Written by Sean, GM of the St. Louis Reds
Hello there Red fans! It is a very exciting day as today yours truly, Harry Musgrave, has a one on one interview with Reds manager Kevin Bentley. He rarely does one on one interviews so it is quite an honour for me to be able to bring this to you.
HM Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer some questions – much appreciated!
KB No problem at all.
HM Time sure passes quickly. It is tough to believe that this is your 6th season already at the helm of the Reds. You have an overall record of 273 wins and 256 losses. How would you rate your overall performance in those 5 plus seasons?
KB Well obviously I am disappointed that we have yet to win a division title these past few years and we only have one 2nd place finish in that span. I have high expectations so I am not happy about that. We have been competitive and there have been some great individual performances during that time. Freddy Ronsell last season for example. Until we start winning division and championships it would be a low grade.
HM You are off to a quick start this season. What has been the key so far?
KB It is very early so we have to temper expectations. But the boys have played well so far. We had a very tight series against the Beavers last week where we managed to come out on top. I think it really showed what we are capable of. It must have put a scare into them as they went out a pulled a blockbuster deal immediately following the series and now they are going to be that much tougher to beat. It is nice to know that we can have that much effect on them though.
Back to the keys so far Reeves has been back to his old self. Paul Bett is healthy and has shored up our catching position. Those two have been the biggest keys so far.
HM That must be very frustrating to you. All the teams in your division made moves to improve their rosters during free agency, Now the Beavers make a blockbuster move to shake up their team. Yet the Reds came back with the same team that went 60-60 last year. And expectations from management is that you compete for the division title?
KB As much as I would like to have as much talent at my disposal as possible, I know that management has been doing their best to trade and add to the team, it just hasn’t worked out so far. Having said that I think we have some stars on this team that can keep us close to the top. Reeves and Ronsell are two of the best hitters in the league and are offense continues to be strong. I like our pitching staff – Webb has been great and the other two starters just need some more consistency.
Last season we added Carne, Keyte and Eddowes, basically reshaping our entire infield. so there have been some changes for the better. They now have an opportunity to play a full season together and they have been getting better and better with each passing game.
HM You seem to have made some changes to the way you manage games – primarily in the way you handle the pitchers. Can you speak to that a little?
KB We have made a concerted effort to use Cresswell and Clarke out of bullpen more this season. I noticed that our starters – especially Barrow and Mason lost some bite on their sliders and zip on the old fastballs when they approach the century mark in pitches. I am going to try and pull them a little earlier and give opposing lineups somein’ else to think about. Early returns have looked promising.
On offense we are trying to be a little less aggressive on the base paths. It is tough to score runs and we can’t have some many runners getting thrown out. We need to put more pressure on the defence.
Walter Fleckney surprised me in the offseason. He has upgraded our outfield defence and is batting over .300 early on. In the offseason I didn’t see him factoring into our plans this year.
HM Rumour has it that veteran Hamilton Atherol is not happy about his new role. A role that sees him coming off the bench and not starting anymore.
KB Is it tough whenever you have to sit a veteran who is used to starting. The truth is though he hasn’t been very productive for us the past couple of season. He has been given ample opportunity and I expect him to embrace his new role coming off the bench. To his credit he has been excellent coming off the bench – I expect him to continue to play this way and if he does he may see his name in the starting lineup more often.
HM Is William Barrow close to losing his spot in the rotation?
KB Honestly no. I have faith in him and he has been a big part of this organization over the past many years. And frankly we have nobody else in the organization that is ready to step into a starting role. So I see little chance of him losing his spot. He will come aound – he is already showing some positive signs.
HM Looking around the league are their any players that have really impressed you so far?
KBCharles Bird of Pittsburgh is one player for sure that jumps out. When we faced him early in the season I was shocked at how powerful he was – how violent his swing was. 4 home runs already! And hitting for a high average too.
I did a double take when I saw that Danny Edgerton who at 40 years old has an ERA of 0.54. That is incredible. I don’t know how it is possible he has a record of 1-3. Oh I am also glad that kid Batkin doesn’t play in our league. I maybe forced into an early retirement if he finds his way over to our side of the fence.
HM Thank you for your time Mr. Bentley i would love to do this again sometime.
KB Anytime – thanks for having me