Cincinnati Reds' Biggest Early-Season Surprises and Disappointments

As the Cincinnati Reds look to surprise some people in 2015, they have had to deal with some pleasant surprises and a few major disappointments early on this season.

The Reds are currently 5-6 on the season. They have already left a handful of wins on the field, mainly due to poor relief work. Those losses are games that may cost the team later this season, even if they are just April games.

Cincinnati is where it is at this point because of how the players have performed. Whether players are exceeding expectations or coming up short, the team has games to play.

Some may be surprised that first baseman Joey Votto, who is off to a scorching start, is not on this list. There were many who were down on him after he suffered an injury-riddled 2014 season. However, when he is healthy, this is what fans should expect to see out of him. It shouldn't be surprise.

Keep reading to see who is off to a surprising start and who is disappointing early on. 

*All stats are via MLB.com

Surprise: SS Zack Cozart

Gary Landers/Associated Press

Zack Cozart went through his fair share of struggles with the bat last season, but this year, he is showing signs of improvement.

Before last season, it looked like Cozart was going to be good for a .250 average, 15 home runs and 30 doubles every year. Cozart hit just .221 with four home runs last year, causing many fans to clamor for the club to find a new shortstop.

Cozart is looking much better at the plate this season than he did last year. The 29-year-old is hitting .368 with three doubles and a home run through the first 11 games of the 2015 season. Not only that, but he has also drawn two walks. He didn't draw his second walk last season until April 25.

Cozart is as good as it gets with the glove. Cincinnati stuck with him because his defense saves runs. Now, he is getting back to having good at-bats and is carrying his weight on offense.

The Reds don't need Cozart to put up MVP numbers, considering he is batting at the bottom of the lineup. However, if he continues to get hits, he is going to make it so the bottom of the order isn't full of easy outs.

Disappointment: "Improved" Offense

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Cincinnati entered the 2015 season with high hopes for its offense. However, outside of Joey Votto and Zack Cozart, there hasn't been much consistency in the lineup.

Without a doubt, the biggest disappointment of the offense has been Marlon Byrd. The Reds went out and acquired the 37-year-old to fill the hole in left field. The team hasn't gotten much production out of the position since Adam Dunn was traded back in 2008, and it had hoped that Byrd would be the solution.

That hasn't been the case so far.

Byrd is hitting just .143 with just one extra-base hit, which was a double. In 42 at-bats, he has struck out 13 times and has yet to draw a walk. The Reds acquired the outfielder hoping that he would provide some power and bring in runs. With just one extra-base hit and three RBI, it's safe to say that he has been the biggest disappointment of the offense thus far.

As much as Byrd has struggled early on, he is not the only one who should shoulder the blame for the team's lack of offense. Votto, Cozart and Brandon Phillips are the only players on the team with an average of .250 or better. Votto, Todd Frazier and Jay Bruce are the only ones who have more than one home run or three RBI.

In case you want to compare this offense to last year's, statistician Joel Luckhaupt recently sent out a staggering tweet that shows the unit hasn't improved at all since last year.

Overall, the "improved" offense hasn't lived up to expectations. The Reds have scored 36 runs through the first 11 games, which equates to just more than three runs per game. That's not going to get a team to the playoffs.

Surprise: RHP Raisel Iglesias

Tom Uhlman/Associated Press

Nobody really knew what to expect from Raisel Iglesias, but his major-league debut was very impressive.

Iglesias had the daunting task of facing the St. Louis Cardinals in his first start in the majors. He was dominant—borderline unhittable—through the first four innings of the game before he tired out in his fifth and final inning.

His line: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R (3 ER), 4 K, 2 BB.

Iglesias' stuff was, without a doubt, ready for the majors. He was mixing up his pitches and hitting his spots consistently throughout the first four innings. When he got hit around in the final inning, it's because he started missing his spots. A good team like the Cardinals will punish any pitcher who isn't sharp every pitch.

Unfortunately for the Cuban right-hander, he was sent down to the minors in order to make room for Homer Bailey. Iglesias can work on building up his arm strength and endurance while in Triple-A. He showed that he has the stuff to be a starting pitcher in the majors. Now, he just needs to work on being able to pitch deep into games.

Given how impressive Iglesias was, it wouldn't be a shock to see him back in the majors—as a starter or reliever—before too long.

Disappointment: RHP Kevin Gregg

Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

The Reds set out to improve the bullpen this past offseason, but so far, it looks like the same shaky bullpen that manager Bryan Price had to deal with last season.

The main culprit this season: Kevin Gregg.

Gregg won a spot in the bullpen out of spring training. He allowed just two runs in his first eight innings of work in the spring before allowing four runs while recording just two outs in his final outing of the exhibition season.

Unfortunately for Cincinnati, that final outing was a sign of things to come.

Take a look at Gregg's first four appearances of the season:

• April 6 vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (Blown Save): 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 HR, 0 K
• April 10 vs. St. Louis Cardinals: 0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 K
• April 12 vs. Cardinals (Loss): 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 K
• April 14 vs. Chicago Cubs:  0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 K, 1 BB

In the two games in which he didn't get charged with a blown save or a loss, Gregg contributed to the team blowing the lead in the inning.

To his credit, he was able to throw a shutout inning against the Cardinals on Saturday.

Price has insisted on using Gregg in high-leverage situations this season. So far, it has backfired over and over. The veteran right-hander isn't fooling anybody with his pitches and is looking like the guy who was unable to hold onto a spot in a major-league bullpen last season.

At some point, a team just has to move on from ineffective players. The 36-year-old Gregg isn't a part of the team's long-term future and is only hurting the team right now. With talented arms like Raisel Iglesias and Michael Lorenzen capable of making an impact in the majors, it would behoove the Reds to just cut ties with Gregg and give a youngster a shot to pitch in the majors.

Surprise: RHP J.J. Hoover

David Kohl/Associated Press

J.J. Hoover could not have been much worse in 2014, but he has rebounded nicely this season.

The right-hander went 1-10 with a 4.88 ERA—with the help of 13 home runs allowed—in 54 games last season. His poor performance ultimately led to him getting demoted. 

Now, he looks like the pre-2014 Hoover. Before last season, the right-hander had posted earned run averages of 2.05 (2012) and 2.86 (2013). Given how reliable he had been for two years, last season was a total shock.

This year, Hoover is on top of his game. The 27-year-old has allowed just one earned run (two runs total), with both runs scoring after an error. He has allowed just three hits in 5.1 innings pitched and has struck out four batters.

Manager Bryan Price has been looking for a reliever to grab ahold of the setup role. Kevin Gregg and Jumbo Diaz have been unsuccessful early on. At this point, Hoover and Tony Cingrani appear to be the only relievers Price can trust to get the ball to closer Aroldis Chapman.

It's still a small sample size, but if Hoover is able to continue to put up strong numbers, he could find himself pitching in a lot of meaningful situations this season.

Disappointment: LHP Manny Parra

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With Sean Marshall on the shelf, the Reds needed Manny Parra to step up and be a shutdown lefty specialist. 

That hasn't happened.

Parra is coming off a rough season. He went 0-3 with a 4.66 ERA in 53 appearances last year, allowing left-handers to hit .256 against him. Those troubling numbers have carried over into this season.

Sure, Parra has allowed just one run this season. However, he has allowed other pitchers' runners to score. More importantly, he is allowing baserunners at an alarming rate. Both right-handers and left-handers are hitting .500 off the southpaw, and he has also mixed in three walks, with two coming to left-handed hitters.

Cincinnati has three left-handers—Parra, Aroldis Chapman and Tony Cingrani—in its bullpen. Chapman is the closer, so he's only going to be used for save situations or tied games. Cingrani is the team's long man, even though he has good enough stuff to solve the team's eighth-inning problems. With Chapman and Cingrani having other defined roles, the Reds need Parra to step up and get left-handed hitters out.

Good left-handed relievers aren't easy to find. However, it's getting to the point that the Reds may want to start looking for other options—or expand Cingrani's role.