Cincinnati Reds Interim Manager Freddie Benavides Reacts to David Bell's Firing

Freddie Benavides was named interim manager following the Reds' decision to fire David Bell. He shared his reaction to the news on Monday evening.

"I have the utmost respect for David,” Benavides said according to Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “He’s a tremendous person. Loyal. Caring. It hurts from that part. It’s bittersweet. There’s also excitement. Say what you say, but there’s an exciting part that you get to manage.” 

Benavides has been with the Reds organization for 26 years and mentioned that even though there are just five games left in the regular season, there is a lot of improvement before the end of the season.

“We’ve under-achieved,” Benavides said. “We haven’t played to the level we’re capable of. We’re a better team than we’ve shown. There are a lot of mistakes. You guys have written about it. We’ve talked about the defense and base running.”

Benavides also mentioned he would like the manager job, but Nick Krall declined to comment on who they're looking at on to fill the role on Monday.