PITTSBURGH – The Cincinnati Reds expect to learn a lot about themselves, if not the National League Central, by the time the get home from a two-city, seven-game road trip.
For now, they’re getting their fill of learning how serious the long-scrubby Pittsburgh Pirates are about making noise in the division this season.
Even before the weekend series in Pittsburgh kicked off with another Reds lopsided loss to the Pirates, Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson said this version of the lineup-bolstered Pirates looks for real – certainly a lot more than they did the last couple of years.
“They’ve always had arms and been able to throw, and now they’ve added some pieces to their lineup,” Stephenson said of a club that has two of the best under-24 players in the game in Cy Young winner Paul Skenes and shortstop Konnor Griffin, who turned 20 barely a week ago.
“This is a really good team,” Stephenson said.
Skenes won’t pitch in this series, and the Pirates already pocketed a series-opening 9-1 rout that snapped their five-game losing streak and ran their early record against the Reds to 3-1 this season.
Just like that, the National League Central restored its status as the only division in baseball in which every team has a winning record – the Reds falling into a first-place tie with their next opponent, the Chicago Cubs.
It might be early in the season. But this road trip is an early litmus test for a Reds team that entered the weekend with only four series against National League opponents this season — only one against a division opponent. (They’re 13-5 against the American League).
“Something that we’ve talked about a lot is just believing it, believing in what we’re doing,” said Stephenson, the most tenured player on the roster. “Some (of that is) getting a taste of the playoffs last year. That’s the culture and identity that we need to surround ourselves with. And believe in ourselves.”
Even with the loss, the Reds own at least a share of first place for the 18th consecutive day as they send young aces-in-the-making Rhett Lowder and Chase Burns to the mound for Games 2 and 3 of the Pittsburgh series.
Meanwhile, the Pirates are the only team in the division that has played all its division rivals. They have a winning record against three of the four, and the only reason their NL Central record is .500 (7-7) is because they were swept in a four-gamer by the Cardinals just ahead of this Reds series.
Newbie Pirates manager Don Kelly said even before the season started, “The excitement is real. It’s high. Looking at the moves we’ve made, it’s real.”
The moves included signing Marcell Ozuna, who hit a two-run homer in Friday’s series opener; Ryan O’Hearn, who drive in a run with a single against Brady Singer in the third, then singled and scored in the sixth; and baseball’s top prospect, Griffin, who didn’t face the Reds in that series a month ago, then singled and scored in the fifth and drew a bases-loaded walk in the sixth.
Holdover No. 3 hitter Bryan Reynolds homered and tripled against Singer, who didn’t get out of the fourth; holdover catcher Henry Davis hit two homers from the No. 9 hole; and another veteran addition, Brandon Lowe, joined the every-Pirate-reached-base parade with a walk.
“It’s probably the deepest, most talented group we’ve had,” the Pirates’ seventh-year general manager, Ben Cherington, said during spring training.
“It’s a really hard division. We know we’re going to have to be at our best to compete with it. We believe we can,” Cherington said. “And it’s not only competitive, but there’s a ton of really exciting young players, young stars, in the division.”
For the Reds: Rookie of the Year favorite Sal Stewart, rookie Lowder, and under-25 impact players Elly De La Cruz and Burns.
For the Pirates: Griffin, Skenes and rookie starter Bubba Chandler.
Then the Reds get their first looks of the season at young Cubs hitters Pete Crow-Armstrong, a 30-30 All-Star last year, and rookie hit machine Moises Ballesteros.
“Two big series. And two teams that have been playing well,” Stephenson said. “Just keep playing our ball.”
That was good enough last year for 83 wins and the final National League wild-card spot – making the Reds the third team from the NL Central to reach the six-team field.
How much room is there for NL Central teams this year, with all five teams starting so strong – and big spenders such as the Mets and Phillies off to miserable starts?
The way the NL Central has looked against everyone else, and what that might say about its chances for a five-team brawl once the division games start piling up, the Reds’ 2025 total might look pretty good to at least a few teams.
“Nowadays, 83 wins does give you a pretty good chance to get in,” Cherington said. “Obviously, we’re looking to beat that number.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds brace for NL Central test, routed by Pirates in series opener
Reporting by Gordon Wittenmyer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
