David Bell let go as manager by Reds

CINCINNATI – Despite being signed to an extension midway last season, the Reds fired manager David Bell on Sunday after a 2024 campaign that saw the club underperform and miss the postseason.

Bench coach Freddie Benavides will be the interim manager for the Reds’ final five games at Cleveland and Chicago. There is an off-day on Monday before they resume play Tuesday vs. the Guardians.

Bell, who was initially hired before the 2019 season and later given a three-year contract extension through 2026, entered this year presiding over a club with high expectations.

Cincinnati disappointed as it could not build any consistent momentum throughout the year and has a 76-81 record while being fourth in the National League Central division standings.

“David provided the kind of steadiness that we needed in our clubhouse over the last few seasons,” president of baseball operations Nick Krall said in a release. “We felt a change was needed to move the Major League team forward. We have not achieved the success we expected and we need to begin focusing on 2025.”

Krall will hold a news conference at 11 a.m. ET Monday at Great American Ball Park.

The Reds are 11 ½ games out of a NL Wild Card spot – and were eliminated from postseason contention last week – after being just three games back at the All-Star break.

Injuries certainly played a role in Cincinnati’s lackluster season. Key players such as second baseman Matt McLain (left shoulder surgery) missed the entire season while first baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand (fractured right hand) missed all but the first month. Center fielder TJ Friedl and starting pitcher Nick Lodolo had multiple stints on the injured list.

The season also opened with rookie third baseman Noelvi Marte serving an 80-game suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs.

But the Reds underperformed after an offseason where more than $108 million was committed to free-agent additions that mostly addressed the club’s pitching. It was also a season where starting pitcher Hunter Greene and second-year five-tool shortstop Elly De La Cruz became All-Stars for the first time.

Cincinnati is one of the few teams to have a positive run differential despite a losing record. The Reds also had a 15-27 record in one-run games, second worst in the Major Leagues behind the White Sox. There was just one extended winning streak – of seven games – from June 2-8.

Frequently it was self-inflicted mistakes – especially running the bases and on defense – that hurt the Reds. The club is the MLB leader in outs on the bases and it also ranked poorly defensively.

As late as Aug. 15, the Reds were 60-61 and only four games back in the Wild Card race before a big collapse that saw them lose 12 of their next 16 games. Overall in August, the club went 12-17 as concurrent injuries to Greene, Lodolo and Andrew Abbott wrecked the rotation.

In Bell’s six seasons as manager, the Reds had a 409-456 record. He should be credited with creating a positive clubhouse environment and a team that played hard for him – especially during a 100-loss rebuilding season in 2022 and a surprise contending year in 2023. But there were three winning seasons – in 2020, 2021 and 2023 – though only one playoff appearance – during the pandemic-shortened season in ’20. The Reds were eliminated in the first round by the Braves without scoring a run.