ATLANTA – When the game begins, Reds manager David Bell is banned from the dugout, clubhouse and press box during his six-game suspension. It was tougher to watch the game than he figured during Thursday’s series opener against the Atlanta Braves.

Bell left the clubhouse in street clothes about 20 minutes before first pitch and searched for a spot in the stands to watch. He found a seat in the outfield that had a good view and he thought would work. Then fans started to recognize him.

“I don’t know if it was just because of everything that’s gone on in the last few days, I sat down and people started coming up to me right away,” Bell said. “I went back out on the concourse, I was going to move seats, and people were like, ‘Hey, there’s the manager!’ I’m like, ‘Man, this isn’t going to work.’”

Bell lasted one half-inning in the outfield seats at SunTrust Park. A couple of Reds fans asked to take a picture with him as he searched for a new spot to watch the game.

He walked to the Omni Hotel lobby, which is next door to the stadium and behind center field. He wasn’t noticed there and watched for a bit. Then the hotel’s satellite dish went out.

“It just wasn’t a very well thought out setup I had,” Bell said. He hurried to find another spot in the Battery, the entertainment district that surrounds the ballpark. “I was going from restaurant to restaurant trying to catch it.”

Once the game was stopped because of rain in the seventh inning, he went back to the team’s hotel. The rain never let up and the game was called after a delay that lasted 1 hour and 46 minutes.

“It seems funny, but I really was struggling,” Bell said. “It started raining and I couldn’t get back into the clubhouse. You know how hard it was raining, so I ended up just taking an Uber back to the hotel.”

Bell downloaded the MLB app on his phone, so he could watch Friday’s game from wherever he wants. Even without being in the dugout for a six-game stretch, he was confident it would be a seamless transition for acting manager Freddie Benavides.

“We’re in great hands,” Bell said. “There’s no concern there, but for me, it’s really tough.”

Throughout the entire season, Bell, Benavides, outfield/game-planning coach Jeff Pickler, pitching coach Derek Johnson and bullpen coach Lee Tunnell have conducted daily pre-game meetings about an hour before the first pitch to set their game plan. They try to discuss all the scenarios that could happen during the game for pitchers and their lineup.

If the Braves brought in a certain reliever in the sixth inning, which pinch-hitters would they consider using? With Tunnell in the meetings, he knows which relievers are more likely to be used in certain situations out of the bullpen.

“It’s just like as a player, you prepare by taking batting practice or having a routine,” Bell said. “The situations, a lot of times, will take care of itself, but it’s kind of like anything else. If you do the prep upfront, it slows things down when it’s actually happening. It’s been really valuable.”

Bell was a bench coach with the St. Louis Cardinals from 2015-17 and they had pre-game coaches meetings, but he’s placed a bigger emphasis on it. It wasn’t such a formal process for the Minnesota Twins when Pickler was the game planning coach during the last two years.

“The way I like to work is I like to collaborate and then ultimately make a decision,” Bell said. “With that process starting an hour before the game, it brings a lot more points or a lot more thoughts that we wouldn’t have time to think about in-game.”

Bell, and now Benavides for the next five games, aren’t stuck to the script once the game starts. It’s more of a guide, so there aren’t surprises. Pickler is the acting bench coach with Benavides managing for the next five games.

“It’s like situations, who is hot for the lineup?” Benavides said. “Who is the best guy for this stretch of the lineup and vice-versa, hitting the same way. Thinking what they’ve done in the past and what they might do where they pinch-hit or pitchers that come in. Who are their go-to guys? The basics – a lot of the traditional stuff.”

The biggest change from the pre-game meetings to the actual games is the manager’s gut feel.

"You talk about it and that’s why we’re out there in the game," Benavides said. "We’re talking and trying to figure it out. I might say something that David doesn’t agree or Jeff doesn’t agree or vice-versa, or we both agree and he doesn’t. It’s ultimately the manager’s decision. We try to give him as much input as we can."