CINCINNATI — Opening Day is here for the Cincinnati Reds, and while there is a lot of excitement around the city, baseball fans are eager to see how this team shakes out with first-year manger Terry Francona.

The skipper shares more about the chance to come back and manage a team he once played for.

“Your manager, Terry Francona!” 

It’s an announcement Reds fans can get behind, Terry Francona, the two-time World Series winning manager, is now at the helm in the Queen City after 11 seasons with the Cleveland Guardians and then taking a year off.

Francona pumps his fist when he is announced as the Reds' manager before an exhibition game in Dayton (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)

“I didn't need to come back and manage," Francona said. "It felt right. You know, I kind of compared a lot like 11 years or 12 years ago when I went to Cleveland. I think people were like, why is he going to Cleveland? Well, I thought it was right. And it was. I feel the same way here, working with people that I respect and enjoy.”

The skipper said he’s energized by the young roster, led by Elly De La Cruz and Matt McLain.

Elly De La Cruz warms up ahead of his at-bat during an exhibition game (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)

“Just the standard that he brings, the energy that he brings every day, he’s consistent,” McLain said. “He’s always uplifting people, he’s connecting with teammates, staff members and coaches. Everyone feels his energy, and it’s really positive.”

Now, with Opening Day on the horizon, Tito remembers his one and only Opening Day as a Reds player, hitting a home run in the game in 1987.

“I went to dinner that night and somebody had my jersey on the waitress, and I was like, man, I have arrived,” Francona said. “Like, I’ve never seen something like that. I mean, it’s a good baseball town, and I don’t know if people realize that.”

Francona hopes to bring fresh energy to this baseball town that hasn’t seen a playoff series win since 1995. Opening Day is just the start.

“It’s just different when you get to be out there,” TJ Friedl, a Reds outfielder, said. “The butterflies, the jitters, it’s all part of it, but it’s something that I love to embrace and it’s just another opportunity, another year of blessings, to be at Opening Day. Not a lot of guys get to do that.”

“As exciting as Opening Day is, and it is, what really excites me is once you get into the grind of it, then you can see how good you are,” Francona said.

The Reds take on the San Francisco Giants in the Opening game, first pitch is set for 4:10 this afternoon.