# 1986 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1986 Cincinnati Reds season was the 117th season for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 17th and 16th full season at Riverfront Stadium. It consisted of the Cincinnati Reds attempting to win the National League West, although falling short in second place behind the Houston Astros.
Eric Davis hit 27 home runs and stole 80 bases this season. The New York Yankees' Rickey Henderson also had over 20 home runs and 80 steals in 1986, he and Davis are the only two major leaguers to accomplish this feat.

## Offseason

* December 19, 1985: Jay Tibbs, Andy McGaffigan, John Stuper, and Dann Bilardello were traded by the Reds to the Montreal Expos for Bill Gullickson and Sal Butera.
* January 16, 1986: Derek Botelho was signed as a free agent with the Cincinnati Reds.
* January 20, 1986: Tony Pérez was signed as a free agent by the Reds.

## Regular season

* On August 5, 1986, Steve Carlton struck out Eric Davis for the 4000th strikeout of his career.
* August 17, 1986: Pete Rose played in the last game of his career. It was a game against the San Diego Padres, and Rose was struck out by Goose Gossage.

### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Houston Astros | 96 | 66 | .593 | — | 52‍–‍29 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 86 | 76 | .531 | 10 | 43‍–‍38 | 43‍–‍38 |
| San Francisco Giants | 83 | 79 | .512 | 13 | 46‍–‍35 | 37‍–‍44 |
| San Diego Padres | 74 | 88 | .457 | 22 | 43‍–‍38 | 31‍–‍50 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 73 | 89 | .451 | 23 | 46‍–‍35 | 27‍–‍54 |
| Atlanta Braves | 72 | 89 | .447 | 23½ | 41‍–‍40 | 31‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1986 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 9–3 | 6–12 | 5–13 | 10–8 | 4–7 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 12–6 | 7–11 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 3–9 | — | 5–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 9–8 | 7–11 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 10–7 |
| Cincinnati | 12–6 | 7–5 | — | 4–14 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 7–5 |
| Houston | 13–5 | 8–4 | 14–4 | — | 10–8 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 7–5 |
| Los Angeles | 8–10 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 8–10 | — | 5–7 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 8–4 |
| Montreal | 7–4 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 9–9 |
| New York | 8–4 | 12–6 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 10–8 | — | 8–10 | 17–1 | 10–2 | 7–5 | 12–6 |
| Philadelphia | 8-4 | 8–9 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 10–8 | — | 11–7 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 6–12 |
| Pittsburgh | 7–5 | 11–7 | 2–10 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–11 | 1–17 | 7–11 | — | 8–4 | 4–8 | 7–11 |
| San Diego | 6–12 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 8–4 | 2–10 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 8–10 | 5–7 |
| San Francisco | 11–7 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 10–8 | — | 5–7 |
| St. Louis | 6–6 | 7–10 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 7–5 | — |

### Notable transactions

* March 31, 1986: Wayne Krenchicki was traded by the Reds to the Montreal Expos for Norm Charlton and a player to be named later. The Expos completed the deal by sending Tim Barker (minors) to the Reds on April 2.
* April 4, 1986: Chris Welsh was signed as a free agent with the Cincinnati Reds.

#### Draft picks

* June 2, 1986: Reggie Jefferson was drafted by the Reds in the 3rd round of the 1986 amateur draft.

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Bo Diaz | 134 | 474 | 129 | .272 | 10 | 56 |
| 1B | Pete Rose | 72 | 237 | 52 | .219 | 0 | 25 |
| 2B | Ron Oester | 153 | 523 | 135 | .258 | 8 | 44 |
| SS | Kurt Stillwell | 104 | 279 | 64 | .229 | 0 | 26 |
| 3B | Buddy Bell | 155 | 568 | 158 | .278 | 20 | 75 |
| LF | Eric Davis | 132 | 415 | 115 | .277 | 27 | 71 |
| CF | Eddie Milner | 145 | 424 | 110 | .259 | 15 | 47 |
| RF | Dave Parker | 162 | 637 | 174 | .273 | 31 | 116 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Nick Esasky | 102 | 330 | 76 | .230 | 12 | 41 |
| Dave Concepción | 90 | 311 | 81 | .260 | 3 | 30 |
| Tony Pérez | 77 | 200 | 51 | .255 | 2 | 29 |
| Kal Daniels | 74 | 181 | 58 | .320 | 6 | 23 |
| Barry Larkin | 41 | 159 | 45 | .283 | 3 | 19 |
| Max Venable | 108 | 147 | 31 | .211 | 2 | 15 |
| Sal Butera | 56 | 113 | 27 | .239 | 2 | 16 |
| Tracy Jones | 46 | 86 | 30 | .349 | 2 | 10 |
| Wade Rowdon | 38 | 80 | 20 | .250 | 0 | 10 |
| Tom Runnells | 12 | 11 | 1 | .091 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Van Gorder | 9 | 10 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul O'Neill | 3 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Bill Gullickson | 37 | 244.2 | 15 | 12 | 3.38 | 121 |
| Tom Browning | 39 | 243.1 | 14 | 13 | 3.81 | 147 |
| John Denny | 27 | 171.1 | 11 | 10 | 4.20 | 115 |
| Chris Welsh | 24 | 139.1 | 6 | 9 | 4.78 | 40 |
| Mario Soto | 19 | 105.0 | 5 | 10 | 4.71 | 67 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Ted Power | 56 | 129.0 | 10 | 6 | 3.70 | 95 |
| Mike Smith | 2 | 3.1 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 1 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| John Franco | 74 | 6 | 6 | 29 | 2.94 | 84 |
| Ron Robinson | 70 | 10 | 3 | 14 | 3.24 | 117 |
| Rob Murphy | 34 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0.72 | 36 |
| Carl Willis | 29 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4.47 | 24 |
| Scott Terry | 28 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6.14 | 32 |
| Joe Price | 25 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5.40 | 30 |
| Bill Landrum | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 14 |
| Sal Butera | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Denver Zephyrs | American Association | Jack Lind |
| AA | Vermont Reds | Eastern League | Jay Ward |
| A | Tampa Tarpons | Florida State League | Marc Bombard |
| A | Cedar Rapids Reds | Midwest League | Gene Dusan and Paul Kirsch |
| Rookie | GCL Reds | Gulf Coast League | Sam Mejías |
| Rookie | Billings Mustangs | Pioneer League | Jeff Cox |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Vermont