Reds name Freddie Benavides bench coach, promote Delino DeShields

Exactly one month and one week to the day the Cincinnati Reds announced that David Bell would take over as the team’s new manager, the rest of the big league coaching staff has largely rounded into form. The hiring of Derek Johnson and Turner Ward as pitching and hitting coaches, respectively, rightfully made waves as the biggest additions, but on Wednesday the club announced that Freddie Benavides would take over as bench coach, among other moves.

Benavides, 52, was an infielder for the Reds in both 1991 and 1992, and has been the team’s first base coach for each of the last three seasons. He also interviewed for the vacant managerial position with the Reds after the season, and his promotion to bench coach pretty well signals that the previous interview must have gone pretty well.

In addition to naming the bench coach, the Reds also promoted Delino DeShields to be their first base coach after he had spent several years managing in the minor leagues for the franchise. Lee Tunnell and Jeff Pickler were also added to the staff, which makes sense because if you were to randomly generate names that were supposed to sound like assistant baseball coaches, ‘Lee Tunnell’ and ‘Jeff Pickler’ are two that would certainly fit the mold.

As for longtime third base coach Billy Hatcher - who was replaced when J.R. House was named to that position last week - it seems he’s still going to be around, fortunately. He’ll help out the team as a minor league outfield and baserunning coordinator, as The Enquirer’s Bobby Nightengale relayed along with more detailed breakdowns of each coach announced today.

Unfortunately, the Reds still have yet to get the pitching. One can only assume they will get the pitching at a later date.