Around MLB these days, a lot of managers don’t make the lineup on a daily basis. Assistant coaches and front office members run this process on many teams as analytics become more prevalent. But this scene last week — every other coach and member of the front office was on the field during batting practice — showed that the Reds’ lineup is truly authored by Francona.
It’s been a poor start to the season for the Reds’ offense. But Francona believes in the power of patience, and he kept the structure of the lineup intact as the Reds went through a 35-inning scoreless streak.
“I know that if you panic, that doesn’t help anybody,” Francona said. “There’s a difference between caring and panic. I was asked (last week) about changing the lineup. We just scored 14 runs with the same guys a few days before. Then we went two games where we didn’t do anything. Part of it is baseball. Part of it is not a whole lot of fun.”
Francona showed what he truly values with the lineup construction that he has used for the first two weeks of the season. When he was the Cleveland Guardians’ manager, he viewed Reds’ center fielder TJ Friedl as a “pest” whose bunting and on-base skills made him the ideal leadoff hitter. This year, Francona is often having the left-handed Friedl lead off even against left-handed pitching.
McLain, arguably the Reds’ most consistent hitter, was in the prime No. 2 spot in the order before he went on the injured list. With McLain out, instead of immediately shaking up the lineup, Francona used either Blake Dunn or Santiago Espinal in the No. 2 spot in the order. That allowed Elly De La Cruz to stay in the No. 3 spot and Gavin Lux to keep his role as the cleanup hitter.
“Guys get comfortable in places,” Francona said. “You try to be consistent. You try not to be stubborn. Sometimes, one leaks into the other.”
So far, he has stuck with slumping hitters like Jake Fraley, Spencer Steer and Jeimer Candelario through some rough stretches for them individually.
He was pleased with how a poor week for the offense didn’t leak into the vibe in the clubhouse.
“The mood has always been pretty good in here,” Francona said. “We’re just not winning the games like we’ve wanted to. I don’t ever want it to be a morgue in here. That’s not going to help anybody. You walk that fine line with the media. If you’re having fun, you don’t seem like you care. If you’re not saying anything, you’re tight. That’s why you just try to be yourself and see if you can win.”
His approach has been appreciated by the clubhouse.
“The way that we’ve been preparing ourselves with meetings, practice and everything has been great,” Espinal said. “It’s all up to us to control what we can control in the games. We’ve got all the information we need. The coaches provide us good info. Everyone has given us confidence to do what we do. Right now, it’s not working out. We’ve just got to pick it up.”
While Francona has been patient with his decision making, individual hitters are also going through some aggressive changes at the plate.
Steer is taking extra at-bats and going through two rounds of batting practice to try to get his rhythm back. Fraley is making some tweaks with his swing mechanics. Hitting coach Chris Valaika has been very hands-on and active during his first season with the Reds.
“They’re working,” Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall said. “I can tell you that. The staff is definitely working at it. We’re looking forward to getting out of it.”
Entering this weekend’s series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Reds had the fourth-worst OPS in MLB. While the Reds rank about average in runs scored with 48, they’ve scored 25 of those runs in only two games. Over the other 11 games, they’ve scored 23 total runs.
The lineup should get a boost over the next week with the expected returns of McLain and outfielder Austin Hays, who’s out with a calf injury. Tyler Stephenson (oblique) is also working toward his return.
“We’ve got a lot of talent on this team, and hopefully we’re out of this soon,” Krall said. “Hopefully we can get Hays and Stephenson back soon (and McLain) and add some middle of the order guys.”
SUNDAY’S GAME
Pirates at Reds, 1:40 p.m., 1410 AM
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