You tell us!
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The Cincinnati Reds just lost their 12th consecutive series to the Milwaukee Brewers, doing so by taking a 9-1 loss on the chin on Wednesday afternoon in Great American Ball Park.
Wade Miley was back in action, though his nearly 40 year old arm and its offerings got knocked around in a relief role. The offense – once again – went predictably silent in a rubber match, leaving the Reds with yet another series loss in a series in which they lost the first game of the series. As former fearless leader Joel Luckhaupt noted, that marks the 39th consecutive time that’s happened to them when dropped the initial game of a series.
Reds are now 1-9 in rubber matches this season and 5-25 since the start of 2024.
They’re winless in 39 straight series in which they lose game 1.
They’ve lost 12 straight series against the Brewers overall.
— Joel Luckhaupt (@jluckhaupt.bsky.social) 2025-06-04T19:07:47.824Z
Woof.
They’re three games under .500 again and up against the meat of their schedule. But, they do have Christian Encarnacion-Strand mashing for AAA Louisville on rehab assignment right now, and the idea of calling him up to help the offense does have some merit if you squint.
If you squint harder, though, you’ll see he’s hit just .179/.208/.295 in 183 PA at the big league level since the start of the 2024 season, and the idea that he’ll just waltz back to the big leagues and be the slugger we hoped he’d be back in 2023 seems a bit more farfetched right now.
On top of that, the Reds would have to work him into the 1B/DH role despite Spencer Steer occupying 1B and Gavin Lux being a liability in the outfield, all while they continue to carry a trio of catchers with Austin Wynns on the roster. Getting Jose Trevino into the lineup next to Tyler Stephenson seems like an everyday thing they need these days!
So, what should the Reds do with CES when his rehab time is up soon? Bring him up and risk stagnating the positional rotation? Or let him marinate in AAA on an option so he can hopefully shake all the injury rust off from the last two years altogether?
Tell us in the survey below!