CINCINNATI -- Louder contact from the bats and balls clanking around the outfield seats lately have indicated that Reds hitters are catching up to their pitching counterparts.

During the first few days of live batting practice and scrimmages, it was decidedly the other way around. Reds manager David Bell wondered on Monday if late start times to scrimmages, combined with the ballpark lights being on for overcast late afternoons, has helped hitters.

“There’s something about the adrenaline from a hitting standpoint that, all of sudden, it kind of evened out a little bit,” Bell said. “Maybe [they’re] seeing the ball a little bit better. Of course, that wasn’t the case [Sunday]. We played at 3:30 [p.m. ET], but a couple days before that, I noticed that it got better. I thought maybe that might’ve had something to do with it.”

The Reds' front office invested $166 million in the offense, with much of it dedicated to offensive upgrades after the club was ranked 12th in the National League in runs, batting average and on-base percentage and 10th in slugging percentage.

Second baseman Mike Moustakas and outfielders Nick Castellanos and Shogo Akiyama came aboard in the makeover.

Among the positive signs of late:

• Akiyama had two hits Saturday and three more on Sunday, including a pair of doubles down the right-field line.

• First baseman Joey Votto has been a difficult out. Normally a slow starter in camp and the regular season, Votto reached safely in his first six plate appearances before being retired for the first time, and he hit a two-run single off Luis Castillo on Friday.

• Outfielder Jesse Winker has been impressive with his hard contact. Winker hit a two-run homer against Sonny Gray on Thursday.

• There were a combined nine homers hit in the past two scrimmages -- including six during a 6-2 win on Monday for the gray-pants-wearing visitors. Prospects Tyler Stephenson and Jonathan India hit back-to-back homers against Amir Garrett in the top of the second inning. In the bottom of the second, Tucker Barnhart took Anthony DeSclafani deep to right field for a two-out solo homer. Scott Schebler also went deep with a two-out solo shot in the top of the fourth. Non-roster invitee Matt Davidson delivered a leadoff homer in the top of the fifth.

• Eugenio Suárez, who led the team with 49 homers last season and had right shoulder surgery in January that left him iffy for the original Opening Day, obliterated a 3-0 pitch from Raisel Iglesias in the bottom of the fifth inning Monday. Suárez’s homer contact had some serious volume, and the ball carried halfway into the left-field upper deck.

“The hitters are working hard,” Bell said. “They are getting a lot of work. Like we said, even if the pitchers are ahead of the hitters, we’re going to work hard to overcome that. Hopefully, that’s what we’re seeing already.”

With a 30-man Opening Day roster, Bell wasn’t expecting to flood his team with a lot of extra pitching, and he prefers more offense. He envisioned a potential roster with 16 position players and 14 pitchers.

“Even though we have position players who will play every day, regardless of who the opposing pitcher is, you can create good matchups. We have the three-batter-minimum rule, which creates pinch-hitting opportunities,” Bell said. “If you can have more position players, in some way, that can allow you to pull out all the stops to try to win a game.”