The team introduction on the main stage on Friday evening is always a hit with the fans, and the biggest cheers this year were for Elly De La Cruz (no surprise), Spencer Steer, Matt McLain and Emilio Pagan. Watching tThe kids-only press conferences are personally one of my favorite things to do at Redsfest. This year, Hunter Greene took part in one of these, and he took his role very seriously and thought carefully about each child’s questions. His advice to a boy who asked, “What should I do now to prepare for baseball when I get older?” was “Just have fun at your age. As you get older it will become more of a business, so enjoy the sport now.”
The Reds also offered a number of question and answer sessions for season ticket holders, a few of which I was able to listen to.
Friday started with a question and answer session with Terry Francona, Sal Stewart and Jose Trevino. While he got to tell some fun stories, Francona also had the typical answers an MLB manager would give the media about his team. He talked about wanting the boys to have fun, especially during the grind of the season. He is most excited about the upcoming season simply because he really likes the team. The guys they have are respectful, they are close to each other, and even in hard times they do it together.
The big question everyone wanted to know is whether Stewart had really lost weight. It was one of the first questions moderator Jim Day asked and Stewart responded by saying his offseason goal was to get down to 215 pounds. He achieved that goal; now his focus is on maintaining that weight for the season. Stewart has had long conversations with Francona about the upcoming season, and his main goal is to help the team win. He also said all the right things, including the quote: “Since I signed, my only focus has been to keep getting better.” Stewart also said he feels comfortable playing first or third, but he feels most confident playing defense in the field over being a DH. At the end of the day, Stewart just wants to win and he will do whatever it takes to do that.
In terms of other MLB players he looked up to, Manny Machado is one of those guys. Stewart has actually trained with him in the offseason, even going so far as to adopt Machado’s style of training, right down to having the same strength coach and mimicking certain of Machado’s lifts. Stewart is also very thankful for the older guys in the Reds organization, like Trevino, who watch the rookies and help them adjust to big-league life.
Later on Friday I came across a Q&A from Matt McLain moderated by John Sadak. McLain was asked what his focus is during spring training, especially his plan to bounce back from a terrible season. He has worked on hunting his pitch early and being more aggressive at the plate earlier in the count. He wants to continue working on that during spring training.
Saturday afternoon, Nick Krall, president of baseball operations, and Brad Meador, senior vice president and general manager, were part of a new question and answer session with season ticket holders. Many of the questions asked were about specific players. A lot of news has already been published about these questions, but there were also a few striking highlights.
This Q&A took place a day after the Reds traded Gavin Lux, so of course there was a question about that trade. Krall said, “I like Gavin, as a man, as a clubhouse guy, and what he brings to the table, how he grinds out at-bats, but at the end of the day he struggled in left field. And I think the Rays were right, if he plays second base every day, he becomes a different player. Obviously, we have a second baseman in Matt McLain. He [Lux] struggled in left field and the only place we could have him fit was the platoon DH role and maybe a backup infielder. Looking at the deal, it gave us more positional flexibility and gave us a left-handed pitcher who can get guys out at the end of the game and continued to strengthen our bullpen.” The deal also freed up approximately $3 million, which the Reds plan to use to improve the club.
One of the biggest takeaways from hearing both the front office and Francona talk is that the Reds are all in on McLain as their second baseman, despite his struggles in 2025. Krall noted that he is an above-average defender and when they moved on from Jonathan India, the Reds’ defense at second base improved with McLain. He said McLain has good bat speed, he has power; he just needs to get better at making contact and utilizing the entire field.
Brad Meador confirmed that De La Cruz wanted to play in the World Baseball Classic, but the Reds were concerned he might reinjure his quad. AAfter several conversations with him, they decided it was better for him not to play and instead be ready for Opening Day, which Elly agreed to.
The last Q&A session I attended involved Brandon Williamson, Caleb Ferguson, and Jose Trevino. The most interesting question they were asked was about the different ways they prepare for a competition.
Williamson is a very visual player. He loves seeing charts and graphs, and he also draws attack zone graphs himself so he can remember the hard-hit locations for individual players. “There’s a lot of information out there and I feel like you have to get rid of the things that are holding you back a little bit and you have to be able to put in the things that actually help you be successful.” For him, ditching the numbers and focusing more on the visual aspect of information helps him see it when he’s on the mound.
Ferguson tries to keep it as simple as possible when he prepares. Baseball is a mental game, and if he keeps it as simple as possible, he will have more success.
Trevino takes pride in his preparation as a catcher. When he has to make decisions during the game about which pitches are best to throw to certain batters, or if a team is making a pinch hit for someone in the game, he needs to know the information quickly. He starts his scouting reports the night before and, if necessary, completes them the morning before the game. It requires a lot of attention to detail and knowing the other team’s hitters inside and out. Sometimes analytics comes into the plan, and sometimes in the middle of a game, “analytics has to go away and we just have to let go of our feelings.”
The two players I listened to the most last weekend were Jose Trevino and Sal Stewart. They really took the time to give honest answers, and you could tell their true personalities came through when interacting with both the fans and their teammates. Between the two of them and watching Hunter Greene’s genuine attitude towards fans both young and old, it reminded me that these players are people with their own personalities and quirks, just like anyone else.
Redsfest is unique because you get to see a different side of the players that you might not get to see on TV or during the post-match press conferences. They are more relaxed and with that attitude it is clear that they really enjoy interacting with the fans. If you haven’t been yet, I highly recommend you make plans to do so next year. It really is the perfect way for any baseball fan to have fun on a cold winter weekend.
BONUS CONTENT
Other fun facts about Reds players that you would only hear at Redsfest:
-McLain, Trevino and Spencer Steer are the “instigators” or “pranksters” in the clubhouse.
-Trevino wants to catch a ball in the middle of the plate and then move his glove outside the strike zone just to test the new ABS system. He said “probably in the first game.” He is also willing to wear a microphone for the TV broadcast during a match.
-Hunter Greene is a foodie and enjoys watching F1 races.
-Francona eats Uncrustables on the plane.
-Williamson wants the sleeveless pinstripe uniforms to come back.
#learned #Reds #Redsfest #Redleg #Nation