar Taveras to the bench. Some teams have 12 pitchers with a positive contribution and we have 7.
Every year it seems that we see guys come out of nowhere off the bench and teams have "found" production that they basically steal for a period of time. The Reds really haven't done it this year. No middle reliever pitching out of his mind for a small sample size. No bench player going on a hot streak and forcing ABs. No guy stepping up his game filling in for an injury. I think this has been a problem for the Reds this year compared to other teams.
With all that said, can anything be done to improve the back end of this roster? When guys like Bruce underachieve you're stuck because you have to wait on him to get it going due to track record, but this isn't that. This is the expendable guys at the back end proving to be useless over the first half of a season. So do we expect those guys to improve or are their moves to be made? Is our AAA this bad that we can't improve on this?