ATLANTA – Cincinnati Redsmanager Terry Francona mentioned some of his plans for when the Reds season ends.
A trip to hang with grandkids. Some meetings with the Reds brass. A golf trip with buddies.
Conspicuously missing from the list: No offseason surgery.
“Zero,” Francona said. “Which is maybe a first.”
Even last year he had hamstring surgery after the season.
“But we still have a few days,” he said with a laugh.
Almost everything that could go wrong for Terry Francona’s team this year has – with a few exceptions such as a comeback 7-6 victory Thursday (Sept. 24) in Atlanta that gave them a series win over the playoff-bound Braves.
But eight months after starting his 50th official year in professional baseball in Goodyear, Arizona, and five months after his 67th
birthday, the most accomplished manager in the game appears to be as healthy and energetic as he has been this late in any season in the last several years.
And that might be as good as any place to start for the Reds and their Hall of Fame-bound manager as they tackle the enormous task of turning around one of the most disappointing Reds teams of the last 30 years.
“I don’t think I would call myself energetic,” Francona said. “But I think (I’m doing) pretty good. I try to swim as much as I can. When I swim I’m good. It even helps my brain.”
If that’s the case, he might need as many laps as he can get in between now and that set of meetings with the brass for all the Mensa-level activity it figures to take to turn this year’s team into next year’s playoff contender.
For now, he joins young ace Chase Burns, star rookie Sal Stewart and 30-homer All-Star shortstop Elly De La Cruz among the four cornerstones around which the 2027 effort starts – De La Cruz reaching that career-high 30 homer mark with a long one off former Red Tyler Mahle in the third inning of that series finale in Atlanta.
Make no mistake: Francona’s health has been an important part of the leadership equation of this team since he was hired out of a one-year retirement two years ago next month.
Multiple health issues forced him to step down in Cleveland after 11 seasons following the 2023 season, and it became a significant part of the conversation with Reds front office honchos during their interview with Francona.
“I couldn’t even enjoy it,” he said of how he felt that season.
Now?
“I think I’m in a pretty good place,” he said.
Regular laps in the pool have been a big part of that. He said he’s been able to keep that up daily during homestands this season.
“On the road it’s a little hit or miss,” he said. “Like, we had meetings the last couple days, so I haven’t been able to. And I can feel it. It’s just this week. I’ll get into a real good routine when the season’s over.
“I usually gain a (expletive) ton of weight during the year,” he added. “It’s not like I’m skinny, but I haven’t gained a ton of weight. That part’s good.”
The Reds will need all they can get from the manager who ranks 11th all-time in wins – behind eight Hall of Famers, Bruce Bochy and Dusty Baker – to bounce all the way from last place into the postseason next year.
Not that anybody’s betting the house that’s possible regardless of who’s managing the club.
For instance, their Mr. Reliable veteran innings eater, Brady Singer had another clunker in his final start of the season, giving up four runs in the first inning against the Braves in a start that was done after three innings.
He finished the season 6-15 with a 5.85 ERA in 31 starts, allowing 30 earned runs in 19 2/3 innings over his final five starts (13.74 ERA) – emblematic of the direction the entire starting staff took this season (with the exception of All-Star Burns) after ranking second in the majors among 2025 rotations in fWAR.
Not so emblematic of this year's club was the seven-run outburst by heretofore lower-run group that got home runs from not only De La Cruz but rookies Carlos Jorge (leading off the game) and Hector Rodriguez (a go-ahead two-run shot in the sixth).
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 'I'm in a pretty good place.' Why Terry Francona's health key for Reds
