The Reds introduced that they’ve parted methods with supervisor David Bell. Bench coach Freddie Benavides will act because the membership’s interim supervisor for the rest of the season.
In an announcement launched to the media, president of baseball operations Nick Krall stated that “David offered the sort of steadiness that we would have liked in our clubhouse over the previous few seasons. We felt a change was wanted to maneuver the Main League group ahead. We now have not achieved the success we anticipated, and we have to start specializing in 2025.”
Bell’s tenure ends simply wanting six full seasons as Cincinnati’s supervisor. Three of Bell’s six seasons noticed the Reds end with a successful file — their 31-29 file within the shortened 2020 season that led to a playoff berth, an 83-win marketing campaign in 2021, and an 82-win season in 2023. That latter season hinted at larger issues forward for the Reds, given how the group seemingly had an overload of younger position-player expertise all breaking out on the identical time. The group even awarded Bell for his function within the Reds’ progress, as Bell was signed to a brand new contract extension in July 2023 that lined the 2024-26 seasons.
Nonetheless, it maybe shouldn’t be ignored that the Reds waited to present Bell a brand new deal till he was solely about two months away from the expiration from his earlier contract. Which may’ve been the primary trace that the Reds’ possession and entrance workplace was solely prepared to present Bell a lot leeway in persevering with because the membership’s skipper, and the disappointing nature of the 2024 season sealed Bell’s destiny.
The announcement of Noelvi Marte’s 80-game PED suspension in early March was the primary signal of hassle for the Reds, and the dangerous information continued throughout Spring Coaching when Matt McLain needed to endure a shoulder surgical procedure. McLain ended up lacking the complete season recovering from that surgical procedure after which a stress response in his rib cage suffered throughout his rehab work. Christian Encarnacion-Strand didn’t play after the primary week of Might as a result of a wrist damage that required surgical procedure, thus resulting in a misplaced 12 months for yet one more of the Reds’ promising younger infielders.
Accidents continued to deplete the roster at different inopportune occasions, together with a close to rotation-wide slate of accidents that hit the pitching workers in August. Past the accidents, different would-be cornerstones like Spencer Steer or Alexis Diaz offered solely common ranges of manufacturing, and offseason acquisitions like Jeimer Candelario and Frankie Montas additionally disenchanted.
All of it added as much as an underwhelming season in Cincinnati, and whereas Bell is hardly the one wrongdoer behind the Reds’ lack of success, the group will now shake issues up within the dugout. USA At present’s Bob Nightengale (X hyperlink) has already reported that Marlins supervisor Skip Schumaker is into account to be the Reds’ subsequent subject common, and Schumaker has previous ties to the membership as a former Reds participant in 2014-15. Schumaker received NL Supervisor of the 12 months honors in main Miami to the playoffs in his first 12 months as skipper in 2023, however the Marlins’ resolution to half methods with GM Kim Ng (who employed Schumaker) after which shift into rebuild mode has all however confirmed that Schumaker is leaving South Florida at season’s finish.
Bell finishes with a 409-456 file over his time because the Reds’ supervisor. That lone postseason look in 2020 resulted in a two-game (and scoreless) sweep within the wild card collection, and Cincinnati nonetheless hasn’t received a playoff spherical for the reason that 1995 NLDS. The pandemic’s affect on Bell’s managerial profession can’t be understated, because the organizational lack of income over the 2020-21 seasons led possession to abruptly change course after a payroll improve within the 2019-20 offseason, and the Reds began to closely rebuild following their successful file in 2021.
Seen by means of this lens, the Reds have accomplished nicely to get again to enjoying aggressive baseball so quickly after the distress of a 100-loss season in 2022. Krall has accomplished nicely in reloading the group with premium prospect expertise, and Bell’s work in serving to a few of this younger expertise regulate to the majors shouldn’t be missed. It wouldn’t be stunning to see the Reds take that anticipated subsequent step in 2025 if the group enjoys higher well being and the youthful gamers fare higher with extra expertise underneath their belts, and certainly a brand new voice within the dugout is perhaps a key piece in serving to Cincinnati flip the nook.
Benavides is a longtime member of the Reds group, courting again to when the membership chosen him within the second spherical of the 1987 draft. The primary two of Benavides’ 4 Main League seasons had been performed in a Reds uniform, and after retirement, he spent near a decade working in Cincinnati’s farm system earlier than becoming a member of the massive league teaching workers in 2016. Benavides has been performing within the bench coach function since Bell was initially employed following the 2018 marketing campaign.
Photograph courtesy of USA At present Sports activities Pictures
