MLB

Kent Mercker, ex-Cincinnati pitcher, on 2022 Reds: Almost couldn't start 3-21 if you tried

Dave Clark
Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell (25) heads back to the dugout during a game between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Cincinnati Reds at American Family Field on May 4, 2022 in Milwaukee, WI.

The last thing you need when you've lost 18 of 19 games since starting the season 2-2 is an 18-4 loss to a division rival.

But things went from already very bad to worse in Milwaukee on Wednesday night, with the Reds falling to 3-21 this season - the worst 24-game start to a season for a Major League Baseball team since the 2003 Detroit Tigers also started 3-21.

In MLB's Modern Era (since 1900), only the 1988 Baltimore Orioles had a worse 24-game start at 1-23.

In fact, Major League Soccer's FC Cincinnati - at 4-5-1 - got its fourth win of the 2022 season before the Reds did.

Former Reds pitcher Kent Mercker expressed disbelief earlier this week to the Columbus Dispatch's Rob Oller.

"It's hard not to accidentally win more games," Mercker told Oller. "You would almost say let's try to go (3-21) and you couldn't do it."

More from Oller on Mercker's assessment of this year's Reds:

"Any realistic Reds fan knew it wasn’t a playoff-contending year, so you go in with that assumption," Mercker said, couching his comments under the umbrella of low expectations.

"Sometimes a little harder isn’t a little smarter," Mercker said, explaining the tendency of players trying to become the hero who helps break a slump. "Guys try to put too much pressure on themselves instead of relying on the back of their baseball card. Don’t do more than you're capable of. If you slap the ball to right field, don’t try to become a home run hitter. They started out (2-2). Those guys are still in the clubhouse. There’s enough talent on that roster."

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