In this edition of the review, the Cincinnati Reds reach the unofficial start of summer. Plus, FC Cincinnati reverts back to their losing ways after their first win of the season.

Cincinnati Reds and nation reach Memorial Day

Memorial Day is often the first day I take a deep assessment of an ongoing Cincinnati Reds season. The 2021 Reds head into Memorial Day with a 23-28 record. Fresh from evenly splitting a six-game road trip last week. Winning two out of three against the Washington Nationals. Then losing two out of three to start the holiday weekend against the Chicago Cubs. The Reds go into Memorial Day in fourth place in the National League Central. Six games behind the division leading St. Louis Cardinals.

A significant turning point for Cincinnati was getting swept by the San Francisco Giants earlier this month. The Reds have a familiar pattern in recent years. They start off on a somewhat promising note and then there’s a moment where they fade. Then struggle to bounce back and maintain momentum once they do so. Nearly two months in, the Giants sweep appears to be that moment this season. The Reds went into that series with a 19-19 record. They haven’t been above .500 since that series began.

There are a few explanations behind the Reds slide in recent weeks. Injuries, poor pitching and offensive inconsistency are the Reds big hindrances. Injury-wise, third baseman Mike Moustakas and pitcher Wade Miley are set to return this week. After both spent much of this month grappling with foot injuries. Pitcher Jeff Hoffman is set to be out until June 6^th with a shoulder injury. Joey Votto is expected to be out until this Friday. After spending most of this month sidelined by a thumb injury.

Nick Senzel is set to be out until at least July 10th with a knee injury that requires surgery. It’s the latest injury for Senzel, who has struggled to fend off being a perpetual patient. Pitcher Michael Lorenzen and right fielder Aristides Aquino are also recovering from injuries. Lorenzen isn’t set to return until July due to a shoulder injury. Aquino is recovering from a wrist injury and could still miss most of June.

Offensive inconsistency is another major factor behind Cincinnati’s struggles. Eugenio Suarez can hit home runs but not much else. While the Reds have managed to win and lose in nearly every fashion. They’ve won and lost one run games, blowouts and extra inning battles. They’ve been shutout and they’ve shut out opponents. The Reds have also won and lost by double-digit margins.

The Reds are also grappling with pitching struggles. Luis Castillo is having an unusually cold start to his season. Leading the team with eight losses while struggling with a 7.22 earned run average. After having one the best seasons of his career in 2020. Amir Garrett is having a lackluster start to this year. Navigating through a previous suspension and poor relief outings. On top of the poor outings, Reds manager David Bell doesn’t seem to know when Garrett doesn’t have it.

Despite their struggles and sub-par record; there is good news when it comes to the Reds. Beyond not being in last place thanks to the Pittsburgh Pirates. First, the 2021 Reds offense is not as sluggish as their 2020 counterparts so far. After having the worst batting average in 2020; the Reds have Major League Baseball’s seventh-best batting average. While being tied for fourth place in home runs with 71 collectively. Led in large measure by Nick Castellanos and Jesse Winker. Both of whom are having phenomenal starts to their seasons.

The two have brought an energetic boost to this team this year. Through both of their efforts and achievements on the field. Winker is hitting home runs like it’s merely routine. Leading the team with 13 home runs and 37 runs going into today. While Castellanos leads the team with 66 hits. Just two behind current league-leader Adam Frazier from the Pirates. Castellanos currently leads Major League Baseball with a .359 batting average.

Winker ranks second in that category with a .348 batting average. Along with this, Castellanos is bringing some much-needed swagger to this team. Amir Garrett brings that swagger too but it’s undercut by disastrous pitching appearances. Castellanos isn’t having those kind of issues at the plate. Elsewhere on the pitching-front, there are some Reds that are having strong starts to their seasons.

Those pitchers are Wade Miley, Tejay Antone and Tyler Mahle. Miley threw a no-hitter this season, the third by a Reds pitcher in this century. Miley, Mahle and Sonny Gray have stepped up in the midst of a rough season for fellow starter Luis Castillo. While Antone is perhaps the Reds most effective bullpen pitcher this season. Antone leads the team with a 1.61 earned run average.

The rest of the week that was

FC Cincinnati lost 1-0 to the New England Revolution. In front of roughly 11,000 fans at FC Cincinnati’s TQL Stadium. Nearly double the number of fans at the stadium’s inaugural match on May 16^th. The orange and blue are still in pursuit of their first win in TQL Stadium. FC Cincinnati will have a three week break before their next match. Coming up on June 19^th against the Colorado Rapids at a likely full capacity crowd at home. That match is set to kick off at 7:30 PM Eastern time.

Elsewhere, Helio Castroneves won his fourth Indianapolis 500 last Sunday. Joining A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears in the four-time winners club. The Brazilian born Castroneves won in record time in one of the most smooth Indy 500’s ever. The race was held in front of 135,000 fans at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. While it’s 40 percent of the speedways capacity; it’s the largest attendance for a sporting event in the world since the COVID-19 pandemic began.