Terry Francona's unexpected decision is transforming how Reds build their lineup

Over the last five games, something has been going on with the Cincinnati Reds' lineup. Just watch Sal Stewart. After playing almost exclusively first base since the beginning of the season, Stewart has started just one of the last five contests at the cold corner, instead drawing two starts at second and another two at third.

That's the result, but the question is, what's the intent? The easy answer seems to be that Terry Francona is playing the defensive matchups, deciding between Ke'Bryan Hayes' Gold Glove defense at the hot corner or Matt McLain's generally well-regarded glove work at the keystone.

In a perfect world, Francona would like to play both guys as he values putting forth a staunch defense. However, Hayes has gone from historically atrocious over his first 20 games of the 2026 campaign to just astonishingly bad at the plate, thanks to a mini hot streak of late. McLain took a torrid spring and brought none of the momentum with him into the regular season, continuing last year's struggles and potentially testing patience.

The Reds are fortunate to have both depth and versatility. Stewart's ability to play multiple positions across the infield gives Francona this luxury, and the presence of Spencer Steer and Nathaniel Lowe on the roster gives Tito the flexibility to try this gambit.

The question, though, is whether this is intentional or not. There are reasons to believe it might be, but there are also reasons to believe that this is simply a byproduct of a team that has hit a rough patch trying to regain its footing.

Reds' handling of Ke'Bryan Hayes, Matt McLain has fans asking questions

As far as the defense-first narrative goes, some of that falls apart based on which measure of defensive excellence you prefer, specifically talking about Matt McLain. On the season, McLain has posted a solid 2 outs above average (OAA). However, if you prefer to look at defensive runs saved, his -4 DRS has him tied with a struggling 36-year-old Jose Altuve for 24th out of 25 qualified big league second basemen.

Then there are some comments that Francona has made regarding McLain and the recent lineup configurations he's used. He's told the media not to read too much into it and stated that he wanted to stack lefties in Monday's matchup against Edward Cabrera and the Chicago Cubs.

"Somebody had to sit,” Francona said, speaking about McLain, who watched Stewart start at second, but later entered the game as a defensive replacement. “That’s basically all it is. He had a good day of early hitting. He’ll be back in there.”

Another part of this is trying to figure out the outfield picture, while getting as many productive bats in the lineup as possible and still maintaining a modicum of defensive prowess.

The catalyst for that has been JJ Bleday, who has been on a tear since being called up on April 25. Through nine games, the lefty-swinging outfielder is slashing .310/.412/.759 with four dingers. Fitting him into the picture means less time in the outfield for Steer, pushing Stewart off of first base.

Francona's comments seem to indicate that he still believes in McLain, even though we've seen little evidence as to why he should over the last year-plus.

"I think our guys understand the expectation. We want to ask a lot of them on the field, but we also want to have their back and care about them, and things like that. And this group, from day one, when you ask them something, they try to do it," Francona told Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman of the New York Post when asked about how he handles the young players.

He didn't mention McLain or any player by name in that statement, but it seems pretty clear that he's set expectations, but is still giving these guys the runway to try and figure it out.

So maybe this is a move to try to balance offense and defense based on matchups. Maybe it's a way to get McLain and Hayes some breathing room to clear their heads. Perhaps, it's a byproduct of a crowded outfield and some positional versatility shifting what the best lineup appears to be.

What we do know is that the Reds are blessed with a good amount of versatility, and Francona isn't afraid to put that to use. He's going to keep pressing buttons and experimenting with different things until a certain combination presents itself as the clear way to optimize the lineup. Until then, he'll tinker, as the great managers often do.

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