Spencer Steer Is Red Hot. The Reds Stay Ice Cold

Spencer Steer's resurgent season has continued even as the Reds have fallen apart in the last week.

The Cincinnati Reds have zero wins since the calendar turned to May.  It’s been a collective disaster.  A cascade of errors.  A complete and utter mess

There’s plenty of blame to go around – pathetic starting pitching, a suddenly unstable bullpen, and a weak, lifeless lineup – but there is one player who is rightfully avoiding the crosshairs of consternation.

Spencer Steer, the Reds do-it-all, everyday utility man, is quietly having a career year, and he’s doing his part as the rest of the Reds roster has folded.

The Reds are riding a seven-game losing streak, but Steer has a hitting streak going through all of them.  In fact, his hitting streak is up to 10 games now.

He’s been a rock in a lineup that looks weaker and less threatening by the day.  During the losing streak, Steer has slashed .320/.440/.440 with 1 HR, 2 RBI and 1 run scored – and he’s done that while continuing to be the versatile defender that makes him so valuable to this team.

Steer didn’t just start getting hot during the losing streak either.  Since the weather has warmed up, so has Steer.  Over his last 25 games (about a month), Steer is slashing .289/.372/.518 with 5 HRs, 9 RBI and 11 runs scored.  Defensively, he’s made 9 appearances at first base, 9 in right field, and 11 in left field.  His flexibility has been a real asset for this team, allowing them to keep his bat in the lineup while adjusting to have their best defense on the field late in games.

His impressive play has put him in position to have his best season since 2023 when he was a rookie.  His 6 HRs this season put him in a tie for 3rd on the team with Nathaniel Lowe, and his 12 RBI are fourth.  Among all Reds players with at least 100 plate appearances (8 players total), Steer has been unquestionably the third-best hitter behind only Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart.

A lot of Steer’s success can be chalked up to better patience at the dish.  Right now, he’s only swinging at 42.7% of the pitches he’s seen, the lowest mark since he became a regular at the MLB level and the lowest since his breakout rookie year (43.8%).  Last year, his worst so far as a pro, that number had ballooned to 48.0%.

His selectivity has allowed him to do more damage on pitches in his wheelhouse.  He’s punishing 4-seam fastballs and cutters, while managing the off-speed and breaking stuff.  His peripheral stats suggest this performance isn’t a fluke, and there could be room for even more improvement.

His average exit velocity is up to 90.0 mph (62nd percentile), a significant jump from 2025 (87.3 mph, 14th percentile).  He’s squaring the ball up (27.8%, 73rd percentile is a career-high), and barreling the ball (16.5, 92nd percentile) more than ever.  His xwOBA (.371, 83rd percentile), xBA (.264, 66th percentile), and xSLG (.511, 88th percentile) paint an even rosier picture.  It’s possible Steer is just getting started.

They’re going to need it, because unfortunately, the rest of the Reds lineup – particularly those batting behind Steer – seem to be stuck in neutral.  During the losing streak, Steer has reached base 11 times.  In those instances, the hitters behind him have combined for a .200/.264/.233 slash line, with 10 strikeouts and a 37% strikeout rate.

If that sounds bad, brace yourself: it gets worse.

In the third game of the Reds’ four-game series against the Chicago Cubs, Steer hit a solo HR in the top of the 9th that started a rally, which means he technically wasn’t on base when the hitters behind him actually showed up for once.  If you include just the plate appearances in which Steer was on the basepaths, the Reds’ hitters are slashing .120/.214/.160.  Those are preposterously low numbers.

Here’s an idea: bat him higher in the order!  This isn’t complicated – Steer is hitting the ball hard and getting on base.  He’s the perfect candidate to get ABs in the #2 spot in the lineup ahead of De La Cruz, and before you hit me with lines like, “he grounds into too many double-plays,” I’m going to stop you right there.  For one thing, TJ Friedl is hardly ever getting on base as the leadoff man anyway, and Steer has grounded into as many double-plays as Matt McLain.  All things being equal, I want Steer in that spot over McLain every day.

Whether Steer gets moved up or not, he’s been one bright spot in an otherwise brutally dark stretch of baseball for Cincinnati.  The Reds have come undone in the last week, but at least Steer seems as buttoned-up as ever.  It’s a refreshing sight after his struggles at the plate the last two seasons.  The Reds are going to need all-hands on-deck if they’re going to right this ship.  Fortunately, even amidst all the chaos and missed opportunities, one man hasn’t stopped rowing.