Terry Francona’s lineup logic has Reds fans completely fed up

It didn't take long for the Cincinnati Reds fanbase to turn on Terry Francona. Frankly, the honeymoon period was over after Francona gave the ball to Ian Gibaut on Opening Day only to see the right-hander give up a go-ahead home run in the ninth inning.

It's been a difficult first season in Cincinnati for Francona and Reds fans are getting restless. They were promised, among other things, accountability and a no-nonsense manager who understood the intricacies of the game. As such, Francona's lineup construction has become quite concerning to fans; especially over the last week.

A left-handed opener has been dispatched by the opposition twice over the last five games, and Francona has done nothing to counter it. The Chicago Cubs ran out Drew Pomeranz on Saturday, and Cincinnati couldn't log a hit during the first inning. The Milwaukee Brewers trotted out DL Hall on Wednesday and he carved up every batter in the Reds lineup not named Jose Trevino.

Terry Francona needs to get Elly De La Cruz & TJ Friedl out of the Reds lineup against left-handed openers

Craig Counsell and Pat Murphy both challenged Tito to abandon his stubborn ways and shake up the Reds' starting lineup. Instead, Francona filled out the lineup card the way he has all season with left-handed hitting outfielder TJ Friedl at the top and switch-hitting Elly De La Cruz batting third.

But there's a big problem with this — neither player is good against left-handed pitching. Friedl's OPS drops from .887 to .610 against lefties and when Elly turns around to bat from the right-handed batters' box, his OPS tumbles from .906 to .554. Francona is effectively limiting the at-bats of his two best hitters by keeping them in the top-third of the lineup.

Without Austin Hays — who has a 1.121 OPS against left-handers this season — in the lineup, Francona is slightly handcuffed. But in 2025, Tyler Stephenson has a 1.227 OPS against southpaws. Why is he all the way at No. 4 or 5 in the batting order? Connor Joe's sole purpose for being on the roster is to face lefties, and yet Tito pushed him down to sixth in the batting order on Wednesday.

Spencer Steer struggled mightily at the outset, but has righted the ship of late and has a career .788 OPS against lefties. A lineup of Steer, Santiago Espinal, Stephenson, and Joe at the top of the order against left-handed openers would give the Reds their best chance to jump on the opposition early. While Friedl and De La Cruz should still be in the mix, there's no need to bat them No. 1 and 3 if they're going to be ineffective.

A number of Reds fans wanted an old-school manager, and so far, that's the way Francona has handled this year's team. While injuries have certainly played a role in Francona's ability to put his best bats in the lineup, the Reds skipper hasn't done himself any favors and the fanbase is becoming increasingly irritated.

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