Cincinnati Reds

After the Cincinnati Reds fell out of contention in late August, many fans wanted to see what the team's September call-ups could do. However, the call-ups have had very few chances to show what they can do early in the final month.

It's almost awards season!

So, who should win X or Y end-of-season-award? It's one of the most exciting, and debatable topics of the season, and since the minor league season is over, we can replicate that to some extent while looking at the Cincinnati Reds farm system.

Though the season was filled with some mixed results from top prospects, there are plenty of players who deserve recognition for their outstanding accomplishments.

It's a topic no one feels like talking about. It's a stat commonly dismissed, regarded as weak or passive. And in 2014, it is killing the Cincinnati Reds offense.

Take a brief stroll through Twitter to find out what people think of walking, especially regarding Joey Votto, who has built a reputation for accumulating bases on balls (BBs):

When the rosters expanded in early September, the Cincinnati Reds' transaction report was loaded with prospects. Unfortunately, many of the top names fans might have hoped to see grace the list (e.g., Robert Stephenson, Ben Lively and Michael Lorenzen) were nowhere to be found.

Even so, there are two prospects—maybe a third in Carlos Contreras—who could have solid yet very different futures at the big league level.

Though the offense is seemingly everyone's favorite topic when talking about the miserable season that 2014 has been, the bullpen may be the most crippling facet of this team that isn't being discussed. That is not to say that the Reds offense is good; rather, it's to suggest that the Reds offense is good enough to compete in the current landscape of MLB.

Cincinnati Reds outfielder Billy Hamilton matched a franchise rookie record Sunday, recording his 54th stolen base of the season in a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, per MLB Stat of the Day.

While injuries and bullpen woes have been staples of the Cincinnati Reds' 2014 campaign, offense has been similarly woeful. We can't say for certain whether it's related to injuries to crucial players or not. Is Jay Bruce suffering his worst professional season in seven years because of the shift or because he had a knee surgery in May?

It's finally come to this, Cincinnati Reds fans. With virtually no hope remaining in what has been one of the more miserable, disappointing Reds seasons to date, we shift our focus to 2015. In Redsland, 2015 is all we have. Beyond that, very little is guaranteed. 

Anyone with even a fractional interest in this team understands where improvements need to be made.

Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips, who went hitless in his first game back from the disabled list Monday, needs just two more hits to reach 1,500 for his career.

Following the disaster in Colorado, most Cincinnati Reds fans finally said farewell to a painful season full of hopes and what-ifs. That was, of course, before another walk-off defeat in St. Louis.

While the attitude inside of the clubhouse is probably still focused on 2014, the fact remains that this depleted Reds team probably won't be able to compete for the last wild-card spot (they need to jump four teams now), so the focus will shift to 2015.