The Cincinnati Reds fired manager David Bell on Sunday with five games to go in a disappointing season that began with the Reds as playoff contenders and will end with them missing the postseason for the 10th consecutive full season.
Bell, 52, received a three-year contract extension in July 2023 after the surprising Reds surged into contention following a 100-loss season in 2022. With an exciting young core that included shortstop Elly De La Cruz and a cadre of talented arms, the Reds were expected to be in play for a National League Central title.
Instead, they faltered, with injury and underperformance leading to a 76-81 record and fourth-place standing.
"David provided the kind of steadiness that we needed in our clubhouse over the last few seasons," Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall said in a statement. "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."
Bell, the son of longtime Reds star Buddy Bell, was hired in 2019. His best season came in 2020, when the Reds went 31-29 and made the COVID-expanded postseason, in which they were swept out of the first round by Atlanta.
Beyond De La Cruz -- who in his first full season blossomed into one of the best players in baseball -- and the emergence of starter Hunter Greene into an ace, the Reds took multiple steps backward.
Second baseman Matt McLain missed the season with shoulder and rib injuries. Third baseman Noelvi Marte was suspended 80 games for PED use. First baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand played in just 29 games. And recently, almost the entirety of the Reds' rotation -- Greene, left-handers Andrew Abbott and Nick Lodolo, and right-hander Graham Ashcraft -- was on the IL.
Bench coach Freddie Benavides will serve as Cincinnati's interim manager. Among those who could be in consideration to replace Bell: Skip Schumaker, who is expected to leave the Miami Marlins at the end of the season; David Ross, the former Chicago Cubs manager who spent three seasons as a catcher with the Reds; and Eduardo Perez, the ESPN analyst and former Cincinnati first baseman who is the son of Reds legend Tony Perez.