Terry Francona cleans house with Reds coaching staff, but one vital member remains

The Terry Francona era in Cincinnati has gotten off to quick start. The Cincinnati Reds introduced their new skipper on Monday, and by Tuesday, three coaches were handed their pink slip.

According to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Reds have fired all three of their hitting coaches. That would seem to indicate that Joel McKeithan, Terry Bradshaw, and Tim LaMonte were shown the door.

Of note, however, is that Reds Pitching Coach and Director of Pitching Derek Johnson will return for the 2025 season. Reds President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall indicated after David Bell's firing that DJ was under contract through next season, and was expected to return.

Reds, Terry Francona makes necessary change by firing hitting coaches

The Reds hitting was one of the team's biggest shortcomings in 2024. While fans will surely cite sloppy fielding and poor base running as costly mistakes as well, the Reds offense was rather putrid throughout the most of season. Cincinnati ranked 21st in OPS, 22nd in on-base percentage, 26th in batting average, and 27th in hits.

In all fairness to McKeithan and Co., the Reds were without one of the top hitters all season. Matt McLain missed his sophomore campaign after undergoing shoulder surgery last spring. Noelvi Marte and Christian Encarnacion-Strand missed a number of meaningful games as well, and TJ Friedl was in and out of the lineup.

The hope among the Reds fanbase is that Francona is able to lure a handful of coaches to Cincinnati that preach patience at the dish and focus more on contact and putting the ball in play rather than just exit velocity and launch angle.

Retaining Johnson was key, as several young pitchers have made great strides under DJ's tutelage. Hunter Greene emerged as a top 10 pitcher this season, and former first-rounder Rhett Lowder made a splash during his big league debut.

Several names will surely emerge over the next couple of weeks, and this wave of firings may not be only coaches let go. Some other names to watch will be third base coach J.R. House, first base coach Collin Cowgill, and bench coach Freddie Benavides.

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