It’s not a fun time being a Cincinnati Reds fan. It’s even less fun being a Cincinnati Reds announcer. Just ask play-by-play man John Sadak.
After a fantastic start to the season, the Redlegs are in the midst of an eight-game losing streak to pull them back to 20-19 on the season. Unfortunately in an ultra-competitve NL Central, that means the team is mired in last place.
But it’s not just the losses stacking up, it’s the nature of the defeats that is what is becoming most concerning.
In spite of their winning record, the Reds have the second-worst run differential in the entire Major Leagues after a 10-0 defeat to the Houston Astros on Friday night. Reds catcher Jose Trevino pitched the ninth inning, marking his fourth appearance already this season.
As Trevino allowed a base hit to drive in Houston’s 10th and final run of the night, an exasperated Sadak could only find one word for the Reds’ abject performance.
“Embarrassing.”
“It’s embarrassing.”
Cincinnati’s play-by-play broadcaster John Sadak not mincing words, as the #Reds suffer a 10-0 blowout for their 8th straight loss. pic.twitter.com/yDiTHybKGl
— Joey DeBerardino (@JoeyDeBerardino) May 9, 2026
In case you’re wondering why John Sadak may have sounded so frustrated, it was just the day before that the Reds made a fielding blunder against the Chicago Cubs where they didn’t realize that there was no force play at the plate and let Ian Happ score a free run in what analyst Chris Welsh called a “middle school mistake.”
It wasn’t much better before that considering the Reds lost the previous three games to the Cubs all in walk-off fashion.
The good news for Reds fans is that it’s only early May and there’s plenty of time for the team to turn things around and recapture their April form. The bad news for Reds fans is that it’s only early May and there’s plenty of time to stack up even more embarrassing and heartbreaking defeats, too.
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