Reds: 5 bold predictions for the second-half of the 2021 MLB season

5. Reds manager David Bell receives a contract extension.

This may be a tough one for some folks throughout Reds Country to swallow, but David Bell will receive a contract extension before the end of the season. Bell signed a three-year deal in 2019 with a team-option for the 2022 season. I fully expect the Reds brass to pick up that option, and perhaps even sign Bell to a multi-year extension.

We can sit back and discuss the successes and failures of David Bell until the cows come home, but the fact of the matter is, Bell has done a masterful job keeping this team afloat in 2021, especially when you consider what he’s had to work with.

Let’s start with the injuries. Had you told me before the season that two of the Reds five starters would start the season on the IL, Joey Votto would miss a month with a broken thumb, Mike Moustakas would plays in only 28 games, and Sonny Gray would make three separate trips to the injured list, I’d tell you there’s no way the Reds would even sniff .500 at the All-Star break.

Furthermore, if you’d told me before the season began that Raisel Iglesias and Archie Bradley would no longer be part of the bullpen, Luis Castillo would be sitting on 10 losses and a 4.65 ERA, Shogo Akiyama would start only 14 games, and the Reds’ most reliable reliever was Heath Hembree, I wouldn’t have tuned in to single game.

But look at what David Bell has done. The Cincinnati skipper has fabricated this squad into a cohesive unit that’s playing winning baseball in the month of July. Stopping looking for reasons to despise David Bell, and embrace the new day and age we find ourselves in.

Were it not for the success of Gabe Kapler and the San Francisco Giants, Bell would be a shoe-in for Manager of the Year at the midway point of the season. It’s time to die credit where credit is due, and it’s time for the Cincinnati Reds to work out a new contract with David Bell.