Nick Krall Points to One Problem Reds Must Fix This Winter

There are a lot of things the Cincinnati Reds need to fix after going from a playoff team in 2025 to a 75-87 team that finished last in the National League Central this season, but president of baseball operations Nick Krall has pointed straight at where the pitching staff went wrong.

The Reds walked 668 batters in 2026, the most of any team in the majors, and they also hit 87 batters.

Those numbers dragged the whole staff down, as the Reds' team ERA went from 3.86 in 2025, which ranked 12th in MLB, to 4.83 this season, which ranked 28th.

Krall summed up the issue in plain terms.

"We had 68 more walks and hit-by-pitches to the next-closest [NL] team," Krall told MLB.com's Mark Sheldon. "We've gotten a lot out of our pitchers over the last few years, but we need to be able to throw a strike 1."

Krall also told Sheldon that besides pitcher Chase Burns, who broke out and made the All-Star team, he felt everyone in the rotation took a step backward this year, while Sheldon noted that injuries hit the staff hard as well.

The person who will lead that fix has not been picked yet.

Pitching coach Derek Johnson took a personal leave of absence in June and will not return, and the Reds have not announced his replacement.

Assistant pitching coach Matt Tracy and bullpen coach Oscar Marin have both interviewed, and the club has also looked outside the organization, while one name linked to manager Terry Francona, Carl Willis, is staying in Cleveland.

I think this is the most important hire the Reds will make this winter.

A new voice who can get pitchers to attack the zone could be worth more than any one free agent, because the walks were not a one-player problem.

There is no shortage of names worth a look, and Cincinnati should take its time to get it right, even if it means waiting a little longer than fans would like.

The rotation has holes to fill too, since pitcher Brady Singer, who made 31 starts with a 5.85 ERA this season, elected free agency on Thursday, and that takes a lot of innings off the board.

On top of that, trade talk around the rotation has already started.

The Reds usually do not set a budget until late October or early November, according to Sheldon, so it is hard to know yet how much money Cincinnati can spend.

That is why the strike-throwing problem should come first in my view, since cutting walks is something the Reds can work on with the pitchers they already have.

Burns showed what this staff can look like when things go right, and getting even a few of the other starters back to their old form would change the outlook a lot.

Francona has plenty of work ahead of him on the field, too, but the pitching is where this offseason should start.

If the Reds find the right coach and start throwing more strikes, I could see this team getting back to a winning record next year.