Is a .500 Possibility on the Table?

[Sea Ray]

Fair enough.

My line of thinking is, they can drop all 3 in Boston and that would sting. But the 4 game series against the Brewers is much more important.

Losing all 4 while Reds ownership waits on Super Tuesday or whatever, would destroy any optimism garnered by this non trainwreck of a season the Reds have going on so far.

They're not going to be defined by any one series. We know they're a shaky team, comprised of a bunch of guys making the MLB minimum. They'll be inconsistent to be sure.

Here's the big picture part that's not being said enough:

This rebuild is going great. In fact, how could it even be going any better? How could anyone have drawn it up any better? These kids are developing beyond our wildest dreams. If this continues, we're going to owe Krall and Co a huge apology and he'll be justified in saying "I told you so."

We're now debating whether we can compete for a division title rather than whether we're going to lose 100 games. We now have the highest rated stud in all the minors. We've got so many good players coming up, we're having discussions of where to put them all. It wasn't long ago that our top prospects were Alf Rod, Winker and Chris Denorfia.

[Roy Tucker]

There is a lot of baseball left to play. I’d like to think the Reds have a shot at the division but there is a lot of things that have to go right for that to happen.

I’m just happy seeing meaningful baseball in May. It’s been a while for that. I’ll wait and see for the rest of it.

[redsfan9988]

In one month, the Reds will have the best offense in the division. The bullpen has been great but will likely regress. If the Reds add a frontline SP at the deadline (and perhaps another MOR innings-eater), they can win the division in 2023.

The June schedule is absolutely brutal. If they come out of that still within 6-7 games of 1st, you have to go for it.

[AlaskaReds]

Haven't really watched a ton of the Reds the past couple of years. Combination of the team being historically bad and the ownership being cheap. Just paid for the MLB.TV subscription for the rest of the season. The promising start, the younger guys playing, and some top prospects hopefully making the jump soon intrigued me. Would be fun to see this team and young guys compete and play important games in September.

[CaiGuy]

The upcoming talent infusion is exciting, but most of these guys aren't going to be stars from day 1 (and some won't be at all, there may be more Senzel's in the bunch, too).

So short of an infusion of proven major league talent, I don't see it. Now if they make a Bauer-type deal (baseball-wise, not personality) to start building up the 2024 team, and all of these guys click for the big league team, things could get interesting. But I doubt either of those things happen, let alone both.

But they are in a great position for the next few years...I would set 2024 as a target year for competing for the division. Heck, a good franchise would go for it right now.

[RedsFanInMS]

I am more optimistic, but that optimism is more for next year and beyond. The rotation is not good. Lodolo needs to get healthy. Maybe Williamson can be serviceable. Greene needs to keep improving, and Ashcraft needs to find it again. Maybe, Abbott will come up and be "that guy". We probably will still need to get a starter or two for next year. I really thought this team would win between 60-66 games this year and still might. My optimism is for players to develop and win in the 70-76 range. I think if we go like 74-88 it will be easier to make the jump to 83-88 wins and battle for the playoffs next year, considering the development goes well this year.

[fondfoat]

I still think 72 is about right. From there they can look positively at next season.

[Brisco]

According to Vegas Odds, the Reds have 4 players in the top 20 to win Rookie of the Year (and two of them are still in the minors).
The Bats have an over .500 record for the first time in 7 years.
The Reds look and play like they really like each other... this is the most 'team' of Teams we have seen in a long while.
Nick Krall is looking like he/his scouting team are very good at spotting the talent in other organization's prospects. Naquin + Diehl for Rodriguez + Acuna is looking like highway robbery. Getting the Twins to add CES to the Mahle trade? Wow!
The roster will soon have more talent than lineup slots. Can it improve? Sure. But it has been a very long time since the Reds had so few holes.

If you are not optimistic now, you never will be until maybe AFTER the Reds have won a championship.

I confess frustration with those that are so flexible in their pessimism. Easily transitioning from "The Reds will lose 100 games this year and trade away any talent they have" to "The Reds aren't doing better... everyone else is just doing worse" and now to "The Reds MUST go for it, right here and right now, but they won't because management is too stupid/cheap."

I am a self-labeled kool-aid drinker, but I gotta believe its getting a bit harder for the pessimists to argue that the Reds have no clue what they are doing.

[Redhook]

I still think 72 is about right. From there they can look positively at next season.

That’d be an underachievement at this point especially considering the prospects coming up (fwiw, I predicted 73). I don’t think they’ll get to .500 though unless they add a few pitchers at the deadline.

[Gainesville Red]

I’m scared to believe.

[Dave C]

Let's revisit this in 2 weeks. We have played one of the weakest schedules in the league so far.... that changes in the next 2 weeks however. Let's see if we can play .500 over that time frame. That will be a test of what we're seeing.

[Ron Madden]

The month of June just might tell us a lot about if the Reds can finish the season at or around the .500 mark.

It looks to me like the month of June will be a pretty tough month.
4 vs Brewers
3 vs Dodgers
3 vs Astros
3 vs Braves
3 vs Baltimore
3 vs the Cardinals who always play us tough
1 vs Red Sox
1 vs Padres
Looks like 21 tough games to win in my opinion, would love to win more of those 21 than we lose.

[RustyJ]

Sometimes I feel that fans of programs (as we are with the Reds) go SO LONG without seeing any success that it's more comforting to imagine multiple seasons of struggle and 'getting better' than to think of ONE season that has all the potential for something great.

Kind of hits the nail on the head for me. Too much complacency in the process.

Against all odds and intentions, we’re a relevant team going into June. It seems like the FO and many fans are still sulking around with this cool-headed idea that it’s simply not our time yet.

[membengal]

It is if they will decide to make it a priority. Get EDLC up here no later than this weekend. CES not too far behind. Figure out if they can get a veteran innings eater type or two for help with the rotation. The division remains weak - the team has some young offensive juice and a hammer for the 9th. It's flawed as hell, but not a hopeless situation - if they wanted to they could try and get to at least .500 - and in this division that would keep them relevant until at least mid-September.

[westofyou]

Kind of hits the nail on the head for me. Too much complacency in the process.

Against all odds and intentions, we’re a relevant team going into June. It seems like the FO and many fans are still sulking around with this cool-headed idea that it’s simply not our time yet.

Some people hit on 16 too.