While the Reds came into this season with somewhat modest expectations, it’s a fitting result when you look at how their offseason went.

Last year’s accidentally terrible team was the Diamondbacks and it sure seems like it’s going to be the Reds this year. It feels like every year there seems to be one or two teams who end up being terrible by accident. The Reds were one of those teams that were definitely not in Dodgers territory when it came to preseason expectations, but they also weren’t thinking that they’d be bringing up the rear in their own division after getting off to a historically bad start, either. They’ve put a little breathing room between them and the team that currently holds baseball’s worst record right now: The Cincinnati Reds.

With that being said, the Pirates have actually managed to avoid the cellar so far in 2022. Sure, the Dodgers and the Pirates may have the same record on Opening Day but that’s as close as they’ll get to each other in the standings. At this point, there’s a pretty solid hierarchy of teams who have expectations to potentially be playing baseball in October and teams who are just giving their organization another year to let their prospects grow in the minor leagues while putting out a major league team that is seemingly just out there to play out the string. The idea of Opening Day being the optimistic start of a new and potentially successful season for every team in the league has gone by the wayside in recent years.

Most embarrassing moments in baseball