Blog Red Machine

Zach McCambley is back on the Cincinnati Reds roster. The right-handed rookie was recalled ahead of the Reds' three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday after the team placed Tony Santillan on the 15-day injured list with an oblique strain. Santillan's placement was retroactive to June 23, but these types of injuries typically take at least four to six weeks to completely heal.

There's no doubt that the road to the National League Rookie of the Year award runs through the NL Central. That was true on Day 1 one of the 2026 season, and it's true today, roughly halfway through the campaign. Between Pittsburgh Pirates phenom Konnor Griffin, St. Louis Cardinals maven JJ Wetherholt, and Cincinnati Reds slugger Sal Stewart, youngsters in other divisions barely have a shot. Before the season, a poll of executives wasn't very complimentary to Stewart.

The Cincinnati Reds lost yet another series to the Milwaukee Brewers this week, and if they're not careful, history will repeat itself once again when Terry Francona takes his club on the road to southeastern Wisconsin early next week. Much like the St. Louis Cardinals of years past, the Brewers have become the Reds' kryptonite. Cincinnati is a staggering 47-78 (.376) against Milwaukee since 2018. That's an astounding (and embarrassing) statistic.

The Cincinnati Reds' 2026 season has been an utter failure to this point. Naturally, when things go awry, fans (and pundits) begin pointing fingers. The Reds have no shortage of culprits who've contributed to the team's struggles this season, but based on Ken Rosenthal's assessment, president of baseball operations Nick Krall is not one of them. Rosenthal recently published an article for The Athletic that focused on the MLB front-office leaders who are facing intense scrutiny this season.

The Cincinnati Reds reshuffled their roster earlier this week, and right-handed pitcher Chris Paddack was one of the casualties. The Reds promoted Julian Garcia from Triple-A Louisville on Monday, and in order to make room on the 40-man roster, Cincinnati designated Paddack for assignment. On Wednesday, the veteran rejected the assignment and elected free agency. Paddack was an emergency add to the Reds' roster earlier this spring after Rhett Lowder landed on the injured list.

The Cincinnati Reds have a terrible habit of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, and Matt McLain appears to be their latest guinea pig. According to Reds' dugout reporter Jim Day, McLain was taking fly balls in center field during practice on Tuesday. This is a surefire sign that Cincinnati is looking to convert yet another infielder into an outfielder. It's an experiment that's worked so many times in the past, why not try it again, right? In point of fact, it hasn't worked before.

Things have reached a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency situation for the Cincinnati Reds. It's time for the Reds' front office to grab a hammer, take a big swing, and call up their top outfield prospect, Héctor Rodríguez. This season at Triple-A Louisville, Rodríguez is hitting .288/.364/.532 with 17 home runs, 49 RBI, six stolen bases, and a 128 wRC+. During the month of June, he's hitting .300/.402/.671 with a 160 wRC+.

Major League Baseball's suspension system is imperfect to say the least, and the Milwaukee Brewers are making a mockery of it ahead of their series finale against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night at Great American Ball Park. Brewers' reliever Abner Uribe, who directed an inexcusable and vial gesture toward the St. Louis Cardinals dugout during a game on May 26, will serve his one-game suspension on Wednesday night against the Reds. Brewers reliever Abner Uribe will sit out vs.

Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Nick Lodolo took a comebacker off his left wrist during the top of the fourth inning of Tuesday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers. The ball came off the bat of Brewers' star Jackson Chourio at over 107 mph, and Lodolo, in obvious pain, immediately dropped his glove and clutched at his left hand. The Reds left-hander told reporters afterwards that his entire hand felt numb.

It was more of the same for the Cincinnati Reds during Tuesday night's 2-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. Terry Francona's club made too many mental mistakes at critical points during the game, and while Jose Trevino was the only Reds player charged with an error, Edwin Arroyo was at the center of multiple defensive miscues. The first came during the top of the third inning when Arroyo backed up on a chopper to second base off the bat of Brewers' outfielder Blake Perkins.