David Bell, the Cincinnati Reds’ manager for the past six seasons, was fired Sunday night.
The team made this announcement a few hours after losing 2-0 to the Pittsburgh Pirates, selecting bench coach Freddie Benavides as interim manager for the remaining five games of the season.
“David gave the stability that we required in our clubhouse during the last three seasons. We felt a change was necessary to propel the Major League team forward. We have not achieved the performance we planned, and we must begin focusing on 2025,” said Reds President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall in a statement posted on the team’s website.
With only a week remaining in the season, the Reds have a 76-81 record and are fourth in the NL Central, 13 1/2 games behind division leader Milwaukee. Cincinnati will complete the season with five road games.
They’ll play two games in Cleveland on Tuesday and Wednesday, then three in Chicago against the Cubs.
David Bell, 52 years old, was hired by the Reds in October 2018. He has a record of 409-456 in six seasons.
Under Bell’s guidance, the Reds advanced to the playoffs in his second season, which was cut short to 60 games due to COVID-19.
The Reds finished the 2021 season with a strong 83-79 record, third in the National League Central. That year, second baseman Jonathan India was also named National League Rookie of the Year.
Cincinnati had its first 100-game loss in forty years in 2022. However, they improved to 82-80 in 2023, despite missing a record 650 games due to injury.
This season began with high hopes, which Bell and the Reds failed to realize. In May, an eight-game losing run dropped them five games below.500. They won seven games in a row in June, bringing their record back to just one game below.500, but they were unable to maintain that success.
This issue with consistency persisted throughout the season.
The Reds whitewashed the Yankees in a three-game series in New York on July 2-4, but they quickly lost momentum.
They appeared capable of making a postseason run when they swept the Cardinals from August 12-14, improving their record to 60-61 and tying for second place in the NL Central with St. Louis, as well as being within six games of a wild-card slot.
However, instability reappeared, and Bell lost three of his best starting pitchers—Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, and Andrew Abbott—to injuries. Cincinnati has a 12-8 record in September.
During Bell’s tenure as manager, the Reds assembled a good collection of players that are anticipated to help the team win again, including India, Greene, Elly De La Cruz, and Matt McLain. Nonetheless, Cincinnati couldn’t get over the hump.
Bell is the third manager to be fired this season. The Chicago White Sox fired Pedro Grifol and three coaches on August 8, just after the team snapped a 21-game losing skid that tied the American League record.
On August 22, the Seattle Mariners fired Scott Servais, who was in the middle of his tenth season with the team.
Krall plans to speak to the media on Monday at Great American Ball Park.
