Reds are playing with edge
When Jonathan India checked his phone after the Cincinnati Reds spring training opener, he had a lot of text messages along the lines of “What are you doing?” and “It’s just spring training!”
In the game, India did two headfirst slides in the first inning. He stole third base, and then India advanced home on a sac fly to short right field. During a game where most players try to ease into the start of the preseason, India was going full-speed.
“I think that was really stupid of me,” India said. Then he took a dramatic pause.
“But … when I’m in game mode, I’m different. I want to win.”
The Reds’ 2023 spring training has been the most intense of David Bell’s five-year tenure as Cincinnati manager. Players are taking more atbats and doing more individual work on defense. Pitchers are preparing to be closer to midseason form when the regular season starts.
Last year, the Reds didn’t get in the work that the team needed to during spring training. They started the season with a 3-22 record. This year, starting with India, the Reds are trying to set a different tone.
“That’s my mentality when I play,” India said. “You’ve seen it before. I play hard. That was a little unnecessary for me, I won’t do that again, hopefully not, but that’s not my mentality.”
Batting first
Every single position player at Reds spring training has something to prove. First baseman Joey Votto is motivated to show that he’s not done yet. India is determined to bounce back from a down 2022 season and become an All-Star. Infielder Spencer Steer and outfielder Will Benson are out to prove they belong in MLB. Outfielder Wil Myers is looking to turn it around as a hitter.
Reds general manager Nick Krall said last October that the priority in this year’s spring training would be creating competition. So far, that’s shown up on the field.
“Every day, a common theme in camp has been high intensity,” outfielder TJ Friedl said. “Everything we’re doing on the back fields, everything is high focus. When we’re running bases, we’re running bases hard. We make these plays game-like so we’ve been there and done that. The high energy is what the whole spring is going to be.”
The rebuilding Reds are at the stage where they’re trying to establish a culture and an aggressive attitude. India and Votto have addressed those as areas where the 2023 Reds need to improve. Defense and base running have been priorities.
This approach likely won’t get the Reds into the playoff race in 2023. But the goal is for the Reds to find which players they’re building around, and for that core group to jell.
“It’s a matter of not just going through the motions,” infielder Kevin Newman said. “It’s a matter of attentive reps. Trying to get better every rep, not just doing what you have to do because the season is a month away. It’s a feeling of how we’re working toward Day 1 right now. We’re not wasting time or wasting reps. We’re here to get our work in.”
The 2023 Reds can’t afford another slow start. Bell is in a contract year. There’s a wave of position players quickly rising up through the minor leagues. Those prospects are champing at the bit to challenge players like Friedl, Jose Barrero and Nick Senzel for playing time.
This year’s Reds have gone through a philosophical shift with spring training. There’s more urgency this year.
“There is no formula that says this is the exact way to do it or this the exact amount of atbats we need,” Bell said. “(It goes) back to feel, I think, of trying to know where we are as a team and know where we’ve been the last two spring trainings.
“It just feels like the right thing to do for this camp.”