David Bell Fired by Reds After 6 Seasons As Manager; Freddie Benavides Named Interim

Andrew Peters

Kareem Elgazzar/MLB Photos via Getty Images

The Cincinnati Reds announced Sunday that they have fired manager David Bell,.

Per 700WLW’s Lance McAlister, the Reds appointed Freddie Benavides as interim coach for the final five games of the season. Bench coach Jeff Pickler was also fired.

Reds president Nick Krall explained the decision to fire Bell during a press conference on Monday:

C. Trent Rosecrans @ctrentNick Krall said the decision was made and the timing allows them to meet with people over the final road trip moving forward

Charlie Goldsmith @CharlieG__Nick Krall: There were philosophical differences. I’ll keep those internal.

Charlie Goldsmith @CharlieG__Nick Krall: This was my decision.

On ownership: “Everyone was involved. We’ve talked to them. I’ve talked to Bob about this over the last few weeks.”

C. Trent Rosecrans @ctrentNick Krall says Derek Johnson is under contract for next year and “moving forward”

C. Trent Rosecrans @ctrentJR House will move to bench coach, Collin Cowgill will move to third base coach and Kyle Arnsberg will move to first base coach

Cincinnati is 76-81 on the year and will miss the postseason for the fourth straight season. The Reds made the playoffs just one time during Bell’s six-year tenure.

Bell made his managerial debut for the Reds in 2019 after Jim Riggleman was not retained as interim manager following Bryan Price’s firing. He led the Reds to the postseason in the shortened COVID-19 season in 2020 as Cincinnati finished 31-29, but the Reds faced a wild-card exit to the Atlanta Braves without scoring a run in the series.

The 2020 postseason was the only one Bell reached during his time in Cincinnati, and the Reds lost 100 games for just the second time in franchise history in 2022. Things improved slightly in 2023 as Bell led the Reds to an 82-80 record, which prompted Cincinnati to extend Bell through the 2026 season halfway through the year.

Last year’s improvement led the Reds to believe they could compete for a division title and a postseason berth this year, but the 2024 season proved otherwise.

“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 finished with a 409-456 record across his six seasons. His 32 managerial ejections are also the most in franchise history.

The Reds’ interim manager, Benavides, has been with the Reds organization in different capacities since 2007 and became Cincinnati’s first-base coach in 2016. He was moved to bench coach ahead of the 2019 season.

While the Reds’ coaching search is still in the early stages, one name has already emerged. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported shortly after Bell’s firing that Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker is on Cincinnati’s radar as a replacement.

While Schumaker hasn’t been fired yet, a 57-99 season for the Marlins seems to indicate his time in Miami is coming to an end.