David Bell will have three games in Pittsburgh to end the season but in his last home game he shared his thoughts on the season with the local writers and TV personalities.
"We've come a long way," said Bell, who will end up with a record of anywhere from 73-89 to 77-85. It is clearly not where he or the team wanted to be.
Joey Votto weighed in on the season on Wednesday. "We absolutely have to get better for this fan base," Votto said. "We can't keep talking about, next year, next year. This sport is terribly unforgiving. People think you will fall into success. This year was not a good year."
Bell took a more positive view.
"In no way was there any doubt that we are playing hard," Bell said. "There is nothing like playing for the playoffs though. We had a little taste of celebrating in Chicago for Geno."
The Reds set up a mini celebration for Eugenio Suarez after he hit his 48th home run to become the Venezuelan native, who hit the most home runs in a season.
"Celebrating becomes addictive. The more you experience them the more you want them," Bell said.
He pointed out that the Reds were in close games all year. The 24-32 in one-run games and 11-18 in two-runs. More than half of Reds' games (85) have been within a two-run margin.
"They are playoff-type games," Bell said. "The experiences are adding up. We've been so close. We have been so close in some ways. Anyway you want to look at it, we have to get better. The positive side of that is we are a lot closer than our record would suggest. I believe once we get over the hump, it is going to happen fast."
For the first time in a long time, the Reds are set with four of five starting pitchers going into 2020.
Anthony DeSclafani is in his first full season since 2015 after a series of injuries. He is 9-9 with a 3.84 ERA going into his last start on Friday in Pittsburgh. He has a 2.07 ERA in his last seven starts to date.
Trevor Bauer a trade deadline acquisition had a tough start with the Reds after coming from Cleveland. He is 2-5 in 10 starts with a 6.39 ERA. He was 9-8 with a 3.79 ERA in 24 starts before coming to Cincinnati. He won 17 games in 2017. He got six points in the Cy Young balloting in 2018 and 22 points for Most Valuable Player that same year.
Alex Wood, a key off-season acquisition, was limited to seven starts due to season-long back soreness.
Tyler Mahle stepped in for Wood and battled his own injuries. His numbers look bad with a 2-12 record and a 5.34 ERA but made strides in spite of them.
"I love where Tyler is right now. He has an off-season to get better but he has live arm, the ability to make adjustments and competes," Bell said.
The Reds found a gem in free-agent signing Jose Iglesias, who hit near .300 all year with surprising power with 11 home runs. Derek Dietrich hit 17 home runs early but limped to the end with a bad shoulder.
The Reds found out that Aristides Aquino was ready. He hit 28 home runs in Triple A and 18 more in the big leagues. He was the Player and Rookie of the Month in August. He was fastest player ever to hit 14 home runs with 28 games and the fastest to 15 with 122 at bats. He showed a strong if not quite accurate arm that was clocked at over 100 mph. He stole seven bases, drove in 46 runs. His home run off Chase Anderson of Milwaukee set the Reds' new team record with 223 home runs.
Kyle Farmer proved so versatile, playing positions as shortstop and catcher. He even pitched an inning and a third of scoreless baseball. He chipped in with some big home runs, nine. Josh VanMeter also handled multiple positions and provided good at bats all year and eight home runs.
Phil Ervin, a Reds' top draft choice in 2013 showed he could be an everyday player. He hit .269 with seven home runs. He played superior defense.
"This is going to be an important off-season for us," Bell concluded.
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