Sure, sitting atop the National League Central looks impressive for the Cincinnati Reds, but there are deeper concerns, and manager Terry Francona isn’t shying away from them.

“End of March, beginning of April on the East Coast can be really tough on hitters. We kind of lucked out,” Francona said in an interview with MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM.

The Reds are coming off a sweep in Minnesota, and they have won 14 games so far. As of April 20, there are only 3 teams – the Dodgers, Padres, and Braves with more wins this season. But that’s just the results. Cincinnati is struggling in the offense department. 

They rank 30th with a batting average of .202, and they are 26th in MLB with 78 runs scored so far. In comparison, the Astros have scored 123 runs and are sitting at the bottom of their region with just 8 wins. 

So how are the Reds winning so many games, you might wonder? High walk rates. They have managed 3.5 runs per game, thanks to averaging 4.35 walks per game. Cincinnati also has a negative run differential, and according to MLB, it stands at -8, compared to +26 last season.

This is exactly what manager Francona referred to when he said, “We just kind of almost team-wide have struggled.”

Spring usually offers colder temperatures and heavier air, which are not ideal conditions for hitters. Rather, it helps the pitchers more. And the Cincinnati Reds played the hands they were dealt. 

They relied heavily on close games, while their pitchers carried them with multiple shutout wins. Their 3.47 overall ERA isn’t the best on paper, but it did the job. They have won 10 games with a margin of 2 or less. 

Terry Francona’s management philosophy focuses more on run prevention. He prefers clean pitching over heavy hitting. The Reds have hit 21 HRs this season. That is 8 more than the bottom scrapers and 16 fewer than the table toppers in the major league. 

That is the exact reason they successfully swept the last series despite offensive inconsistency. And Francona addressed the issue not through panic but awareness. It’s not about the numbers, but how he handles the team. 

Reds stick to the process as Terry Francona backs the team

The best part about the manager’s honest confession is that it didn’t sound like an alarm. Instead, he backed the team’s approach. 

“The good side of it is they haven’t just said, ‘Well, we’ll win when we get hot.’ They keep competing, they keep grinding, they fight through frustration,” Francona said. 

He has faith in their track records, and he knows they will get better. This is the exact mindset of the manager who pushes the players. And they have already become the first NL team to register a 10-0 record in games decided by two runs or fewer. 

Francona knows that the weather will eventually change. And the hitters won’t face the same roadblocks they struggled with in the early season. It’s only a matter of time until they reach their own levels. 

“They are going to hit better, and I think then winning will be easier, because right now, it’s been hard,” the 66-year-old said.

His whole confidence is rooted in the overall process, and not in the results. The way he acknowledges the flaws without triggering panic in the clubhouse reinforces the players. 

And the fans wholeheartedly agree with Terry Francona, “They’ll get to their level, and we’ll enjoy watching that.”