But in September, with the Reds fighting for a playoff spot, Francona has adjusted his approach.
“You have to,” Francona said. “There’s always a balance of urgency versus panic. When you completely go against everything you’ve done, that can be perceived as panic by the players. But there has to be a sense of urgency because there is.”
The Reds’ lineup has been changing on a near daily basis in September. Elly De La Cruz has bounced between a few different spots in the bottom half of the order. Sal Stewart, Ke’Bryan Hayes and Spencer Steer have been splitting playing time as Francona mixes and matches. Gavin Lux has been bumped up to hit second in some games and third in others.
“I really do like consistency,” Francona said. “I probably have fought with myself recently over consistency versus stubbornness. Normally, when you move somebody, somebody else moves too.”
Then, Francona said, there’s the “Will Benson factor.”
Benson went six weeks without a big league start this summer, including a two-week stretch where he was in Triple-A. Benson received a start in San Diego in early September, made the most of his opportunity and went on to become one of the team’s hottest hitters.
Now, he’s a staple in the lineup.
“Trying to get him in against certain right-handers makes sense,” Francona said. “Other times, he’ll be on our bench, which really helps our bench. We have a much more balanced benched. With the way he’s swinging, we like to get him in there (in the starting lineup).”
Francona has also been more willing this month to pull starting pitchers in the fifth-or-sixth inning. Andrew Abbott, Brady Singer and Zack Littell have had shorter starts recently, and the Reds benefit in those games from some newfound bullpen depth.
Rookies Connor Phillips and Zach Maxwell have stepped up in a big way. Also, with the rotation getting healthy, Nick Martinez and Chase Burns have become high-leverage multi-inning relievers who bridge the game to the back-end relievers like Tony Santillan and Emilio Pagán.
A winning formula recently has been the starter passing the baton to Burns or Martinez until Santillan and Pagán close it out.
It’s an especially aggressive usage of Burns, who’s in his first professional season and had been a starter all year.
Pitching coach Derek Johnson said that deciding how often Burns can pitch in relief is a product of daily conversations. There’s no playbook with this strategy when it involves a young rookie.
“Really, it’s just about managing his recovery,” Johnson said. “I remind him every day to tell me how he feels and what would be the next step. Is it two days off? Three days off? Right now, our plan isn’t to use him in a one inning stint. It’s multiples every time. If he can give us two, three or four coming out of the bullpen, that’s a bullpen saver.”
The Reds are rolling with him because he gives the team its best shot in must-win games. When Burns isn’t available, Martinez has been used in a similar way.
For Francona, it’s all hands on deck as he develops his plan to win each game.
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