Nick Lodolo went the distance and kept the Cincinnati Reds as the only team in the majors that hasn’t been swept this season.

President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall takes questions during an event to introduce the new manager of the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park in downtown Cincinnati on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. / Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Martinez went on to say the trade deadline was motivation for the 2025 Reds, who stood at 54-50 after Friday's victory and one game back of the San Diego Padres for the third National League Wild Card.

The Cincinnati Reds came out of the All-Star break, won two games and were just 1 1/2 games behind the final wild-card position

Joe Katuska, the Cincinnati Reds' director of amateur scouting, believes the best MLB draft class he's seen was that of 2023. That's the class where the Louisiana State duo of pitcher Paul Skenes ...

"There's so much less certainty of the grouping near the top," said Reds director of amateur scouting, Joe Katuska said.

This was not a playoff team in October. Or a contender in September. This was the bad-bullpen, meh-lineup Nationals playing for nothing in July.

After losing a series to the Washington Nationals earlier in the week, the Reds are 53-50 and sit 2 1/2 games out of the third and final National League Wild Card spot. The Reds desperately could use a right-handed power bat as well as bullpen help.

There's belief around MLB that the San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds should be among the teams looking to make major additions ahead of the upcoming trade deadline.

The Cincinnati Reds were right to be concerned about Carson Spiers, who is likely heading for surgery and will miss the rest of this season, and more.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/reds as MLB Analyst Point to Cincinnati Reds Infield Prospect as Top Trade Chip . Major League Baseball's trade deadline is less than a week away. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com went through each MLB team and provided his best trade chip for each club.