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I’ve probably dug in deeper in defense of David Bell than anything/anyone that I can recall in years. I share my reasons day after day, on the show and on social media.
More and more I’m told I’m wrong. More and more I feel like I’m a lone wolf. Isolated.
If I thought firing Bell was the cure to what ails the Reds, I’d be leading a fan charge on GABP castle with pitchforks. Lately, I feel like I'm struggling to hold the castle doors shut from the inside.
It's caused me to pause and ponder: What if I’m wrong?
What if what’s wrong with this last place team is the manager? What if change in voice and leadership is exactly what this team needs?
I've always believed the “fire the manager” narrative is easy and lazy.
I believe I’m different from many fans in that I am perfectly willing to concede that Bell knows more than I will ever know about managing, lineup construction and his players.
I believe in many cases, the less a person really understands about baseball, the more that person complains about the manager.
I certainly believe angst over how the players are stacked in a batting order is silly.
How soon fans forget that last year happened. The Reds improved by 20 wins from the previous year. The biggest jump in the National League and the second biggest jump in MLB. Bell got Manager of the Years votes. I just find it difficult to believe 74 games later the manager is now the problem. How does that work?
But this 2024 team isn’t that 2023 team. This is a team that is young and a team that is injured. Those are facts beyond debate.
I also believe it’s a team pressing and feeling the weight of expectations.
With youth comes volatility in performance. And with injury comes challenges and complications.
Had I told fans in February that this team would be without Matt McLain, see Noelvi Marte suspended for half the season, lose TJ Friedl to two IL stints, watch CES struggle and break his hand, and have Will Benson strikeout 39-percent of the time, EVERY fan would have predicted doom.
Well, we are living in that doom. How is that Bell’s fault?
Firing Bell would be the easy way out. Firing Bell would mean bench coach Freddie Benavides takes over. And?
I get it. It’s late June and a team in a season filled with high hopes, dreams and expectations is stuck in the last place ditch of the NL Central.
Firings are the casualties of losing. The old saying is coaches and managers are hired to be fired.
I admit it. I’ve wondered if I lost sight of the forest through the trees when it comes to Bell. I’ve wondered if I lost perspective.
I don't think I have. I don't think Bell's the problem.
The problem is figuring out is what’s next for this team. As the trade deadline approaches, what does Nick Krall do? What do the Reds need? How do they get it? What do they give up? Who do they stick with? Who do they bail on?
Krall better be good at that problem solving.