The Baseball Scholar

Cincinnati Reds Best Single Seasons

Dave Franks
1–2 minutes

These are the greatest individual seasons in Cincinnati Reds history, broken down by player and position. Since we’re celebrating standout seasons, players can show up multiple times especially if they logged meaningful time at different spots on the field. Outfielders and pitchers may also appear for multiple seasons when those performances rank as the franchise’s best at their respective positions.

Catcher

  • Johnny Bench – 1972HOFMVP

    Johnny Bench Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    8.6 156 147 652 538 87 145 22 2 40 125 100 84 6 6 .270 .379 .541 .920

    • First Base

  • Joey Votto – 2015

    Joey Votto Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    7.7 174 158 695 545 95 171 33 2 29 80 143 135 11 3 .314 .459 .541 1.000

    • Second Base

  • Joe Morgan – 1975HOFMVP

    Joe Morgan Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    11.0 176 146 639 498 107 163 27 6 17 94 132 52 67 10 .327 .466 .508 .974

    • Third Base

  • Tony Perez – 1970HOF

    Tony Perez Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    7.2 162 158 681 587 107 186 28 6 40 129 83 134 8 3 .317 .401 .589 .990

    • Shortstop

  • Barry Larkin – 1996HOF

    Barry Larkin Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    7.2 157 152 627 517 117 154 32 4 33 89 96 52 36 10 .298 .410 .567 .977

    • Outfield

  • Frank Robinson – 1962HOF

    Frank Robinson Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    8.7 171 162 701 609 134 208 51 2 39 136 76 62 18 9 .342 .421 .624 1.045

    • Outfield

  • George Foster – 1977MVP

    George Foster Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    8.4 165 158 689 615 124 197 31 2 52 149 61 107 6 4 .320 .382 .631 1.013

    • Outfield

  • Cy Seymour – 1905

    Cy Seymour Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    8.0 174 149 643 581 95 219 40 21 8 121 51 21 .377 .429 .559 .988

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Ewell Blackwell – 1947

    Ewell Blackwell Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    9.4 62 33 33 22 8 2.47 273 23 6 0 91 75 95 193 17.8% 1.18

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Jose Rijo – 1993

    Jose Rijo Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    9.2 61 36 36 14 9 2.48 257.1 2 1 0 76 71 62 227 22.1% 1.09

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Dolf Luque – 1923

    Dolf Luque Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    10.7 50 41 37 27 8 1.93 322 28 6 2 90 69 88 151 11.6% 1.14

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Jim Maloney – 1965

    Jim Maloney Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    8.2 68 33 33 20 9 2.54 255.1 14 5 0 77 72 110 244 23.3% 1.17

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Johnny Cueto – 2014

    Johnny Cueto Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    6.6 61 34 34 20 9 2.25 243.2 4 2 0 69 61 65 242 25.2% 0.96

    • Relief Pitcher

  • Ted Abernathy – 1967

    Ted Abernathy Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    6.2 35 70 0 6 3 1.27 106.1 0 0 28 19 15 41 88 20.6% 0.98

    • Relief Pitcher

  • Rob Murphy – 1986

    Rob Murphy Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    2.5 18 34 0 6 0 0.72 50.1 0 0 1 4 4 21 36 18.5% 0.93

    • Relief Pitcher

  • Bill Henry – 1964

    Bill Henry Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    2.5 23 37 0 2 2 0.87 52 0 0 6 9 5 12 28 13.9% 0.83

    • Honorable Mention

  • Catcher – Johnny Bench, 1974
  • First Base – Joey Votto, 2010
  • Second Base – Joe Morgan, 1976
  • Third Base – Pete Rose, 1976
  • Shortstop – Barry Larkin, 1991
  • Outfield – Frank Robinson, 1964
  • Outfield – Eric Davis, 1987
  • Outfield – Frank Robinson, 1961
  • Starting Pitcher – Ewell Blackwell, 1950
  • Starting Pitcher – Noodles Hahn, 1902
  • Starting Pitcher – Bob Purkey, 1962
  • Starting Pitcher – Hunter Greene, 2024
  • Starting Pitcher – Sonny Gray, 2019
  • Relief Pitcher – Aroldis Chapman, 2012
  • Relief Pitcher – Rob Dibble, 1990

    • All underlying data used in this analysis is available in The Baseball Scholar Data Library.

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