3 Bold Predictions for the Remainder of Cincinnati Reds' Season

While the 2015 MLB season may not have gotten off to the best start for the Cincinnati Reds, there is still plenty of time left in the season for the team to get something going.

Before the season began, many analysts predicted this team to finish last in the National League Central. That was a huge overreaction to an injury-riddled 2014 season and an offseason full of moves. This team still had plenty of talent and was ready to prove the doubters wrong.

The Reds have played .500 ball through the first five weeks of the season. An awful bullpen has already cost the team a handful of games and put it in a big hole in the division. Realistically, this team was never going to threaten the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central. It's the Cardinals' division until someone proves otherwise—and that's not happening anytime soon.

A lot can happen in the final five months of the season. Keep reading to see some bold predictions for Cincinnati for the rest of the 2015 campaign.

Johnny Cueto Will Be Traded in Late July

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Unless the Reds take off and somehow catch the Cardinals in the NL Central, Johnny Cueto will be traded by the time the trade deadline passes. Given how St. Louis has already started to run away with the NL Central, Cincinnati can pretty much forget about winning the division.

Just because the Reds are unlikely to win the division doesn't mean that they can't make the playoffs. A wild card spot isn't out of the question. Assuming the team is at least in striking distance of a wild card by the time the deadline comes, the front office will have a tough decision to make.

Should Cueto—a 20-game winner in 2014—be traded or should the club go all-in to make a run for a spot in the one-game playoff? 

That will be a tough decision to make, but the future should be the priority.

Cueto is one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. However, the Reds can't afford to give a 29-year-old pitcher a $200 million deal. Knowing that, the team has to get something in return for him.

When will the Reds trade Cueto? Trading him early, like in June, would allow them to get even more in return for him. Don't expect that to happen. With the All-Star Game in Cincinnati, look for Cueto to still be wearing a Reds uniform at least through the break. That will allow the Reds to have a pitcher be a candidate to start the Midsummer Classic.

It will be tough to say goodbye to one of the best pitchers in baseball. But it needs to be done at the deadline so that the team can get players who will be around for the future.

Cincinnati Will Stay in Playoff Contention Throughout the Season

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Yes, even without Cueto in the second half of the season, the Reds will be able to hang in the playoff race until the end.

Will the Reds make the playoffs? That will be tough without Cueto (and Homer Bailey), but not impossible.

Mike Leake (2.47 ERA, 0.870 WHIP) is quietly having a great season, eating innings (43.2 innings pitched in six starts) like an ace. Anthony DeSclafani (2.50 ERA, 1.111 WHIP) has been a pleasant surprise early on. Twenty-three-year-old Michael Lorenzen has allowed just five runs through the first three starts of his career.

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The only spot in the rotation that has struggled has been the No. 5 spot, occupied by the 36-year-old Jason Marquis. The veteran right-hander has struggled with consistency early on, and if he continues to get beat up every other start, he will eventually lose his spot in the rotation. The Reds have plenty of young arms at Triple-A who could come up and take over.

Should the Reds end up trading Cueto, Raisel Iglesias will likely rejoin the rotation—if he's not up by then already. Iglesias' stuff is ready for the majors, but he is currently getting some seasoning down in the minors.

This team has plenty of potential on offense. It has speed, it has power, it has stars. If the offense can realize its potential, look out.

Neither the rotation nor the offense are "great," but each unit is good enough to keep the team in contention throughout the entire season. As fans have seen early on, this team's season will be defined by the bullpen.

If the relievers not named Aroldis Chapman or Tony Cingrani start pitching effectively, the Reds will make a serious run at a wild card. If Kevin Gregg continues to pitch in close games, it will be tough for this team to win games.  

Whether or not the Reds make the playoffs, they will be in contention all year. 

Reds Will Lead NL in Home Runs

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Cincinnati may not be the best at coming up with clutch hits with runners in scoring position, but the team knows how to hit the long ball. And it helps to play 81 games at Great American Ball Park.

The Reds rank third in the majors in home runs with 39, trailing only the Los Angeles Dodgers (47) and the Houston Astros (45). However, unlike those other teams, the Reds aren't getting many other extra-base hits. They currently have nine triples (one behind the league leaders) and just 28 doubles (30th). That's right, they have more home runs than doubles and triples combined. No other team has a stat like that.

If the Reds can continue to blast home runs at such a wild rate, the lack of doubles will not hurt the team as much as it would most other teams.

Looking through the lineup, Cincinnati has four players—Jay Bruce, Marlon Byrd, Todd Frazier and Joey Votto—capable of smashing 25 homers. Zack Cozart is probably good for at least 10 home runs per season. At this point in his career, Brandon Phillips isn't going to slug 30 homers the way he once did. However, he could still probably add close to 10 long balls.

That's a total of six players who provide some pop with the bat. Even if you don't see the 33-year-old Phillips as a player with much pop left, the Reds still have four legitimate power threats. Not many teams have that kind of power throughout their lineups.

The Reds won't get many home runs out of Billy Hamilton or their catchers (assuming Devin Mesoraco winds up on the disabled list in the near future). If those players can at least get on base, they can at least make the home runs other players hit very damaging to opponents.

Between the players in the lineup and the stadium that the team plays in, this Reds squad is going to hit its fair share of home runs this season. That's reason enough to get fans to go to Great American Ball Park this summer and watch the fireworks shoot out of the power stacks on a nightly basis.

All stats are via MLB.com.