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<\/a><\/p>\nSchwarber would be a perfect fit for the Reds, assuming the front office would be able to complete a creative set of maneuvers to make the largest free agent contract in team history a reality. From Schwarber\u2019s perspective, he\u2019d have to put tangible value in coming home and the unique opportunity the organization could sell him on during what would project to be a pretty strong market for Schwarber\u2019s services.<\/p>\n
The Reds\u2019 interest in Schwarber is real, but it doesn\u2019t sound like anything is imminent right now. There are plenty of big market teams who would likely love to have him, including Schwarber\u2019s most recent team in the Phillies.<\/p>\n
With or without Schwarber, the offense needs to be better. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what happens when you have a younger team,\u201d Francona said. \u201cYou hope the trajectory is still going up.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked why the Reds\u2019 offense can be better in 2026, Francona started by pointing to Spencer Steer.<\/p>\n
Francona went through how Steer, dealing with a shoulder injury, should have started last year on the IL. He was limited to DH-ing, and he hit .111 with a .390 OPS over the first three weeks of the season. Once he was able to play the field, he hit .253 with a .762 OPS, which would have ranked third on the team over the course of a full season.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully we have that guy from the get go,\u201d said Francona, who will be open to playing Steer at first base and in the outfield depending on the makeup of next year\u2019s roster.<\/p>\n
Next, Francona points to Matt McLain, who was coming off of a major surgery. When you talk to people around baseball, you always hear that those injuries take more than a year to really come back from.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know I was stubborn early on with him,\u201d Francona said. \u201cIt\u2019s because I believed in him so much. I still do. There\u2019s a really good player there. I think a year removed from that shoulder (surgery) I think we\u2019ll see that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elly De La Cruz was hitting .284 with a .854 OPS at the All-Star break. In the second half of the year, he hit .236 with a .666 OPS. He was hurt, dealing with a strained quad. Francona didn\u2019t give De La Cruz a single day off.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were a lot of things going on,\u201d Francona said. \u201cI need to take responsibility, and I have and I will. I need to find ways to get him off his feet from time to time. I didn\u2019t do a very good job of that. I own up to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Francona said that De La Cruz gets beat up so much by playing hard (sliding, taking extra bases) that getting the day game after a night game off might be really helpful for him on occasion.<\/p>\n
Francona also puts TJ Friedl in that group. Friedl was an All-Star candidate for a while last season, but his production fell off as he posted a .693 OPS after July 1.<\/p>\n
Francona praised Friedl for playing as much as he did last season, making 148 starts in center field. There were times where the Reds simply didn\u2019t have a backup center fielder on the roster.<\/p>\n
The Reds need more consistent center field depth in 2026. That could come with a more consistent year from Will Benson, who hasn\u2019t been an impact defender in center but can man the spot. It also could come from an addition.<\/p>\n
Francona has also asked Noelvi Marte to shag fly balls in center field. Even if Marte doesn\u2019t play there, it\u2019s good to work on chasing fly balls down from both sides.<\/p>\n
Sal Stewart should play a bigger role than he did last year. Back in spring training, before Stewart had even made his Double-A debut, Francona called Stewart one of the most advanced young hitters he had seen. Stewart went on to have a great year at the plate, including a playoff game against the Dodgers where he had two hits and drove in three runs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe love, love the hitter,\u201d Francona said.<\/p>\n
He later said, \u201cWhere his game goes defensively, we\u2019re still trying to figure that out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stewart can play first, third and second base.<\/p>\n
\u201cI talked to him at length (after the season) about being agile,\u201d Francona said. \u201cPeople talk about his weight. I don\u2019t want to talk about your weight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Francona\u2019s main focus is Stewart becoming even more athletic. Recent social media posts from Stewart (who turned 22 yesterday) show his physical development this offseason.<\/p>\n
Recently, Freddie Benavides went to Miami to work with Stewart on his first base defense. <\/p>\n
Francona said \u201cwe\u2019ll see\u201d where Stewart plays in 2026.<\/p>\n
Looking at the infield, McLain will be at second, De La Cruz will be at short and Gold Glove winner Ke\u2019Bryan Hayes will most likely play third (Stewart can also play there). Tyler Stephenson and Jose Trevino are the catchers.<\/p>\n
Noelvi Marte is the Reds\u2019 right fielder. Francona said, \u201cWe want Marte to play. We all think he\u2019s going to be a pretty good right fielder.\u201d Friedl is solid in center.<\/p>\n
Left field, DH and first base are the questions. The Reds have internal options at each position, and there are also options on the free agent and trade markets.<\/p>\n
Francona said, \u201cWhat we do in left is to be determined. So often, one signing sets it off.\u201d<\/p>\n
If Steer plays first, Gavin Lux has experience in left field (he\u2019s a native infielder). Will Benson should get a chance to compete for a role.<\/p>\n
If the Reds sign a first baseman, Steer could play left. If they sign a left fielder, Steer or Stewart could play first with the other DHing along with Lux. If they land Schwarber (a DH), Steer could play left and Stewart could play first.<\/p>\n
The versatility on the roster gives the Reds the ability to explore a variety of options.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO \u2014 At the end of last season, Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona told the team to remember…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":337681,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-337680","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-mlb","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/337681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}