Matt’s Take: The Cincinnati Reds take the first series of 2026

By Matthew McAdow
HCP columnist

Man, doesn’t it feel good for Reds baseball and baseball in general to be back?  

While Opening Day was a “dud” of a game, Cincinnati rallied to win the next two games and took a series from a very good Boston team. Optimism is through the roof right now, and it was shown through attendance levels, as Cincinnati had the highest attendance in the series opener since 2002. I enjoyed every second of this weekend and have more faith in this team than any Reds team in the last five years.  

Buckle up, it’s going to be a fun summer!

Positives

Sal Stewart is hitting .700 with a 2.069 OPS to begin the season. Get your Rookie of the Year bets in now. The guy can flat out hit and gets the bat on balls in and away from the zone. A perfect cleanup batter.

A Dane Myers walk-off hit was quite the welcome to Cincinnati.

Connor Phillips is a dog. He got six major outs in extra innings and was throwing filthy pitches with the ghost runner on second. A clutch performance.

Last year, Cincinnati would’ve lost the Sunday game, as they didn’t have a “Geno” type of player. With one swing of the bat, he plated three runs to win Cincinnati the game.  

Abbott, Singer and Lowder all looked solid in their first outings of the season – putting the team in position to win each game.  

Matt McLain appears to be back, as he had four hits, one double, and four walks. We’ll take an OBP of .571 to begin the season.  

The biggest positive was the ABS system. It was time to utilize this and the strategy behind it is crucial in late game scenarios. Boston learned that the hard way.  

Negatives

Elly De La Cruz struggled mightily with seven strikeouts to begin the series, although he did hit a home run. Let’s hope his strikeouts decrease in the Pirates series. 
 
Noelvi Marte has started the season 0-6. Small sample size, but if he struggles for another series or two, I wouldn’t hesitate to bring Rece Hinds up. He’s absolutely crushing the ball and deserved the spot over Marte to begin the season.  

As good as Ke’Bryan Hayes is in the field, he can’t play every day. He simply cannot hit. This will go down as one of the worst signings included with Candelario and Moustakas.  

Jose Trevino is no longer a great backup catcher. Pray for Stephenson to remain healthy. Since July 1 of last year, Trevino is hitting .173 (134 plate appearances).