Paul Daugherty

Cincinnati Enquirer

You might not agree with the Reds decision to bring back Bryan Price. After a third year of October irrelevancy, you might be cursing it and promising not to attend Reds games because of it. To some of us not so personally wedded to outcomes, keeping Price makes a lot of sense.

Young team, young manager, learning together. Young players, accustomed to one man in the corner office and how he and his coaches do things. We won’t say “comfortable,’’ because no team should be comfortable with finishing last three years in a row.

Price knows this. “I’m rarely called a genius, and fairly often called an idiot. That comes with the territory when you’ve got a .400 winning percentage,’’ he said Friday, from his home in Scottsdale, AZ.

Stability is huge, when you believe the man running things knows what he’s doing. I believe Price knows. I think in Baseball, rebuilding a team and an organization can be like turning a battleship in a bathtub. I see this particular ship starting to move.

I see Price doing the same. Trusting his instincts, rather than living by The Book. Allowing Sal Romano to pitch eight innings in mid-September, when convention screamed five innings or six. Understanding that for young players, pitchers especially, comfort and confidence mean nearly everything.

“With young pitchers, I’m hypersensitive about how they leave a start,’’ Price said. “It would have been easy to get him out after six or seven’’ innings. “If he pitches the 7th, now he knows he can do that. If he pitches the 8th, same thing. He ended up pitching a beautiful eight.’’ Romano shut out Pittsburgh for eight innings in a 2-1 win.

Managers grow into their games. Same as players. Growing together isn’t a bad idea.

Look, I’m not going all kumbaya here. The Reds have the major issues of any club that’s won 64, 68 and 68 its previous three years. Not all of it owes to the manager. In fact, very little of it does.

It is not Price’s fault he and his staff have had to take a minor-league approach to working with their youngest major leaguers. Starting pitchers, for example, should not be learning to throw change-ups in Cincinnati.

It is not his fault that for decades, the Reds have not been able to draft enough decent starting pitching. Tom Browning, Johnny Cueto, Homer Bailey, Mike Leake and...

Lately, it has picked up, but only very lately. Even now, the club’s best prospect, Luis Castillo, came from elsewhere. Price’s forte is teaching pitching, not drafting it.

The 2017 Reds were not good, but they stayed engaged. Tone-setting is a manager’s job. Price benefited from the virtuous leadership of Joey Votto and Zack Cozart and the underappreciated grit of Tucker Barnhart. “If Joey took optional batting practice, everybody did,’’ Price said.

Being the only big-league manager some key Reds have known was no less important. “It takes time for these guys to buy in. Learning to trust your hitting and pitching coaches, building that rapport and understanding they’re here to make you better,’’ said Price.

Big effort should never be overly praised in pro sports. It should be implied in the contract. But human nature being what it is, losing teams often lose interest. This one never did.

Things need to change, though, and quickly. A few questions for those calling the shots, Price included:

Do the Reds have a Way? Some sort of top-to-bottom organizational how-to, a la the Cardinals? One part of the Way could be, “thou starting pitchers shalt learn a changeup and throw it effectively before getting a major-league uniform.’’ Another might be, “thou shalt work pitching counts and put the ball in play, while studying and worshipping the Tao of Joey.’’

While they’re at it, why don’t the Reds identify their best pitching teacher, pay him major-league money and station him in Billings, Daytona Beach or both? Mack Jenkins might have his hands full in Cincinnati. But if he’s seen as their best pitching whisperer, maybe he’s better used in Montana. If you’re building a Way, that is.

Danny Darwin seems an excellent teacher of pitching, judging from the arms he has nurtured in Pensacola. Pay him whatever Jenkins makes and ask him to move across Florida, where the most important teaching should occur.

Yeah?

Then go out and sign Lance Lynn or Gerrit Cole. (We’re joking. But only a little, especially if Cozart leaves).

Bryan Price celebrates the offseason with a bottle of pinot noir, shared with his wife, and in another month or so, a hike on the West Fork Trail deep in the natural wonders of Sedona, AZ.

It’s good he still has a job here. It’s smart, rational and hopeful. Give the (55-year-old) kid a break. He’s still learning. Just like most of his players.