Through a mix of bullpen struggles, a lagging offense and injuries. The Cincinnati Reds are doing a disservice to their starting pitchers. A group emerging as the silver lining for the Reds.

Cincinnati is struggling despite mostly good starting pitching. From impressive rookies Hunter Greene and Graham Ashcraft. To veteran starters Tyler Mahle and Luis Castillo. The offense hasn’t helped Hunter Greene in his stellar outings. Cincinnati lost a game despite Greene and reliever Art Warren not giving up a hit. This week’s starts from Tyler Mahle and Luis Castillo are additional examples. In both starts, the Reds offense and bullpen struggled to keep up.

Mahle pitched nine scoreless innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks last Tuesday. Giving up just three hits and striking out 12. Despite this, the Reds were also scoreless through nine innings. They blundered away their leads in the 10th and 11th innings. Ultimately winning 5-3 in the 12th to clinch the series win.

The Reds spent much of the next day battling from behind. After Jonathan India gave the Reds a 2-0 lead through a second inning RBI double. The Diamondbacks took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the second. Cincinnati’s bats were silent until the top of the eighth. When Brandon Drury tied the game through a solo home run. The Reds subsequently blundered the lead away through another rough appearance from Art Warren. Giving up four runs with three RBI’s and run scored through a balk.

Elsewhere pitching-wise, the Reds haven’t had an established closer in recent years. Relievers make fans feel iffy when they head to the mound. Unlike when Aroldis Chapman was the Reds closer a decade ago. Alexis Diaz is the Reds most impressive reliever statistically. Diaz is 2-0 with a 2.40 earned run average in 27 appearances going into Friday.

The offensive struggles are the results of the Reds gutting their lineup last offseason. Cincinnati let go of some of their most reliable players in recent years. From Gold Glove-winning catcher Tucker Barnhart to Eugenio Suarez. Along with 2021 All-Stars Jesse Winker and Nick Castellanos. Meanwhile, the Reds have struggled to have folks hit above .300 early on. Going into Friday, Tyler Stephenson is the only Reds player with a batting average above .300. Stephenson’s batting average is .305 heading into the weekend.

Speaking of Stephenson, he’s having a good season at the plate. There have been times where he’s seemed likely to be Cincinnati’s lone All-Star this year. Injuries have undercut the All-Star talk surrounding Stephenson heading into late June. Stephenson and to a degree Nick Senzel remind me of Tyler Eifert. Like Eifert during his Bengals career, Stephenson is a stud when he’s healthy. However, staying healthy is a mighty challenge so far this season. Stephenson is out for the next four to six weeks due to a broken thumb.

Injuries are a major contributor to the Reds’ roster instability. Stephenson’s latest stint on the injured list was the 28th by a Reds player this year. Meanwhile, Jonathan India and Mike Moustakas returned from the injured list this week. Joey Votto also spent time on the injured list this year. It’s harder than usual to keep track of who’s in the lineup at times.

These injury struggles leave manager David Bell and his fellow coaches in a difficult position. Combine this with a wave of rookies from Green to Chris Okey. At times it seems like Bell is experimenting with the lineup. Trying to figure out what works from day to day. Instead of having the kind of lineup stability the Reds had for most of 2021.

After the last offseason and given the current state of the economy. It’s hard to envision the Reds being buyers ahead of next month’s trade deadline. Luis Castillo’s name is popping up in trade speculation. Aside from starting pitchers, one wonders if anyone else on the Reds roster would even attract interest from other teams.