A mass inflow of younger expertise led the 2023 Reds to a 82-80 file and hopes that the membership may grow to be full-fledged contenders this season. Sadly, even a .500 file is an extended shot at this level, because the 72-77 Reds have fallen out of playoff rivalry. Most of Cincinnati’s breakout gamers from 2023 took steps backwards attributable to accidents or simply flat-out lack of manufacturing and gamers like Jeimer Candelario or (the since-traded) Frankie Montas meant to deliver veteran stability additionally struggled.
“As of proper now, we’re going to judge every part on the finish of the yr and see what now we have to do to maneuver ahead,” president of baseball operations Nick Krall instructed reporters, together with the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Gordon Wittenmyer. Krall included “myself, everyone” beneath this purview, although there hasn’t been any indication that possession is contemplating firing Krall lower than a yr after signing him to a contract extension.
Supervisor David Bell additionally inked a brand new extension halfway by final season, locking up the skipper on a three-year deal protecting the 2024-26 campaigns. “He’s acquired a contract for subsequent yr,” Krall mentioned of Bell’s standing with the group, which may very well be learn as both a matter-of-fact manner of declaring Bell’s job safety or as one thing lower than a full affirmation that Bell will return for what can be his seventh season because the Reds’ supervisor.
Krall famous that organization-wide evaluations are achieved yearly as a matter of due diligence, so on the whole, the PBO isn’t breaking any information by saying that the Reds will take a deep take a look at what went awry. Nonetheless, such evaluations within the wake of a dropping season may doubtlessly result in bigger strikes because the workforce seems for solutions. It will appear to be some teaching modifications might be made on the very minimal and whether or not or not Bell’s job atop the dugout depth chart stays to be seen.
Bell takes a 405-452 file into Saturday’s motion, with profitable information in three of his six full seasons. The Reds have by no means had higher than a .517 profitable proportion beneath Bell and their solely playoff look throughout his tenure got here within the shortened 2020 season, when the league expanded the playoff bracket to 16 groups. Cincinnati was a fast out in that yr’s postseason, because the Reds didn’t even rating a run throughout a pair of losses to the Braves in a best-of-three wild card sequence.
As all the time, it’s exhausting to pinpoint how a lot a supervisor does or doesn’t contribute to a workforce’s success or failure. Bell took over a Reds workforce that was simply popping out of a rebuild after which rapidly entered into one other payroll reduce and semi-rebuild following the 2021 season, because the workforce wished to economize attributable to revenues misplaced through the pandemic. Bell has managed the Reds by this tumult, in addition to a front-office change (with Krall taking on the baseball operations division from Dick Williams after the 2020 season), the fully surprising circumstance of the pandemic after which this fast pivot again to a reload of younger expertise.
Except possession feels a brand new voice is required within the dugout to actually get the Reds again onto a profitable observe, Bell would possibly get a minimum of another yr as supervisor. It appears fairly potential the Reds would possibly instantly have a way more optimistic outlook if the youthful gamers who struggled or missed time this yr (i.e. Matt McLain, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Alexis Diaz, Noelvi Marte, and so forth.) re-establish themselves in 2025. And, if Bell is being gauged on the event of the workforce’s younger core, then the emergence of Elly De La Cruz, Hunter Greene and Andrew Abbott may all rely as arguments as to why he ought to stick round.
For as a lot as a managerial change can shake issues up, it’s also maybe the best manner for a workforce to deal with a disappointing stretch of play and never essentially the right manner. Krall will face an attention-grabbing offseason in figuring out tips on how to construct the roster by extra additions (whereas nonetheless working on a considerably restricted payroll) and in figuring which of the youthful stars may need performed themselves out of Cincinnati’s future or who simply had “sophomore hunch” varieties of seasons.
