Did David Bell Cost the Cincinnati Reds a Few Games Against the Seattle Mariners?

Bell's management of the pitching staff lacks urgency so far in 2024.

Author:
Jeff Carr
Apr 18, 2024

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Cincinnati Reds

David Bell

Bullpen

Pitching

seattle mariners

The Cincinnati Reds have a talented bullpen that they revamped this offseason in free agency. Why then does it feel like David Bell lacks urgency when it comes to using it?

Bell has been noted by players and people who cover the team as a player manager. He prides himself on building trust with players and showing that trust through allowing a player to work through their struggles.

In the Seattle Mariners series, though, it seems that trust may have jeopardized multiple games. In game one, Frankie Montas threw 45 pitches in the first inning and allowed three runs. To Montas’ credit, he was allowed to return for the second and came through with a 12-pitch, 1-2-3 inning. When he walked his first batter in the third inning, though, that should have been enough. Instead he was left in, allowed a home run to the next batter he face, then got pulled for Nick Martinez.

In Wednesday’s game there was a different scenario, but the same follow through from Bell. Lucas Sims didn’t have it. He labored for 30+ pitches just to get two outs and by the time that had happened, the Mariners had blown the doors off what had been a tightly contested game. Instead of deploying his decently well-rested bullpen, Bell stuck with Sims. He ended up walking four batters, many of the pitches looking completely non-competitive.

Bell has been on the record as saying there is a pitch count he believes a pitcher cannot recover from, yet he seemed to ignore this in two separate instances. The Reds have the guys in the bullpen to call on. If one pitcher doesn’t have it, move on to the next.

Could he be trying to make up for managing the bullpen the way he did in 2023? If so, that decision could be costing the Reds in key moments.

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Did David Bell Cost the Cincinnati Reds a Few Games Against the Seattle Mariners?

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