SPARTA – The Cincinnati Reds need to figure out who’ll manage their club after this season.

The team’s Hall of Fame broadcaster thinks it’s a clear choice.

“I’d keep the guy we’ve got,” Marty Brennaman said Saturday. “I think Jim Riggleman’s done an incredible job.”

Brennaman appeared Saturday at Kentucky Speedway, where he was honorary pace car driver for the Quaker State 400.

Hours before that NASCAR Sprint Cup event, the longtime voice of the Reds held court in a news conference. He chatted both about his role for the night and his thoughts on the current club.

Brennaman was asked how the Reds should address their managerial post. Riggleman’s served as Cincinnati’s interim manager ever since the team fired Bryan Price on April 19.

The Reds were 3-15 upon Price’s firing. They entered play Saturday having gone 39-37 in nearly three months under Riggleman’s command.

Cincinnati’s enjoyed a remarkable turnaround. Brennaman, who entered the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s broadcasters wing in 2000, said Riggleman deserves much of the credit.

“He has instilled a level of discipline on this team that I have not seen from a Reds manager since Davey Johnson managed this team back in the mid-90s, and before that Lou Piniella, and before that John McNamara,” Brennaman said. “He’s gotten into the faces of a number of players about things that have occurred.

“With due respect to Bryan Price, who I love and is one of the great people I’ve ever known in the game, Jim Riggleman has managed this club with an iron hand and the players know it.”

Riggleman’s managed parts of 13 seasons between stints with the San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners, Washington Nationals and Reds. The 65-year-old was serving on Cincinnati’s coaching staff early this season when the Reds promoted him to Price’s former post.

The Cincinnati roster was boosted early in Riggleman’s tenure by the return of outfielder Scott Schebler and third baseman Eugenio Suarez from injuries. Pitcher Anthony DeSclafani was also hurt early on and didn’t make his season debut until June.

The club has clicked as it’s returned to full health. The Reds fell to 22-43 with a June 9 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, then won 21 of their next 30 games after Saturday’s 8-2 win against St. Louis.

Brennaman lauded Riggleman’s handling of the team’s bullpen and his handle on its clubhouse.

The team could conduct a full managerial search after the season and interview outside candidates, but Brennaman said he sees that as unnecessary.

“I know they keep saying, and it’s a pat statement, ‘We’re going to do a bigger study, an exhaustive study of who’s going to manage this team in 2019,’ ” Brennaman said. “For my money, they’ve got the guy right now.”

Pitcher Homer Bailey’s status was another topic that came up in Saturday’s news conference.

Brennaman acknowledged that he and Bailey, who has pitched for Cincinnati since 2007, don’t get along.

“You’re bringing up a bad subject,” Brennaman said when asked about the right-hander. “Well you’ve got to understand some things. First, I don’t like Homer and Homer doesn’t like me. …

“I don’t know where our falling out took place. I have no idea. I’m sure he doesn’t lose any sleep over it, nor do I.”

Bailey was named the Reds’ Opening Day starter for the season and was expected to lead the rotation. He started 12 games but went 1-7 with a 6.68 ERA before heading to the disabled list.

Cincinnati intended to move Bailey to the bullpen with the Triple-A Louisville Bats, but those plans changed, and he was moved back to the starting rotation.

General manager Nick Krall said Wednesday that Bailey will make two more rehab starts at Louisville and will then rejoin the Reds’ rotation.

The pressure will be on Bailey when he gets back to the big leagues, Brennaman said.

“He’s got to pitch well,” Brennaman said. “I don’t really believe they are at the point now where because of what they owe him ($21 million in 2018, $23 million in ’19), they would continue to run him out there every five days if he’s not getting people out. …

“If he comes back and pitches well, all that does is enhance this team’s chances of winning. God bless him if he can do that. I’m fine with that. But I think the ball’s in his court now. He’s got to prove he can get people out.”

Bailey’s return would likely coincide with Cincinnati trading pitcher Matt Harvey to a team in playoff contention.

Harvey posted a 7.00 ERA in eight games early this season for the New York Mets. That club traded the right-hander to the Reds, and he’s gone 5-3 over 12 starts for Cincinnati with a 3.64 ERA.

Harvey will be a free agent at the end of the season, which increases the likelihood the Reds will deal him over the next few weeks. MLB’s nonwaiver trade deadline is set for July 31.

“Matt Harvey, they’ll trade him,” Brennaman said. “There’s no secret about that and he knows it. As well as he could pitch, they’ll get that much more coming back.”