David Bell to return for 2023 season, Cincinnati Reds dismiss five coaches from staff

The Cincinnati Reds shook up Manager David Bell’s coaching staff following the second 100-loss season in club history, but Bell will return for the 2023 season.

The Reds dismissed five coaches Thursday, including hitting coach Alan Zinter, first-base/infield coach Delino DeShields, bullpen coach Lee Tunnell, assistant coach Rolando Valles and advance scouting coach Cristian Pérez.

It’s the first time the Reds fired a coach on Bell’s staff since hitting coach Turner Ward was fired following the 2019 season. DeShields, Tunnell, Valles and Pérez had all been a part of Bell’s staff since his first season with the Reds in 2019.

"We felt that these are the right changes to put a new voice in different places," Reds General Manager Nick Krall said. "We've struggled in certain areas this year and still need to make improvements. We thought those were the right changes to make."

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Along with the five coaches, Geoff Head, the senior director of health and performance, did not have his contract renewed after three years in the organization.

"Over the next couple of weeks we're going to change the structure of our medical staff," Krall said. "We're looking at everything we can possibly do because we have to mitigate the number of injuries we had this year. Yeah, we can blame the lockout, we can blame whatever, but the fact is we had those injuries and we have to get less of them."

Bell will enter the last year of his contract in 2023. He received a two-year extension at the end of last season. The Reds have a 251-295 record (.460 winning percentage) during his four seasons, including a playoff appearance in 2020 and an 83-win season in 2021.

"We're going to come into (2023) in a similar place that we are right now," Krall said. "Obviously, we're going to try to make some improvements to this team. ... I anticipate we're going to have, maybe not at the start, but a younger team as we go through the season next year and players develop. We just need to keep developing them and be the best big-leaguers they can. It's about development at the big-league level."

Zinter spent three years as the Reds’ hitting coach. The Reds ranked near the bottom of the league in offense in 2020 and 2022, and near the top of the league in 2021. They didn’t score more than three runs in any of their last 13 games this year.

Before Zinter, 54, was hired onto Bell’s staff, the two worked together on the San Francisco Giants’ player development staff in 2018. Zinter was the Giants’ assistant director of offensive player development for two years.

The Reds retained assistant hitting coach Joel McKeithan, who just completed his first season in the organization. McKeithan, who spent one year as Detroit’s minor league hitting coordinator before he was hired, replaced Joe Mather last winter after Mather was hired as Arizona’s lead hitting coach.

DeShields, 53, spent 14 years in the Reds’ organization and the last four years as the Reds’ first-base coach, infield coach and baserunning coach. The Reds had the third-worst defense in the league, according to Sports Info Solutions’ defensive runs saved metric, with negative marks at second base and third base. FanGraphs' baserunning metric had the Reds as the third-worst in the league.

"Our position players really struggled," Krall said. "When you look across whatever, outs above average, any advanced metrics, we were roughly last or second to last in infield defense, baserunning, offense. Across the board, we need to get better in a lot of different areas. I don’t think it’s just one area here or there."

Before joining Bell’s staff, DeShields spent 10 years on the Reds’ player development staff, including eight seasons as a minor league manager. He had a chance to coach his son, Delino, during the 2021 season.

Tunnell spent the last seven seasons as the bullpen coach under pitching coach Derek Johnson, three years with the Milwaukee Brewers and four years with the Reds. The Brewers did not renew Tunnell’s contract at the end of the 2018 season, following a run to the National League Championship Series. He was hired by the Reds later that offseason after the club hired Johnson off Milwaukee’s staff.

The Reds' pitching staff led the majors in walks and hit by pitches.

"We need to figure out how to cut those – both starting and bullpen – that’s something that you don’t want to give away free bases, especially in this park when contact can put the ball out of the park quickly," Krall said. "It is an emphasis. We do want to get better in that area.”

The 61-year-old Tunnell previously worked with the Reds from 2006-08. He was an interim bullpen coach in 2006, promoted from his position as Triple-A Louisville’s pitching coach, and he was a pro scout in 2007 and 2008.

Valles, 43, had his title changed from associate coach to assistant coach before the 2022 season. He was the left-handed pitcher during batting practice and joined the Reds after 11 seasons on Milwaukee’s player development staff.

Pérez, 27, was hired onto Bell’s staff in 2019 after he served as a fellow in the Commissioner’s Office. During his four seasons on the Major League staff, he contributed to advance scouting data and previously was a part-time bullpen catcher.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: David Bell to return in 2023, Reds dismiss five coaches from staff