Six weeks ago, the Cincinnati Reds looked like a team on course towards the MLB Postseason. Now, those hopes are on life support amid a September slide.

Cincinnati went into this week with an eight series losing streak. Which is putting their hopes of a postseason berth and even a winning season at risk. Going into this weekend, the Reds are 9-18 since their last series win. A four game sweep at home against the Miami Marlins in late August. Since then, the Reds have been losing to contenders and cellar dwellers. They’ve also lost their grip on the second National League Wild Card spot. To a re-surging St. Louis Cardinals team partly aided by the Reds slump.

The Reds began this season on a cold note. They turned things around and were playing their best summer baseball in nearly a decade. During that time, different players stepped up when others were slumping. Nick Castellanos stepped up at the plate when Jesse Winker was struggling. Joey Votto is in the midst of a season full of career milestones.

The lone spot of the lineup where they Reds are persistently lagging is their bullpen. After a rough April for the Reds starting rotation. The dependable rotation fans expected emerged in May; kick-started by Wade Miley’s no-hitter. Now the Reds are on the verge of ending this season on a cold note. Unless they turn it around in their final week of the season.

All of this begs the question, what’s causing this slump?

There’s no singular cause behind the Reds slump. When looking back at the last month, this slump coincides with a few recent developments. Though some potential causes are linked to season-long issues. One persistent issue is Cincinnati coming up short in key games against contenders. Losing key games earlier this summer against the Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres.

Those losses came when Cincinnati had the opportunity to surge ahead or pull closer to those teams. Now they’re losing to the re-surging Cardinals. Along with the postseason bound Los Angeles Dodgers. While losing to teams faring worse than the Reds in the standings. Such as the Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Miami Marlins.

Injuries have hit the Reds outfield particularly hard in recent weeks. The Reds lost All-Star outfielder Jesse Winker for most of September. Due an intercostal strain that he might have re-aggravated last week. Outfielder Shogo Akiyama is recovering from a right hamstring injury. Months after recovering from a left hamstring injury. Fellow outfielder Tyler Naquin will miss the rest of the regular season due to bruised ribs. Infield-wise, third baseman Mike Moustakas is recovering from a potentially re-aggravated right foot injury.

The outfield injuries leave Nick Castellanos as the Reds most consistent outfielder. All while the inevitable rumblings about his contract commence. Castellanos has the possibility of opting out of his deal in this coming off-season. Given his All-Star season, these rumblings were going to emerge at some point before Halloween. The Reds began struggling when the Castellanos opt-out talk emerged in earnest last month. Now he leads an offense that is collectively sliding.

Something else that seemed inevitable six weeks ago was David Bell getting a contract extension. On Wednesday, the Reds announced Bell’s contract is being extended through 2023. This extension comes near the end of Bell’s third season as the Reds manager. After managing the team to their first postseason berth since 2013 last year. While that berth came during a pandemic shortened 60 game season with an expanded postseason field. The Reds are still in contention despite their current struggles. For a postseason with the standard ten instead of last year’s 16 team field.

Despite a genuine turnaround in the Reds fortunes. It’s understandable if some Reds fans are still iffy on Bell being the manager. Given their slide in the homestretch of this regular season. Along with concerns over mismanagement of the bullpen. While criticism of Bell is warranted; The Reds front office isn’t getting high marks either.

Cincinnati isn’t getting a boost from their August waiver wire additions. There’s no vivid showcase of the benefits of signing Asdrubal Cabrera. They waited until the trade deadline to address their bullpen woes. After relief pitcher Raisel Iglesias’ departure in the 2020-21 off-season. Plus, having Eugenio Suarez start the season at shortstop hampered his season.

Cincinnati is now in the same situation they were in last September. They still have the chance to make it to the MLB Postseason. They need to muster the late surge they had last year. Given the exciting way Cincinnati played for most of this summer. They can still pull that late surge off but they’re out of room to lose.