Three Final Takeaways from 2021 Cincinnati Reds Season

The Cincinnati Reds put themselves in a very good spot winning more games than were expected in the first half of the season. They had one of the easiest remaining schedules for the whole second half of the season but couldn’t put together the right formula to win the series that were crucial to their playoff hunt.

Let’s take a look at the three main takeaways from the season.

Nick Castellanos ignited this team

This Reds’ team was projected to finish 4th in the NL Central, and instead, finished third with four more wins than were projected. This may seem small, but with more consistency on both sides of the baseball, that number should’ve been at least triple that. 

With a young team, the Reds needed some more leaders and Castellanos stepped up to be one of those leaders. Whether it was his stats or the brawl with the Pirates that got the team engaged and excited about the season, Nick Castellanos was the hero that this Reds’ team needed to give them some realistic hopes at making the playoffs.

He finished the season batting .309 with 34 home runs and 100 RBIs. Leading the team in both batting average and RBIs had this young Reds’ organization looking up to and believing that they could win baseball games

The Reds bats came alive this year

Cincinnati was not expected to be great on the offensive side, especially after being carried by the pitching in 2020, but the hitters stepped up this year in a big way to make up for the lack of pitching in 2021.

The Reds finished in the top 10 in the MLB in RBIs, hits, homeruns, batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage. Not bad for a team with little “known” talent coming into the season

Consistency, especially on the pitching side, killed the Reds’ playoff chances

I’ve said it a million times in the articles, and I will say it again. The Reds could not find their consistency in the latter half of the season and it took every opportunity of making the playoffs away from them.

They were in a great position in the second half of the season being up a couple of games in the wild card with the easiest schedule remaining. All they needed to do was win the games that they were meant to win and the rest would’ve been history.

The Reds’ pitching staff was 20th in ERA, 15th in Opponent Batting Average, and 15th in Hits By Opponent. This is not a recipe for success

Conclusion

Another disappointing season down for the Reds, and another year that Reds’ fans have to wait for some luck to go their way. Be patient Reds’ fans. That’s a skill that they have learned over the years whether they wanted to or not.