Fundamental Failure: The Reds' Defensive Collapse
AI-generated image · US National Wire
After a brief glimpse of competence, Cincinnati has plummeted to the bottom of the league in defensive runs saved, exposing a void in accountability.
Listen, I've seen a lot of baseball in my time, and what we're watching in Cincinnati right now is enough to make any lifer sick. We can talk about the standings or the luck of the bounce all we want, but let's call it what it is: a total abandonment of the basics.
According to reporting from Sports Illustrated, as the outlet first reported, the Cincinnati Reds are currently the worst team in all of Major League Baseball in Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), posting a brutal -48. To put that in perspective, Sports Illustrated notes that the Cubs and Brewers are among the league's elite in this category, sitting at +110 and +50, respectively.
**OPINION:** This isn't just a bad streak; it's a disgrace. When you're the worst in the league at preventing runs, you aren't playing professional baseball—you're playing a version of the game that would get you laughed out of a Sunday league. Stop blaming the bad luck and start blaming the lack of fundamentals.
This is particularly galling given the trajectory of the club. Sports Illustrated reports that when manager Terry Francona was hired in October 2024, the goal was to move away from the undisciplined and chaotic baseball seen under former manager David Bell. Under Bell, the Reds struggled defensively, recording DRS scores of -31 in 2023 and -30 in 2024.
For a moment, it looked like the bleeding had stopped. Sports Illustrated notes that Francona's philosophy centered on "run prevention," a vision supported by the front office's decision to trade for Gold Glove third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes at the 2025 trade deadline. That approach seemed to bear fruit in 2025, when the Reds finished with a +2 DRS, marking one of their best defensive seasons in recent memory.
But the 2026 season has seen a complete reversal. The current -48 DRS suggests that Francona's philosophy is either not reaching the players or that the roster is simply incapable of executing the basics. As Sports Illustrated puts it, the team has regressed to the point where big changes may be necessary just to make the Reds a competent ball club.