Bullpen Has Been Cincinnati Reds' Biggest Weakness So Far In 2016

The Cincinnati Reds‘ 2016 bullpen has been awful. While the patchwork starting rotation is doing its best to keep them in games, the bullpen is letting them down time after time. Despite having a bad team, the bullpen alone stands out as the Reds’ biggest weakness.

It really isn’t even close. The Reds’ bullpen has the worst ERA in all of MLB at over six. Their combined WHIP is also the worst at over 1.5. They only have three saves in their 14 wins and are tied with the Minnesota Twins with eight blown saves to lead all of baseball. They have also allowed more hits and more walks than any other team in baseball. They are only the fifth-worst bullpen by average, so there is a bit of a bright light. Perhaps worst of all the Reds have given up the most home runs in relief, allowing .8 per game.

This isn’t all the bullpen’s fault. The bullpen leads the majors with 18 decisions. They also rank third in innings pitched behind only the Arizona Diamondbacks and Oakland Athletics, who both built top-notch ‘pens over the offseason.

A share of the blame needs to go to manager Bryan Price as well. Since J.J. Hoover was removed from the closer roll, Price has bounced around with the potential replacement. There are seven different relievers with save opportunities on the Reds.  Looking at the bullpen, it sticks out that Ross Ohlendorf, who leads the Reds’ entire staff in WHIP, doesn’t have a single save opportunity. It’s almost like Price wants his staff to fail.

The Reds’ World Series teams were built on great relief staffs. No one is expecting that level of output in 2016. On the flip side, even with a long season in front of them, none of the fans were expecting the bullpen to stink so badly.