The Cincinnati Reds on Sunday night announced that they have fired manager David Bell. Bell, who was in his sixth season as Reds manager, had been under contract through the 2026 season. Bench coach Freddie Benavides will serve as the club’s interim manager for the final five games of this season.
“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.”
The Reds this season are 76-81 and in fourth place in the National League Central. In what turned out to be Bell’s final game in the Cincinnati dugout, the Reds on Sunday fell to the Pirates 2-0. The 52-year-old Bell as Reds manager went 409-456 (.473). He guided them to the postseason during the abbreviated 2020 season, but an organizational pivot to non-contention yielded a 62-100 season in 2022. The Reds made impressive progress in 2023 under Bell, as they notched a winning season. However, the forward momentum was not sustained in 2024, which ultimately cost Bell his post. Bell had been the 62nd manager in Reds franchise history. His 409 wins rank eighth among Reds managers, and his 456 losses rank fourth.
Bell becomes the third manager fired during the 2024 season. He was preceded by Pedro Grifol of the White Sox and Scott Servais of the Mariners. Both were terminated in August.
As for the 58-year-old Benavides, he was originally drafted by the Reds as an infielder in 1987 and spent the first two years of big-league career in Cincinnati. He had served as Bell’s bench coach since 2019.
