David Bell’s time in Cincinnati is over.
The Reds fired their longtime manager after six seasons on Sunday, shortly after the team’s 2-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Reds have five games left in the 2024 season and will miss the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year and the fifth time in Bell’s six seasons with the team.
“David has provided us with the stability we needed in our clubhouse over the past few seasons,” Nick Krall, Reds president of baseball operations, 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 must focus on 2025.”
Bell, 52, was hired before the 2019 season and led the franchise to the playoffs during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, although the Reds were eliminated in the wild-card round that year, the only postseason berth the organization has experienced in more than a decade.
Bell finished his career as manager of the Reds with a 409-455 record, marking his first head job in Major League Baseball. He twice averaged over .500, but his best season was an 83-79 record in 2021, when Cincinnati missed the playoffs.
The Reds are fourth in the NL Central and 13.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers, who won the division last week. The Reds will close the regular season this week with a two-game series against the Cleveland Guardians and a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs.
Coach Freddie Benavides will lead the team the rest of the way.
