The Cincinnati Reds begin their series tonight against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a highly anticipated matchup. With rookie Chase Burns taking the mound for Cincinnati in the first game, they look to beat one of the best teams in the MLB.
There’s more at stake in this series, though, as this could be looked back on as the focal point of their season, for better or worse. Here’s why the Reds series against the Dodgers will define the team, covering their recent momentum, the wild-card chase, and the atmospheric impact these games will have.
Fresh off a sweep against the Tampa Bay Rays, Cincinnati is gaining some momentum in the latter half of the season. With them also taking two of three games against both the New York Mets and the Miami Marlins, they’re starting to look like a team that can compete against the best.
Brady Singer was phenomenal last night, pitching over seven innings and posting eight strikeouts, giving up only one run on three hits. Elly De La Cruz has been on a tear, too, batting .293 this month with 24 hits, 10 RBI, and six steals.
This Reds team has been down and fought back, has won close games, and has demolished other teams all within the past month. They’ve also lost at least three consecutive games twice, and had games where they looked bad against bad teams.
Carrying the positive momentum they’ve built into this series is vital if they want their postseason dreams to stay alive. Cincinnati is in a top-heavy division and wrapped up in an extremely competitive wild-card chase.
While the Reds are technically second in the National League Central, it will be virtually impossible for them to take the division. With the Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers both at 62-43, the NLC is pretty much locked up, making the wild card the only way for Cincinnati to reach the postseason.
Entering this series, Cincinnati is only a game back from the National League wild card spot. Trailing the San Diego Padres, the Reds could take that spot within the next couple of games and use the rest of the week to create distance.
The Padres begin their series against the Mets tonight, followed by another series against the St. Louis Cardinals. New York, currently atop its division with a 62-44 record, will certainly pose a challenge for San Diego, and the Cardinals are always liable to steal a game or two.
The Philadelphia Phillies, who are also in the wild card picture, ahead of the Padres at 60-45, have an approaching weekend series against the Detroit Tigers. If the Reds can use their momentum to stack wins this week, they have a chance to not only grab the wild card spot but also gain some leverage in holding onto it.
Starting with two wins, or even a clean sweep of Los Angeles, would be integral towards achieving this, but there’s a benefit to facing the Dodgers this week. This may give this Cincinnati team a little taste of what’s to come.
With the traction these Reds have gained, and the series culminating in Shohei Ohtani taking the mound in Cincinnati for the first time as a Dodger, it will be electric in Great American Ball Park. With how the fans have been recently, and hosting the reigning World Series champions, it’s about as close to a postseason simulation you can have at this point of the year.
The Reds are in a position where they could just as feasibly reach the postseason as they could kill the season with one more bad stretch. Akin to a rally car barreling full speed through the forest, barely gripping the road, Cincinnati will need to be almost perfect to see its playoff aspirations come to fruition.
Aside from boasting an immensely talented roster, the Dodgers also have that celebrity factor thanks to the big names in their dugout. Think teams like the New York Yankees or the Kansas City Chiefs, who seem to have fans in every nook and cranny of the world.
Regardless of the game taking place in the Queen City, against a team that’s from across the country, there’s still going to be an above-average amount of away fans attending. Adding to the already-present draw for Cincinnati fans, this will only intensify the buzz in the air and the pressure on the Reds’ shoulders.
If they can take this series, however, and do so with authority, it’ll show that they can handle the big moments. When every game matters and the postseason is on the line, this team is going to need to win these games.
While Cincinnati’s season may not be on the line in this series, it will be an almost-spiritual test of this team. Can they handle the adversity, or are they a team that crumbles under the big lights?
Facing one of the best rosters the sport has ever seen, when their season still hangs in the balance, this series will be a real test for the Reds. If they lose and fall further behind in the wild-card standings, it will be an extremely tough hole to dig themselves out of.
If they can win, however, and turn this snowballing of momentum into an avalanche of success, they could easily be playing baseball in October. Winning will be extremely difficult with the influx of opposing fans and heightened energy in the ballpark, and it will give this team an idea of the kind of pressures that await in the fall.
While this is ultimately just a few games in the middle of the summer, they will have a pivotal impact on the trajectory of the 2025 Reds’ season.
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