Cincinnati

The turbulent skies above Great American Ball Park cleared just long enough to allow Major League Baseball's 2015 Home Run Derby to proceed as scheduled, albeit with some slight modifications:

Though the storm had momentarily stopped, the thunder and lightning continued in the park as the league's eight chosen hitters combined to set a new Derby record, more than doubling last year's output, per ESPN Stats & Info:

The 86th annual All-Star game will take place at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday at the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. The festivities, though, got started off with a few bangs on Monday night with baseball's Home Run Derby.  

Todd Frazier seemed all too comfortable in his home park as he did something he'd done 15 times before in 2015: hit a ball into the red-shirted screaming fans beyond the outfield wall.

The current record of the Cincinnati Reds is less indicative of the team’s overall potential and more about the cavalcade of injuries sustained thus far. When writers and fans alike suggest the Reds may not have to “blow it up,” it’s hard not to agree.

The Cincinnati Reds are down to just three Opening Day starters in the lineup, and at five under .500 and 11.5 games back of the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central, it's time for the Reds to look ahead.

Optimists could cite the 5.5 games the Reds are from the last wild-card spot, so long as they also name the seven teams that would have to be jumped just to get there.

It's what's on the agenda when a team is eight games under .500 and 11.5 games out of first before June. Because a Reds rebuild seems all but certain with ace Johnny Cueto playing in the final year of his contract, it's time to assess what's worked and what's in store.

At this juncture, the Cincinnati Reds have no idea what they're going to do at the deadline.

They're 18-17, 6.5 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central and just a half game behind the final wild card spot. That makes it particularly challenging for the Reds' brass to decide what to do with this roster at such a pivotal fork in the road, one where the Reds and ace Johnny Cueto probably part ways.

Based on your general disposition, you see the Cincinnati Reds in one of the two following lights: They're a team at or floating around .500 with baseball's worst OBP and worst bullpen ERA, or they're a team at .500 and tied for the remaining wild-card slot.

History suggests Reds owner Bob Castellini will see the latter. He's a competitive soul, so long as the Reds can sniff a playoff spot, don't expect them to sell.

Most reasonable baseball fans would think an article debating panic or patience in April is a little forward, if not plain aggressive. But if it's late enough for a pregame manager meltdown with the press, perhaps it's late enough to wonder aloud about a few struggling players on the Cincinnati Reds.

After a promising first series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Cincinnati Reds will look to establish significant territory in the NL Central standings. Their next 19 games will feature NL Central opponents, and 22 of their next 26 games in total. 

The Cincinnati Reds are getting no love.

In the most recent season outlook, Grantland writer Ben Lindbergh's NLC Preview uses a lot of data and makes mathematical projections, and not even the numbers are improving this team's outlook. In case you haven't got around to it, here's an excerpt on why we can expect the Reds to suck in 2015: