KSReds: Cincinnati Reds End Season With a Win

Well, it is over. The Cincinnati Reds season officially came to an end on Sunday afternoon with a 6-3 victory in Pittsburgh. An 83-79 record doesn’t seem bad on paper, but when you consider the ball club was sitting at 69-57 on August 22nd…You realize it is bad.

After reaching that high-water mark of 12 games over .500, the Reds would lose their next eight series to slowly work their way out of playoff contention. The losing skid was met with a historic 17-game winning streak by the St. Louis Cardinals as well.

The days of celebrating mediocrity in Cincinnati are over. Or at least they need to be over. There haven’t been that many winning seasons for the Reds over the last 30 years. However, that doesn’t make 83-79 acceptable for a team that was in a position to secure a wild card spot. The Cardinals took the playoff race by the horns while the Reds fumbled their way to a 14-20 mark down the stretch.

Reds Win on Sunday in Pittsburgh

Nick Castellanos and Joey Votto had absolutely excellent seasons for the Cincinnati Reds in 2021. Therefore it was fitting that the duo led the way to the Reds’ final victory on the last day of the regular season.

Castellanos doubled in the third inning to bring in Jonathan India and tie the game at one run apiece. The RBI was the All-Star outfielder’s 100th of the season. He finished with a .309 batting average and 34 home runs as well. Unfortunately, Castellanos will most likely opt-out of his contract and takes his talents elsewhere this offseason.

As for Votto, he just keeps on banging. The 38-year-old blasted a three-run home run in the top of the fifth inning to make it a 5-1 game. It was his 36th long ball of the season, the highest number of his hall of fame career, and brought his RBI total to 99.

Aristides Aquino also hit a home run in the sixth inning, but it was the pitching performance by a Reds rookie that may have been most impressive on Sunday. Reiver Sanmartin earned his second victory in as many big-league starts. The left-hander went six innings allowing just one run on seven hits while striking out six. It appears the Reds may have something special in the 25-year-old Columbia native.

Cincinnati would hold on to a 6-3 win to end the season on some semblance of a high note.

Rookie of the Year, Jonathan India

The choice is clear… @JonathanIndia is the future NL Rookie of the Year. pic.twitter.com/UGhjWbjGSN

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) October 3, 2021

We’ve been talking about it for months now, but Jonathan India is without a doubt the National League Rookie of the Year. The second baseman hit .269 on the season with 21 home runs and 69 runs batted in. Most impressively, he had an on-base percentage of .376 and scored 98 runs. That is straight-up getting it done as a rookie.

Tyler Stephenson is the Future

Speaking of Cincinnati Reds rookies, the club has something special in Tyler Stephenson. Typically it isn’t good practice to run off a two-time Gold Glove catcher like Tucker Barnhart. However, starting in 2022, it is probably time to find a way to get Stephenson at-bats on a game-to-game basis. He is just too good to keep out of the lineup.

On Sunday, Stephenson capped the season off with a pair of hits to finish with a .286 batting average. He also hit 10 home runs and drove in 45 runs in 350 at-bats. That is the eighth-most at-bats on the team which just isn’t enough for a hitter of his caliber. Expect that to change next season.