# 1998 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1998 Cincinnati Reds season was the 129th season for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 29th and 28th full season at Cinergy Field The Reds improved on their record of 76–86 from 1997 and finished the season at 77-85, but missed the postseason for the 3rd consecutive season.

## Offseason

* November 11, 1997: Paul Bako and Donne Wall were traded by the Reds to the Detroit Tigers for Melvin Nieves.
* November 11, 1997: Mike Kelly was traded by the Reds to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for a player to be named later. The Devil Rays completed the deal by sending Dmitri Young to the Reds on November 18.
* November 27, 1997: Ricardo Jordan was signed as a free agent by the Reds.
* December 20, 1997: Dave Weathers was selected off waivers by the Cincinnati Reds from the Cleveland Indians.
* January 8, 1998: José Rijo was signed as a free agent by the Reds.
* January 12, 1998: Pete Rose Jr. was signed as a free agent by the Reds.
* March 19, 1998: Midre Cummings was selected off waivers from the Reds by the Boston Red Sox.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL Central :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Houston Astros | 102 | 60 | .630 | — | 55‍–‍26 | 47‍–‍34 |
| Chicago Cubs | 90 | 73 | .552 | 12½ | 51‍–‍31 | 39‍–‍42 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 83 | 79 | .512 | 19 | 48‍–‍34 | 35‍–‍45 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 77 | 85 | .475 | 25 | 39‍–‍42 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 74 | 88 | .457 | 28 | 38‍–‍43 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 69 | 93 | .426 | 33 | 40‍–‍40 | 29‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1998 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | AZ | ATL | CHC | CIN | COL | FLA | HOU | LA | MIL | MTL | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | AL |
| Arizona | — | 1–8 | 5–7 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 6–2 | 4–5 | 4–8 | 6–3 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 2–7 | 6–3 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 2–7 | 5–8 |
| Atlanta | 8–1 | — | 3–6 | 7–2 | 5–3 | 7–5 | 4–5 | 8–1 | 7–2 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 7–2 | 5–4 | 7–2 | 6–3 | 9–7 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | 6–3 | — | 6–5 | 7–2 | 7–2 | 4–7 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 7–2 | 4–5 | 3–6 | 8–3 | 5–4 | 7–3 | 4–7 | 5–8 |
| Cincinnati | 5–4 | 2–7 | 5–6 | — | 4–5 | 9–0 | 3–8 | 5–4 | 6–5 | 8–1 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 5–7 | 1–11 | 2–7 | 8–3 | 7-6 |
| Colorado | 6–6 | 3–5 | 2–7 | 5–4 | — | 6–3 | 6–5 | 6–6 | 4–7 | 7–2 | 3–6 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 3–6 | 4–8 |
| Florida | 2–6 | 5–7 | 2–7 | 0–9 | 3–6 | — | 3–6 | 4–5 | 0–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 0–9 | 4–5 | 8–8 |
| Houston | 5–4 | 5–4 | 7–4 | 8–3 | 5–6 | 6-3 | — | 3–6 | 9–2 | 7–2 | 5–4 | 7–2 | 9–2 | 5–4 | 6–3 | 5–7 | 10–4 |
| Los Angeles | 8–4 | 1–8 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 5–4 | 6–3 | — | 5–4 | 5–4 | 3–5 | 5–4 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 4–5 | 8–5 |
| Milwaukee | 3–6 | 2–7 | 6–6 | 5–6 | 7–4 | 9–0 | 2–9 | 4–5 | — | 6–3 | 1–8 | 4–5 | 6–5 | 3–6 | 5–4 | 3–8 | 8–6 |
| Montreal | 7–2 | 6–6 | 2–7 | 1–8 | 2–7 | 7–5 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 3–6 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 | 2–7 | 4–4 | 3–6 | 3–6 | 6–10 |
| New York | 5–4 | 3–9 | 5–4 | 6–3 | 6–3 | 7–5 | 4–5 | 5–3 | 8–1 | 4–8 | — | 8–4 | 4–5 | 4–5 | 4–5 | 6–3 | 9–7 |
| Philadelphia | 7-2 | 4–8 | 6–3 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 7–5 | 4–8 | — | 8–1 | 1–8 | 2–6 | 3–6 | 7–9 |
| Pittsburgh | 3–6 | 2–7 | 3–8 | 7–5 | 4–5 | 6–3 | 2–9 | 5–7 | 5–6 | 7–2 | 5–4 | 1–8 | — | 5–4 | 2–7 | 6–5 | 6–7 |
| San Diego | 9–3 | 4–5 | 4–5 | 11–1 | 7–5 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 7–5 | 6–3 | 4–4 | 5–4 | 8–1 | 4–5 | — | 8–4 | 6–3 | 6–7 |
| San Francisco | 7–5 | 2–7 | 3–7 | 7–2 | 5–7 | 9–0 | 3–6 | 6–6 | 4–5 | 6–3 | 5–4 | 6–2 | 7–2 | 4–8 | — | 7–5 | 8–5 |
| St. Louis | 7–2 | 3–6 | 7–4 | 3–8 | 6–3 | 5-4 | 7–5 | 5–4 | 8–3 | 6–3 | 3–6 | 6–3 | 5–6 | 3–6 | 5–7 | — | 4–9 |

### Notable transactions

* April 8, 1998: Buddy Carlyle was traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the San Diego Padres for Marc Kroon.
* June 24, 1998: Dave Weathers was selected off waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers from the Cincinnati Reds.
* July 4, 1998: Jeff Shaw was traded by the Reds to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Paul Konerko and Dennys Reyes.
* July 21, 1998: Jason Bere was signed as a free agent by the Reds.

#### Draft picks

* June 2, 1998: Adam Dunn was drafted by the Reds in the 2nd round of the 1998 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed June 11, 1998.
* June 2, 1998: Termel Sledge was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 45th round of the 1998 amateur draft, but did not sign.

### 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 | Ed Taubensee | 130 | 491 | 120 | .278 | 11 | 72 |
| 1B | Sean Casey | 96 | 351 | 82 | .272 | 7 | 52 |
| 2B | Bret Boone | 157 | 648 | 155 | .266 | 24 | 95 |
| SS | Barry Larkin | 145 | 626 | 166 | .309 | 17 | 72 |
| 3B | Willie Greene | 111 | 417 | 96 | .270 | 14 | 49 |
| LF | Dmitri Young | 144 | 590 | 166 | .310 | 14 | 83 |
| CF | Reggie Sanders | 135 | 481 | 129 | .268 | 14 | 59 |
| RF | Jon Nunnally | 74 | 213 | 36 | .207 | 7 | 20 |
Stats through the end of the 1998 season

#### 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 |
| Chris Stynes | 123 | 347 | 88 | .254 | 6 | 27 |
| Aaron Boone | 58 | 181 | 51 | .282 | 2 | 28 |
| Eduardo Pérez | 84 | 172 | 41 | .238 | 4 | 30 |
| Pat Watkins | 83 | 147 | 39 | .265 | 2 | 15 |
| Brook Fordyce | 57 | 146 | 37 | .253 | 3 | 14 |
| Pokey Reese | 59 | 133 | 34 | .256 | 1 | 16 |
| Lenny Harris | 57 | 122 | 36 | .295 | 0 | 10 |
| Melvin Nieves | 83 | 119 | 30 | .252 | 2 | 17 |
| Mike Frank | 28 | 89 | 20 | .225 | 0 | 7 |
| Jeffrey Hammonds | 26 | 86 | 26 | .302 | 0 | 11 |
| Paul Konerko | 26 | 73 | 16 | .219 | 3 | 13 |
| Roberto Petagine | 34 | 62 | 16 | .258 | 3 | 7 |
| Damian Jackson | 13 | 38 | 12 | .316 | 0 | 7 |
| Guillermo Garcia | 12 | 36 | 7 | .194 | 2 | 4 |
| Tony Tarasco | 15 | 24 | 5 | .208 | 1 | 4 |
| Stephen Larkin | 1 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 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 |
| Brett Tomko | 34 | 210.2 | 13 | 12 | 4.44 | 162 |
| Pete Harnisch | 32 | 209.0 | 14 | 7 | 3.14 | 157 |
| Mike Remlinger | 35 | 164.1 | 8 | 15 | 4.82 | 144 |
| Steve Parris | 18 | 99.0 | 6 | 5 | 3.73 | 77 |
| Scott Winchester | 16 | 79.0 | 3 | 6 | 5.81 | 40 |
| Jason Bere | 9 | 43.2 | 3 | 2 | 4.12 | 31 |
| Dennys Reyes | 8 | 38.2 | 3 | 1 | 4.42 | 44 |
| Scott Klingenbeck | 4 | 22.2 | 1 | 3 | 5.96 | 13 |
| Eddie Priest | 2 | 6.0 | 0 | 1 | 10.50 | 1 |
| Steve Cooke | 1 | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 1.50 | 3 |

#### 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 |
| David Weathers | 16 | 62.1 | 2 | 4 | 6.21 | 51 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Jeff Shaw | 39 | 2 | 4 | 23 | 1.81 | 29 |
| Gabe White | 69 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 4.01 | 83 |
| Scott Sullivan | 67 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 5.21 | 86 |
| Danny Graves | 62 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 3.32 | 44 |
| Stan Belinda | 40 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 3.23 | 57 |
| John Hudek | 30 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2.43 | 40 |
| Rick Krivda | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11.28 | 19 |
| Mark Hutton | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.41 | 3 |
| Todd Williams | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.71 | 4 |
| Ricardo Jordan | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24.30 | 1 |
| Marc Kroon | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 4 |
| Keith Glauber | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.35 | 4 |
| Lenny Harris | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Indianapolis Indians | International League | Dave Miley |
| AA | Chattanooga Lookouts | Southern League | Mark Berry |
| A | Burlington Bees | Midwest League | Phillip Wellman |
| A | Charleston Alley Cats | South Atlantic League | Barry Lyons |
| Rookie | Billings Mustangs | Pioneer League | Russ Nixon |