Reds’ Bell makes changes to prevent injuries

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — At the end of the first day of spring training, Cincinnati Reds catcher Curt Casali was trying to catch his breath.

The team’s strength coaches had just had Casali run sprints. He had taken more at-bats in the cage than he usually would at this point. His throwing program was more intense than it had been in previous seasons.

“They might have eased into it in spring training last year and had a lot of injuries,” Casali said. “From day one this year, we went pretty hard right out of the gate. It wasn’t necessarily fun. But once we got our legs under us, it’s helping. What they’re doing seems to be working.”

In 2022, the Reds’ best players always seemed to be injured. Tyler Stephenson, Joey Votto, Jonathan India, Mike Moustakas, Nick Senzel, Tyler Naquin, Jake Fraley, Donovan Solano, Jose Barrero and Max Schrock all missed a significant amount of time.

Starting pitchers Luis Castillo, Tyler Mahle, Mike Minor, Nick Lodolo, Hunter Greene and Graham Ashcraft all spent time on the injured list. The Reds’ bullpen was a liability as some of their best relievers, including Tejay Antone, Lucas Sims and Tony Santillan, spent most of the year hurt.

At multiple points last season, the Reds had a better looking squad on the injured list than they had in the starting lineup and the rotation.

So this spring, manager David Bell shifted his philosophy.

“I think maybe ... we would be a little bit overprotective

and undertrained our athletes,” Bell said. “So (now we are going to) just let them be baseball players and let them be athletes.”

Over the previous few seasons, the Reds mostly did afternoon workouts and played games at night. This year, the Reds shifted the workout schedule to earlier in the day.

Position players are getting more at-bats and playing deeper in games. In 2021, the club’s last full spring training due to the 2022 lockout, Reds hitters rarely got more than two at-bats in a game until the third week of the spring. This year, most of the Reds’ top hitters have had multiple games with three-or-four at-bats.

“It’s held us more accountable,” Casali said. “I feel good now. I was tired after Week 1. But I feel good now.”

SAM GREENE/THE ENQUIRER Because injuries, like that of center fielder TJ Friedl, decimated the roster in 2022, manager David Bell has changed the Reds’ approach to spring training this year.