Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell usually sends the lineup to the players the night before every game. But heading into Tuesday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals, as Bell planned his biggest lineup shakeup since May 2021, he waited until the early afternoon to make it official.
Bell was considering going with TJ Friedl, Matt McLain and Jonathan India at the top of the Reds’ lineup. Bell said that he wanted to sleep on it before he made that big of a change, and he went forward with that decision on Tuesday.
The result was a new lineup and a tangible sign of a new identity at the top of the Reds’ order.