Cincinnati’s reworked outfield isn’t working

CINCINNATI, OHIO - JULY 12: Noevli Marte #16 of the Cincinnati Reds is congratulated by TJ Friedl #29 after hitting a solo home run during the seventh inning of the game against the Colorado Rockies at Great American Ball Park on July 12, 2025 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Cincinnati defeated Colorado 4-3. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) | Getty Images

It is not as if the Cincinnati Reds didn’t realize their outfield needed an overhaul. Take, for instance, what they tried using on July 29th, 2025 on the eve of last season’s trade deadline.

Gavin Lux got the start in LF while hitting leadoff against his former club, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Usual RF Austin Hays was in the lineup, albeit at DH for the day. Jake Fraley started in RF, and Connor Joe later got some time in that corner, too.

None of those guys are still with the Reds. By the evening of July 31st, the Reds had gone out and acquired 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes from the Pittsburgh Pirates, and that pushed Noelvi Marte into regular RF duties as the first domino to fall in their outfield revolution. We’ve since seen Fraley waived, Lux dealt to Tampa, Spencer Steer moved largely to OF duties as Sal Stewart and Eugenio Suarez were brought into the infield mix, Dane Myers acquired from Miami, and JJ Bleday signed in free agency.

That’s the effort of a front office that clearly knew they had work to do. The problem is, though, that so far it hasn’t worked out one iota.

As of the morning of April 13th – after the Reds just lost a home series to the Los Angeles Angels in frustrating fashion – the Reds collective outfield has been valued at -1.1 fWAR. That’s second last in the game, worsted only by the San Francisco Giants (-1.3). Reds outfielders have posted just a .236 wOBA (2nd worst), 40 wRC+ (2nd worst), and .065 ISO (worst, despite playing their home games in GABP and this not being a park-adjusted number). They’ve had just 2 homers hit by their outfield so far (no team has hit fewer), and if batting average is still your thing you’ll be happy to know Cincinnati’s .171 mark from their outfielders is the worst among all 30 MLB clubs.

Even their defense (-3.3 DEF collectively) has been bad – 23rd out of the 30 clubs.

TJ Friedl’s struggles have been tough to stomach as he has still stayed in the leadoff spot through most all of this. He’s also been tasked with playing a new position in LF a good bit – somewhere he’s never played before – while Marte tries RF for the first full-season in his life after having never played there before July’s trade deadline last season. Even Steer, who’s played at least a little LF, is mostly trying a new routine after being a Gold Glove finalist at 1B just last fall.

The Reds clearly tried pulling a bunch of levers to mix up an outfield that needed work, yet so far none of those myriad levers has really paid off at all. Meanwhile, they parked Bleday and Rece Hinds down at AAA to make room for the current crew, and both of those two are off to fabulous starts for the Louisville Bats. So if their entire plan was to just throw a half-dozen low-cost outfielders at the wall and hope at least one or two sticks as a ‘lightning in a bottle’ kind of player, they’ve even missed out on hot streaks from two of them while the options they rolled with have stumbled in just about every way possible.

It’s still early, sure. Some of these guys just simply have to be better than they’ve been, and there’s still time to begin to prove that’s true. Still, the season is already 10% over, and that’s 10% of a season where the reworked Reds outfield has been just about as bad as physically possible.