Krall: Reds 'should have been better' under David Bell

CINCINNATI -- Poor baserunning, poor defense and a young roster that didn't do enough to take the next step to make the Reds a playoff team in 2024 -- there wasn't one specific reason that president of baseball operations Nick Krall decided to fire manager David Bell on Sunday, but a multitude of them that led to plenty of inconsistencies.

“Obviously you bring up a lot of young players last year. You’re going to have some mistakes, some guys that they’re getting to the big leagues for the first time," Krall said during Monday's news conference. "Did we see some guys improve? Yeah. We saw some guys take steps backwards. There’s been some sporadic effort from guys. It’s all encompassing. I think we looked at it as something that needs to be addressed and continue to be fixed.”

Cincinnati has a 76-81 record and no shot at a winning season with five games remaining. Bench coach Freddie Benavides will be the interim manager as a search for the next skipper gets underway immediately, Krall said.

“It sucks, right?" Benavides said of the situation. "I have the utmost respect for David. A tremendous person and loyal, caring. It hurts from that part of it. It’s bittersweet. But there is also excitement. The exciting part of it is you get to manage. I will focus on the team and getting better, regardless of if it’s five games.”

Jeff Pickler, the team's co-bench coach/infield and game-planning coach, was also fired.

Although the Reds were expected to improve this year from their surprising 82-win season while contending in 2023, their defense was not projected to be great. But the eye test and advanced metrics -- especially in light of mostly strong pitching -- exposed plenty of fundamental problems.

“We’ve had one-run games that didn’t go our way. We had a positive run differential with a below-.500 record," Krall said. "We’ve had issues with certain players not playing to their capability. I think when you look across the board, I thought we should have been better.

"I know what our projections were at the beginning of the season, but at the same time, when you look where we are now and where we were over the last few weeks, I thought this team should be better than it was.”

Cincinnati ranked near the bottom of Major League Baseball in just about every advanced stat, defensively. For example, fielding run value is Statcast's overall metric for capturing a player's measurable defensive performance onto a run-based scale. The Reds are at -25, while their division rival, the National League Central-leading Brewers, are at +26.

"When you look at that vs. the one-run games, that does make a huge difference," Krall said. "Our defense needs to get better across the board. It’s infield-outfield.”

On the bases, the Reds are second in the Majors in steals (205) and fourth in extra bases taken (47%), but they ranked at the top in outs on the bases (64).

"We took a lot of extra bases, [but] we got thrown out a lot on the bases," Krall said. "We did some things that were, at times, a little undisciplined in what we did. I think we had some philosophical differences.”

Whoever follows Bell will be tasked with tightening those shortcomings in 2025.

“You obviously want to win more games, but at the same time, we want to make sure we’re making better decisions, players making better decisions, players are moving forward and getting better at this level," Krall said. "I think that’s extremely important as we have a young group.”

The question, of course, is who that new manager will be. Krall did not provide any insight, but a multitude of names are sure to surface. Former Red Sox and Guardians skipper Terry Francona is a good bet to get a look. Others could include former Reds catcher and ex-Cubs manager David Ross and current Marlins manager and 2023 NL Manager of the Year Skip Schumaker -- if he departs as his contract expires after this season.

There could also be internal candidates from Hall of Famer Barry Larkin to Benavides, who noted he would like to interview for the full-time job.

“I have not looked at the list. I have not compiled a list yet. I don’t have a list," Krall said.

That's partially why the decision to dismiss Bell was made with a week left in the season.

“If we make the decision now, it allows us to meet with everybody on the last road trip. It allows us to start this process and gives us a week head start as opposed to waiting when you know what the decision is going to be," Krall said.

When it came to mistakes on the field, there were often repeat offenses. That led to questions of whether there was proper messaging from Bell and accountability to hold players responsible. Catcher Tyler Stephenson felt that Bell did that privately.

“All those conversations are had behind closed doors," said Stephenson, who debuted in 2020 and is Cincinnati's longest-tenured current player. "I’ve had those conversations with him. That’s stuff that stayed within the walls in here.

“David did his job. I’m grateful for that. Maybe having some new eyes and new vibes and [we’ll] see what happens.”

One area not likely to see wholesale change is the roster itself. The Reds aren't expected to deviate from the current plan to rely on homegrown talent. That means the next manager needs to get the most out of the roster he's given.

“We’re always going to be a small-market club," Krall said. "That’s not going to change. When you look at it, we’re going to bring younger players up here, end up drafting and developing and bringing those players up. And we need those players to succeed in the big leagues.”