Reds shifting back to basics of bunting
GOODYEAR, Ariz. – Every spring, former MLB All-Star center fielder Brett Butler used to stop by several spring training facilities and teach the fundamentals that made him one of the best bunters of the modern era.
Between 1981 and 1997, Butler laid down 147 sacrifice bunts in the big leagues and recorded 245 hits on bunt singles. He built a career as a bunting coach, but then he saw bunting fall out of style in the 2000s. He’d speak at different camps, but then he saw those teams rarely bunt. It looked like his area of expertise didn’t matter anymore.
“I was confused,” Butler said. “Why? Why are we (going along) with .260 (averages), 10 or 15 home runs and 65 RBIs? Where is the lead-off, setting up and doing that type of stuff?”
As recently as 2021, the Reds were one of those teams that never bunted. In 2020, the Reds didn’t lay down a single sacrifice bunt. The Reds had five sacrifice bunts in 2021. When Reds manager David Bell called for one, it usually came across as a sign that there wasn’t much confidence in the hitter to pick up a base hit. Three years later, the Reds have flipped their approach to bunting. They’re committed to it, and they’re good at it.
“To see these kids doing it,” Butler said, “it warms my heart.”
Now, Butler is the Reds’ official bunting consultant. Last weekend, he visited camp in Goodyear, Arizona, and went through one-on-one bunting lessons with most of the team as well as several prospects. Butler is a hands-on teacher. Wearing a baseball hat, a Callaway quarter zip, golf pants, Sketchers and batting gloves, the 66-year-old used one of the Reds’ bullpens as a bunting field. White lines were spray-painted onto the grass between the mound and home plate to represent a target range for bunts, and Butler placed one bucket down each foul line to represent a more pinpoint place to aim.
He’ll return later in camp to teach bunting to the entire farm system. The Reds’ transformation into a bunting team has been years in the making.
First, president of baseball operations Nick Krall and the Reds’ front office committed to prioritizing athleticism and building a team that would be more dynamic on the bases. With more speed in the organization, the Reds recognized that more bunting would play to the team’s strengths.
But bunting isn’t easy, and it takes a lot of practice. Now, the Reds drill in bunting throughout the farm system. Every morning, there are dozens of Reds prospects working on bunts as a part of their routine. They know how to bunt when they reach the big leagues, and the Reds’ big leaguers have bunting included in drill rotations all season.
“We had determined a while ago that speed and athleticism would be a big factor for us,” said Reds longtime farm director Shawn Pender, who’s now a senior adviser to Krall. “With shift restrictions, bunt hits and suicide squeezes have never been more important. Who better to teach it than certainly the best bunter of my generation in Brett Butler?”
The Reds’ approach with bunting ties into the ways that the organization has evolved over the last few years. In 2020, the Reds prioritized power over defense when they moved Mike Moustakas to second base. They did the same thing in 2021 when they moved Eugenio Suárez to shortstop. Back then, the Reds didn’t have many base stealers or elite athletes for their position. Bell said that he believed in the impact that bunting could create, but the Reds didn’t have the right personnel for that.
“It had never been a part of their games,” Bell said. “To force that, even if traditionally it was a spot (to bunt), they didn’t really know how to do it. That had never been a part of their game. As much as I wanted to at times, it didn’t really make sense.”
A lot has changed in a few years, and the Reds are leaning into the identity that they established last season. Butler’s former teammate, Reds minor league hitting coordinator Dave Hansen, connected with Butler in 2023. They discussed the potential for a resurgence in bunting in the Reds’ organization.