Terry Francona faced major criticism from Reds fans after a frustrating loss to the Phillies on Monday. With a slim 1-0 lead in the eighth inning and starter Andrew Abbott crossing the 90-pitch mark after allowing consecutive hits, Francona chose not to pull him. That decision quickly backfired.
Weston Wilson tied the game with a double, but instead of bringing in a fresh arm to face the dangerous Trea Turner, Francona stuck with Abbott — who then surrendered a go-ahead RBI single. Only after that did Francona go to the bullpen, calling on Tony Santillan, who promptly gave up a two-run homer to Kyle Schwarber. What was a narrow lead turned into a 4-1 deficit in minutes.
Many fans see this as Francona’s biggest misstep since his questionable Opening Day pitching decision, and they’re not wrong to be frustrated. Still, the blame doesn’t rest solely on the manager. Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall deserves his share of criticism too.
Despite clear offensive struggles, Krall didn’t make any significant upgrades at the trade deadline. The Reds’ power numbers are down — ranking 21st in home runs despite playing in a hitter-friendly park — and both slugging and OPS are near the bottom of the league. Rather than pursuing a power bat, Krall added glove-first third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes and platoon hitter Miguel Andujar — moves that failed to address the team’s biggest need.
Since the All-Star break, and especially post-deadline, the Reds’ offense has stalled. Aside from one 14-run explosion on Sunday, they’ve averaged just 1.9 runs per game this month.
In hindsight, Francona likely would have pulled Abbott earlier. But if the Reds want to stay in the playoff hunt, they need more than better bullpen decisions — they need to start scoring runs.
While the trade window has closed, there’s still hope. With prospects Sal Stewart and Héctor Rodríguez tearing it up in Triple-A, it might be time for Krall to give the youth a shot at jumpstarting this slumping offense in the final stretch of the season.
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