Tuesday and Wednesday saw the Cincinnati Reds defeat the Philadelphia Phillies, largely due to David Bell fulfilling a long-standing desire of mine.
Bell appeared to be waiting far too long to call on the bullpen very early in the season. Perhaps that was intentional to help guys gain confidence, but it always seemed to come at a high cost. Bell’s thinking appears to have changed in this previous series.
Tuesday served as the ideal illustration of this. Andrew Abbott walked the bases loaded in the top of the fifth inning without recording an out. Up until now, he had managed to keep the scoreboard clean, but in the process, he had allowed hard contact and pitched around runners on base. It was obvious that he was not at his best.
After Abbott struck out Kyle Schwarber for the first out of the inning, Bell decided to bring in Fernando Cruz and the best pitch in baseball to shut down the inning. Cruz delivered and Bell looked like a genius.
Just two weeks ago, Bell would have left Abbott in. There were multiple examples of this. Now he realizes he can trust his bullpen, and especially Cruz. Going forward, this will be a crucial quality for the Reds to succeed.
They will play the Texas Rangers on Friday night when they return to action. At 8:05 p.m. ET, the first pitch will be made.
