Why Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell won't 'shake up' struggling middle of order
Whatever the middle of the Cincinnati Reds lineup might look like right now, manager David Bell said two weeks into a six-month season is too early to start moving guys around to seek some elusive spark.
“I’m not looking to spark anything,” he said after the Reds managed just four hits and a pair of walks in a 7-2 loss to Wade Miley and the Milwaukee Brewers bullpen on Wednesday night — their second straight loss and fourth in six games.
“I trust our guys. I trust where we are,” Bell said. “We’re going to continue to work to play better, there’s no question. But I’m not looking to do that.”
In three of those last four losses, against the Mets and Brewers, the Reds scored one or two runs.
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They’re 10-for-59 with men in scoring position overall in the six games in those two series as the Reds and Brewers entered Thursday’s finale of their four-gamer.
Meanwhile, the two spots in the order that have not changed in any of the Reds’ first 12 games are No. 3 and No. 4, where Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Jeimer Candelario are a combined 15-for-98 (.153) with 32 strikeouts after a 0-for-6 Wednesday that included Candelario getting hit by a pitch and CES drawing a walk and grounding into a double play.
They have a combined .198 on-base percentage and .276 slugging percentage.
Bell has been asked about both this week, saying it’s too early to think in terms of “slumps,” with the perception of slow starts magnified compared to similar stretches later in the season that don’t skew the overall numbers as dramatically.
“Guys are working hard every single day to continue to get better and get locked in,” Bell said after Wednesday’s game. “If we get to the point where there’s a lineup adjustment that needs to be made, absolutely. But I’m not looking to just shake things up.”
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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: David Bell: Too early to 'shake up' Cincinnati Reds lineup for 'spark'
