The Cincinnati Reds are the hottest team in baseball and just won their 11th straight game. They defeated the Colorado Rockies today and ended the series with a sweep. Not only did they sweep the Rockies, but they have also swept the Royals, Astros and they toppled both the Dodgers and Cardinals in their respective 3-game matchups.

You don’t really have to go back that far into the season to see that the Reds were not looking so good. Even towards the end of May, they were 8 games below .500 at one point, but as Michael Scott would say, “how the turn tables.” The Reds now have sole possession of the NL Central lead and aren’t looking on giving that up any time soon.

As any Reds fan knows all too well, the bad times are way more abundant than the good as a fan. I recall the good teams that they had in during the Dusty Baker-led era, but this team is just different. You hear people talk about them, and the one thing that is at the forefront of the discussion is the team’s energy. The energy of this team cannot be matched and hopefully that carries throughout the season.

The addition of Elly De La Cruz has been an accelerator to the momentum. Since his arrival, the Reds have only lost 2 games. Which is precisely the length of the hot streak that they are on. De La Cruz was the franchise’s top prospect and has proven that he can hang with the big boys of the MLB. It will be interesting to watch his progression and hopefully he will be in Cincinnati for quite a while.

De La Cruz hasn’t been the only Red Hot rookie on the squad. Matt McLain has been stellar. The Reds 2021 1st Round pick has been phenomenal in his 33 games with the club. In that time, he has a .313 AVG and a .851 OPS. Spencer Steer has been a solid anchor at the corners of the infield, providing 10 HRs, driving in 40 runs and has a .278/.361/.475 line. Andrew Abbott had his 4th career start today against the Rockies and finally gave up a run. He appears to be an ace in the making.

TJ Friedl has a .322 AVG and an .871 OPS, which is the highest on the team, not including Elly De La Cruz. Jake Fraley or as Reds fans call him, Rake Fraley; has a driven in 42 runs (the most on the team) and has a share of the stolen base lead with 12. The man he share the stolen base lead with is Jonathan India, who is considered the heart and soul of the team. There was a little debate where he would be moved to when De La Cruz received his call up, but there has been no issues concerning that whatsoever.

Joey Votto was just called up on Monday after a lengthy rehab stint and he says that he feels like he is back to his old form. Hopefully, he can return to the old Joey Votto, because if he can, this team could be a contender. If they add another solid arm in the rotation at the deadline, that is not out of the question whatsoever.

The Reds will carry their 11-game win streak into a home series with the top team in the NL starting Friday. The Atlanta Braves will come to Cincinnati for their final regular season series matchup. The Braves and Reds met back in April and the Braves swept them. Hopefully the tides will turn and the Reds even up the season series in Cincinnati this weekend. Go Redlegs!

Yacs

Reds Hot! Cincinnati Extends Winning Streak to 11