After a major-league-worst 3-15 start to the season, the Reds fired manager Bryan Price on Thursday morning. Here's what you need to know about Cincinnati's early-season decision to make a change.
Bryan Price's firing was inevitable in the midst of a 3-15 start, but he didn't have much to work with. The Reds' pitching is bad, the defense might be worse, and the offense has been gutted by injuries to Eugenio Suarez and Scott Schebler and the departure of Zack Cozart through free agency. Nick Senzel will arrive soon from Louisville and Hunter Greene provides reason for excitement in the minors, but it's going to be a long, laborious rebuild before the Reds are respectable again.
The Reds' 3-15 start is the franchise's second worst through 18 games in the past century. Only the 1931 Reds, who started 2-16, have come out of the gate slower than this year's team. That 1931 squad went on to finish a National League-worst 58-96.
The Reds posted a .419 win percentage under Bryan Price, which is the worst in MLB since the start of 2014. Price's win percentage is also the lowest in franchise history among managers to spend more than three seasons with the team.
The Reds are the first team since the 2015 Brewers to start 3-15 or worse. Those 2015 Brewers finished 68-94, which wasn't last in the NL Central. That spot belonged to the ... Bryan Price-led Reds at 64-98.
The Reds are the only team that has failed to win 70 games in each of the past three seasons. Price's first year as Reds manager was his best, as they went 76-86 in 2014. Since then, Cincinnati has finished in last place each year without winning more than 68 games in any single season.
Price's firing marks the first time since 2002 that there has been a managerial change in April. There were four that season, including the Tigers parting ways with Phil Garner after an 0-6 start and Milwaukee letting Davey Lopes go just 15 games into the season. The Reds' move does rank among the earliest managerial moves in the past 45 years.