Cincinnati Reds Fire Manager David Bell After 6 Seasons

The Cincinnati Reds fired manager David Bell on Sunday night after six seasons.

The team announced the move just hours after a 2-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, naming bench coach Freddy Benavidez as interim manager for the final five games of the season.

“David has provided much-needed stability to our clubhouse over the past several seasons. We felt a change was needed to improve our major league team. We have not had the success we expected, and we need to focus on 2025,” president of baseball operations Nick Krall said in a statement posted to the Reds website.

With a week left in the season, the Reds are 76-81 and fourth in the NL Central, 13.5 games behind division champion Milwaukee. Cincinnati closes the season with five road games. The Reds play a two-game series at Cleveland on Tuesday and Wednesday before closing the season with a three-game series against the Cubs in Chicago.

Bell, 52, was hired by the Reds in October 2018. He went 409-456 in six seasons and became the third manager to be fired this season.

In 2020, Bell’s second season as manager, the Reds qualified for the postseason, but the season was shortened to 60 games due to COVID-19.

Krall plans to speak to the media at Great American Ball Park on Monday.

Associated Press reports.

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