The Reds are electrifying Cincinnati as they bring winning baseball back

After the Cincinnati Reds drafted shortstop Matt McLain in 2021, the Reds’ player development staff wanted to show him the big picture. During the team’s post-draft camp in July in Arizona, McLain, Andrew Abbott and all of the Reds’ newest draft picks received a few “Reds history lessons.”During one of them, to show the newest Reds the city they were about to represent, they watched a montage of highlights from the 2012 NLDS at Great American Ball Park. At the time, the Reds didn’t have any more recent material to show a young player what that type of atmosphere looked like.

That changed on Friday.

“It’s a special time in Cincinnati,” Reds second baseman Jonathan India said. “We’re enjoying every part of it.”

The Reds beat the Atlanta Braves, 11-10, as a sell-out crowd watched maybe the best game in the history of Great American Ball Park. Rookie phenom Elly De La Cruz hit for the cycle. Joey Votto homered twice. The Reds came back from a 5-0 deficit and a 9-7 deficit and held on with a save from star closer Alexis Díaz.

“This definitely had a playoff vibe,” Reds catcher Luke Maile said after the game. “You treat every game equally. But there are things that are difficult to ignore. When you have a packed house and are playing a great team, you can feel that energy. We answered the call tonight.”

This was the type of moment Reds fans had waited for for over a decade. 

After being up 2-0 in the NLDS in 2012, the Reds coughed away that series. In 2013, the Reds folded down the stretch of the regular season and had a franchise-changing playoff loss in the Wild Card Game. Following a full rebuild, the Reds made the playoffs in 2020 but played in an empty stadium during the pandemic. The Reds flirted with playoff contention in 2021 before starting another rebuild.

In April, the Reds had 7,375 fans at one game at Great American Ball Park. The trajectory of the Reds’ future has changed since then. Following Friday’s win, the Reds improved to 41-35 on the season and took a 1.5 game lead for first place in the NL Central.

“This is a really great experience for me,” Votto said. “I don’t like getting ahead of ourselves because it’s June. But this has been fun so far. We have really good potential. The average Reds fan at home has a team that they, their grandparents and kids can have a great time watching. It’s a fun brand of baseball.”

Following De La Cruz’s triple that completed his cycle, the Reds honored him on the scoreboard with a message that said “First Reds cycle since 1989.” When De La Cruz saw that he was on the big screen, he waved his arms to fire up the crowd.

“The city has been electric,” De La Cruz said via interpreter Jorge Merlos. “To me, these fans have brought a lot of energy. They’re the best fans, no doubt in my mind. I give them electricity, and they bring that electricity back to me. We feed off of it.”

Votto’s second home run of the game gave the Reds a 9-7 lead in the fifth inning. At the time, India was standing on third base. When Votto made contact, India’s reaction was to turn around and look at the crowd down the third base line celebrate.

After overcoming last year’s 100-loss season and helping lead the Reds to this moment, India wanted to soak in the atmosphere. 

“It’s incredible what we’re doing here,” India said.

At McLain’s post-draft camp in 2021, the Reds player development staff also explained the culture the Reds were working to build. The Reds had some former players give a speech and share “the type of town Cincinnati is and how we need rough and tumble guys who play the game hard.”

They tell these prospects, “If you don’t run hard, you don’t play.” They stress that hustle, sacrifice, energy and hard work are the qualities that can separate them and turn them into big leaguers.

That’s now the identity of the 2023 Reds, and it’s leading to wins.

“This is not a sell, my contract is guaranteed,” Votto said. “But truly, the television doesn’t do it justice. Watching these guys live, it’s just bigger, faster, dirtier. The game is fast but these guys are faster. This is the most enjoyable version of baseball I think I’ve ever seen.”

The Reds’ fan base has responded by showing up to support the 2023 Reds. Last year, the Reds had a record-low attendance during Great American Ball Park’s history. The rebuild, the lack of investment in the big league roster and comments from ownership turned the fan base away.

The young, dynamic and energetic Reds roster is winning, and they’re reenergizing their fan base.

“Guys are ready to win here,” Maile said. “I saw this immediately in spring training. There was a hunger. You’ve always got to go prove it. But guys were doing the right things and preparing the right way. Once the season got going, we put those words to action.”