Cincinnati Reds: Manager Bryan Price will be back in 2018

CINCINNATI, OH - AUGUST 5: Pitcher Luis Castillo
CINCINNATI, OH - AUGUST 5: Pitcher Luis Castillo /
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The Cincinnati Reds continue the rebuild

The Cincinnati Reds have been awful. With a 58-78 record, they are in the basement of the National League Central. Also, there have been many growing pains. Furthermore, the Reds have committed to a teardown. With that, the franchise has traded various big names in it’s recent history.

Moreover, players such as Todd Frazier, Aroldis Chapman, Jay Bruce, and Brandon Phillips come to mind. They have turned those returns into young talent, with some contributing at the Major league level. Scott Schebler is a guy that has picked up skill at the plate. Another is rookie pitcher Luis Castillo, who has been a dominant force in the rotation.

One key person in this change in the guard is manger Bryan Price, who has been under much scrutiny since being the skipper. But, his option has been picked up for 2018.

Not all Price’s fault

The incumbent manager has an all time record of 266-356, which equates to a .428% winning percentage. The Reds have had plenty of inexperienced guys on the field, so the blame can’t all be on him. They have gone through their growing pains and will continue to do so. The young players are going through the rough patches, which will determine if they’re here to stay.

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A problem for Price has been some in game management. In 2015, he lashed out to the media because of managerial decisions. Here was his response to his decision of not pinch hitting 25 homer Devin Mesoraco:

“I don’t get it. It’s, you know, look, I don’t need you guys to be fans of the Reds, I just need to know if there’s something we want to keep here, it stays here. We don’t need to know that Tucker Barnhart’s in the f****** airport when we haven’t spoken to Kyle Skipworth. I think we owe that f******* kid the right to be called and told that he’s going to be sent down as opposed to reading that Tucker Barnhart is on his way from Louisville…

Has it always been this way where we just tell f****** everybody everything? So every f****** opponent we have has to know exactly what we have. Which f****** relievers are available, which guys are here and which guys aren’t here, when they can play, and what they can do. It’s nobody’s f****** business. It’s certainly not the opponent’s business. We have to deal with this f****** b*******.”

There is much more to be seen on the Cincinnati Enquirer if that’s something you want to look into. With that, Bryan Price has had some difficulty with in game management. But who doesn’t?  He didn’t sound too much better at the 2016 Winter Meetings, though.

A good knowledge of pitching

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Bryan Price pitched in the minor leagues for many years. While there, he was able to learn many facets of the game. The future manager was able to learn the right ways to make a pitcher successful. In doing that, he was able to earn several jobs as a pitching coach.

Price served as a pitching coach with the Reds before his promotion, and also with the Diamondbacks and Mariners. The skipper is a strength towards his team’s pitchers because of it. Especially with the younger ones, due to the fact that he can fill them in on the mistakes he made so they don’t have a better approach.

Transitional manager for the Cincinnati Reds

Bryan Price is the skipper in a transitional phase for the Reds. They are rebuilding for the long term rather than sacrificing pieces for the short term. With that, this club will have their setbacks. And Price will have to continue to coexist with that for the betterment of the team.

Next: The Reds should have traded Zack Cozart

The former pitching coach is a good guy for this in between phase, and we will see if he can continue to right the ship. But at the moment, this is a nice sign for a franchise that has been in flux for quite some time.