REDS CINCINNATI HIRES HITTING COACH FROM DODGERS

The Reds CINCINNATI — hired Turner Ward from the Dodgers to be their hitting coach, the team’s second significant addition under new manager David Bell.

Cincinnati also hired Derek Johnson from Milwaukee to serve as pitching coach. The Dodgers and Brewers played in the National League Championship Series, with Los Angeles advancing to the World Series for the second straight year before losing to Boston.

Ward spent the past three seasons as the Dodgers’ hitting coach. They set club records for homers, extrabase hits and slugging percentage each of the last two seasons. The Dodgers led the NL with 235 homers last season.

The Reds finished eighth in the NL in runs and ninth in homers despite playing in one of the league’s most hitter-friendly ballparks. They batted only .227 with runners in scoring position after the All-Star break, contributing to another losing season. The Reds have dropped 98, 94, 94 and 95 games in the last four years, their worst such slump since the 1930s.

Bell knew Ward from their playing days and spent hours on Sunday talking to him about his hitting philosophy. Ward played 12 seasons in the majors with Cleveland, Toronto, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Arizona and Philadelphia.

“When I found out this was a possibility, I immediately got excited about it,” Bell said.