Can the Cincinnati Reds get to 6-games over .500?

We’ll find out this afternoon!

The Cincinnati Reds have surged to 5-games over the .500 mark before this season, but they’ve not been able to burst through that ceiling.

Back on Saturday, July 19th, the Reds won 5-2 over the New York Mets to move to 52-47 on the season, but they promptly lost a trio of games in its wake. It’s a hole that they immediately began digging themselves out of as the July 31st trade deadline inched ever closer, and their current series against the Tampa Bay Rays has firmly pushed them into ‘buyer’ status with that looming.

A win today would wrap a series sweep over the Rays, and would also push Cincinnati to 6-games over the .500 mark.

It’s a position that’s become eerily similar to the 2023 season when, you may recall, they went to bed on the night of July 31st on the heels of a 6-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs that moved them to 59-49. They were 10-games over .500 and in 1st place in the National League Central only to let the trade deadline come and pass with only the addition of reliever Sam Moll to show for it.

The Reds front office and ownership group have once again slow-played a rebuild, a story that’s become as old as time around Reds Country. They are once again presented with an opportunity to make moves in the coming days based on what the team on the field has shown them, and the product they’ve shown me has done nothing to dampen my belief that they deserve some help.

They deserve as much help as the New York front offices are giving the Mets and Yankees. San Francisco moved into buy-mode a month ago. The Cubs will be buying, as will the Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, and all the other clubs with actual ambition. The Reds, god love them, are long overdue to show any sort of tangible in-season ambition.

Today further sets the stage for that, especially with the Los Angeles Dodgers coming to town tomorrow.