Let’s start this off with a bit of a disclaimer about this headline. The 2021 Cincinnati Reds likely, at many junctures, planned on being able to run. They weren’t the kind of front office that only picked Bowser in Mario Tennis and just tried to ace it past you at 200 mph as their only way of scoring.
Last season’s Reds were supposed to have Nick Senzel around a lot, and Nick Senzel can run like the wind. The club invested heavily in Shogo Akiyama, too, and it was mostly expected that he’d be a bigger part of the 2021 season than he ever was.