Reds Beat: Terry Francona Remains True To Self In Final Week, Trying To Guide Reds to Postseason

CINCINNATI — Terry Francona isn’t about to change his formula now.

His club has been through countless peaks and valleys in 2025, his first season as skipper of the Reds. He has preached the mantra of just play the game ahead of you the best you can.

And after a four-game sweep of the playoff-bound Cubs over the weekend, expectations were immediately raised in Reds Country that this could be the first Cincinnati club headed for the postseason in a non-shortened season since 2013. But expectations can be a funny thing, especially for a team that has precious few players on it with playoff experience.

Gavin Lux won a World Series last year with the Dodgers.

Jose Trevino played in the World Series last year with the Yankees.

Austin Hays played in the postseason last year with Philadelphia and in 2023 with Baltimore.

Brady Singer faced one batter in the ALDS last year against the Yankees.

Brent Suter appeared in the 2019 and ’20 postseasons with Milwaukee.

Emilio Pagan appeared in the postseason in 2019, ’20 and 23 with three different teams.

Zack Littell reached the postseason in 2019, ’21 and ’23. Good omen perhaps?

But all of those names pale – of course – in comparison to Francona and his staff. Francona has won two World Series, just lost another in Game 7 in 2016 and has been to the postseason 11 times and carried his teams – present edition included – into the final week in contention in his nine of his last 10 seasons in Cleveland.

What’s his advice to this year’s Reds team?

“Best thing we can do is to see if we can win tonight, right? That’s the best way to go about it. That’s the only way I know to see it’s the best way… like I said the other day, they’ve earned, we’ve earned the right to embrace going out and competing, and that’s what we will do.”

The Reds were six games back of the Mets on Sept. 5. That was the night they loaded the bases with no one out and couldn’t score in the bottom of the ninth, needing just a run to tie and two to win. They lost, 5-4. The next weekend, after taking two of three from San Diego, they lost all three in Sacramento to the Athletics. But in keeping with Nick Martinez’s motto that’s been catching on with teammates, “you can’t kill us.” Francona put it a different way.

“Keep playing. It wasn’t that long ago we were in Sacramento and it was not looking good,” Francona told me before Tuesday’s game. “Keep playing because nobody has a crystal ball. I don’t know how this week’s going to go. That’s why just we play tonight and then we’ll regroup and hopefully play tomorrow. That’s best way I’d do it.”

Francona was in his office in uniform at 9:45 Tuesday morning, meeting with organization officials and staff. In his experience, he knows there’s a lot to consider when your club is clawing and scratching to get in, like does Hunter Greene start Wednesday and then again in Game 1 of a Wild Card series against either Los Angeles or San Diego? Or what if there’s rain Wednesday and you play two on Thursday, then what? For now, the Reds are keeping Greene in line for the first game of the playoffs and not prepping him for Sunday in Milwaukee.

“Anytime you do that, you want it to be to your advantage,” Francona said. “And when we talk to all of our pitchers, we came away not thinking that would be an advantage.”

NOTES:

Austin Hays (back) is “better but not ready to play”

Ke’Bryan Hayes (back) was in the lineup Tuesday after getting his back issues treated.

On Automatic Ball-Strike system starting in 2026 at MLB level: “I have a feeling that once we get comfortable with it, like anything else, we’ll be okay.”