Where would Cincinnati Reds be without these offseason moves?

For JJ Bleday , it was about getting closer to home (“Midwest, east coast, however you want to say it”), about the talent and manager and about an opportunity to perform, and win, he said.

For the Cincinnati Reds , it was about this. Everything the former No. 4 overall draft pick and sweet-swinging lefty hitter has done since getting that chance.

“Coming into spring training I felt good, I felt like there was some opportunity here, and when I got optioned out of spring I still felt like I was in a good spot mentally and physically,” said Bleday, who signed a $1.4 million free agent deal over the winter after a frustrating season with the Athletics .

“I just kept rolling with what I was doing in spring and took advantage of playing every day down there in Triple-A and worked on my approach and continued to get better," he said. “I was able to get the call and be up here, and it’s just about trying to keep on carrying it through.”

Nobody has been better at that for the Reds since the kid from western Pennsylvania earned that call April 25 when Eugenio Suárez was forced to the injured list by an oblique injury — so good that Bleday might put himself into consideration for a first All-Star bid if he keeps it up.

Meanwhile, two months into the season, he tops our list of the Reds’ best off-season acquisitions for 2026, a list that so far is missing some of the bigger investments.

Bleday homered in his first game in a Reds uniform and hasn’t looked back. Through Saturday he was hitting .295 with a .395 on-base percentage, nine home runs and 1.024 OPS in just 29 games.

As struggling Opening Day regulars such as TJ Friedl and Matt McLain have dropped from the top of the order (and alternately out of the lineup), Bleday has taken on larger roles toward the top and middle of the order for a team that has struggled offensively as a group much of the season.