SWITCH-HITTING MASHER
Bell Appears Headed Toward Record-Setting Season
By Jim Lachimia
The Pirates had a 24–20 record when they returned to Pittsburgh on May 19 following an 11-game road trip to St. Louis, Arizona and San Diego. They went 7–4 on that journey, thanks in large part to Josh Bell. The switch-hitting first baseman batted .442 with five home runs and 17 RBI in those 11 contests, and was as hot as any player in baseball.
When Bell homered in consecutive innings as part of a three-hit, four-RBI night in a 7–2 triumph over the Padres on May 18, color commentator Bob Walk had a suggestion for Pirates fans who were watching the game on AT&T SportsNet.
“When we get back to PNC Park, you’re going to have to plan your beer runs so you’re not away from your seats when Bell is at the plate,” he said.
You got that right, Walkie.
By the end of May, Bell had appeared in all 56 of Pittsburgh’s games and was batting .343 with 20 doubles, 18 homers and 52 RBI. The 6’4” and 240-pounder was named the National League Player of the Month for May. In 29 games that month, he hit .390 and led all major leaguers in total bases (94), hits (46), extra-base hits (24) and RBI (31), and finished second in home runs (12).
In addition, Bell set a club record for the most total bases in any month, and accumulated the most total bases in May by any big leaguer since Hall of Famer Willie Mays collected 102 for San Francisco in 1958.
“The baseballs can’t enjoy his at bats,” Walk added while watching Bell. “They know they’re going to get crushed. He tries to punish baseballs.”
Bell had three two-homer games in a 14-day stretch between May 4 and May 18. Bobby Bonilla is the only other Pittsburgh switch-hitter who had three multiple-homer games in a single season (1990). Bell accomplished the feat in two weeks.
“We have a running joke when he comes up to bat that we have to put our earplugs in because it’s about to get loud,” shortstop Cole Tucker said. “He knows what he wants to do up there. He’s getting pitches to handle and he’s driving them. It’s so, so, so much fun to watch.”
Despite the success Bell was having and the excitement he was creating, there was no danger of him blowing his own horn too much.
“Right now, I’m just trying to focus on being on time and finding barrel. I feel like the numbers will take care of themselves if I do that,” he said. “I don’t want to ride the rollercoaster of looking at the leader boards and watching what other people are doing. That gets away from my game plan and what the team needs from me.
“If I get four or five at bats a night, I’m trying to square the ball up two or three times. If I can do that, I’ll be in a good place and we’ll be in a good place to hopefully win that day.”
An article that appeared on MLB.com on May 16 carried the headline: “These Are Your Potential All-Star Game Lineups.” In the piece, columnist Will Leitch tabbed Bell as the N.L.’s starting first baseman, saying: “This is what the Bucs were waiting for, and what the rest of baseball feared was coming.”
The N.L. is top heavy with productive first basemen — Paul Goldschmidt of St. Louis, Anthony Rizzo of Chicago, Rhys Hoskins of Philadelphia, Freddie Freeman of Atlanta, rookie Pete Alonso of New York and others. Representing that group and the Pirates at the Midsummer Classic at Progressive Field in Cleveland on July 9 would be quite an honor. The last Pittsburgh first baseman to make the All-Star team was Jason Thompson in 1982.
“Across the league those guys are the cream of the crop,” Bell said. “When Goldschmidt got traded over to St. Louis, I was talking to (former Pirate) Kevin Young and he said: ‘Hey, you’ve got the best first baseman in the league in your division now. Prove yourself as one of the best too.’ That was the mentality during the off-season and going into spring training. I’m definitely happy to be among guys like that who are so productive.”
During the off-season, Bell often heard how he only had 12 homers and 62 RBI in 148 games last season after posting 26 homers and a team-high 90 RBI in 159 games as a rookie in 2017. He was determined to do something about that.
Bell changed the location of his off-season training. The Dallas native went out to California (instead of to Florida), about an hour south of Los Angeles in Newport. There he worked with hitting specialist Joe DeMarco. Newport is where Bell’s agent, Scott Boras, has his headquarters. Oakland Athletics third baseman Matt Chapman, San Diego Padres catcher Austin Hedges, and Cincinnati Reds outfielder Nick Senzel are among the other players who have worked with DeMarco.
In December, Rick Eckstein — the Pirates’ new hitting coach — visited Bell out in California to get acquainted. That helped set the tone for 2019 too.
“Rick worked with me and Joe at one of the facilities in Newport, and then we went to a Taco Tuesday at one of the restaurants out there and were shooting the breeze and talking baseball for a couple hours,” Bell said. “We also looked at video of the swings of guys like Bryce Harper and Barry Bonds. It was pretty cool to dive into his mind a little bit.
“Rick and (assistant hitting coach) Jacob Cruz have both equally put their hands on the swing and on the process for each guy in our lineup. For me, personally, they found pretty much the perfect routine to get me ready. They know what greatness looks like and they’re trying to help us implement greatness into ourselves.”
Eckstein’s resume includes stints as the hitting coach of the Washington Nationals (2009–2013) and minor league hitting coordinator for the Minnesota Twins (2017–2018). He’s a low-key guy, but you could listen to him talk about hitting all afternoon without getting bored. He’s interesting, insightful and relatable.
On the subject of Bell’s 2019 season, Eckstein said:
“Josh has worked very hard. He’s a student of the game. He shows up every day with a passion to be the best version of himself. Obviously, he’s growing and trending in the right direction. It’s been exciting to see his growth and his effect on the team.”
Even though Bell is big, strong, young (26) and wants to play every day, he’ll no doubt benefit from sitting out occasionally.
“We’ve talked with Josh about taking a day here or there, but he wants no part of that,” Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington said. “We’re probably going to have to force one here at some point in time, but with the way he’s swinging the bat and the way he’s playing — he looks strong, he feels strong — we’ll continue to roll him out there.”
The story of Bell’s 2019 season isn’t just about what he’s done with a bat in his hands. He’s also made great strides as a defensive first baseman. He’s been getting to more balls than ever and doing an excellent job of picking throws out of the dirt.
When Bell got to the big leagues for the first time during the second half of the 2016 season, he made 19 starts at first base and 14 in right field. Ever since then, however, he’s played only first base. The transition wasn’t easy, but Bell worked relentlessly.
Young was a slick-fielding first baseman during his days with the Pirates (1992–1995, 1998–2003). He’s now a special assistant to Huntington in baseball operations, but he was Bell’s primary tutor in the early stages of his move to first base. That transformation began in the Arizona Fall League in 2014.
Recently, when Young was asked if he was surprised by how much Bell has improved defensively, he said:
“It’s a little bit of a surprise just because there were a lot of challenges in the beginning. Coming in from the outfield and transitioning to first base isn’t easy. There’s the speed of the game, your reaction time. You’re now 90 feet away from home plate. There’s also being low to the ground, arm angles. There are so many different factors that go into it. So, for that reason, it’s somewhat of a surprise. But because of Josh’s work ethic, it’s not a surprise, because he has great desire to get better and works on it on a daily basis.”
Hurdle agrees that hard work has been the key to Bell’s improvement, defensively and offensively.
“There’s no replacing hard work. Things don’t just happen. Josh has put in the time and the energy and the effort,” he said. “He gets to watch some really good first basemen in this division play and he continues to challenge himself as far as what he wants to become.
“Is there confidence that comes with banging the ball like he’s been? There’s probably a little bit of that as well. Maybe you play a little freer, a little easier. However, this young man has worked as hard as anybody I’ve ever been around to improve defensively. And offensively, he’s gotten to a place of confidence in the box where he’s trusting his swing. He’s hitting what he sees and he’s not in a hurry to do it.”
Huntington enjoyed the early-season stretch where Bell was one of the top offensive players in baseball. It reminded him of the way Andrew McCutchen performed at various times as a Pirate, including his 2013 MVP season.
“The league is going to make adjustments, but what’s fun is that he’s hitting fastballs, he’s hitting change-ups, he’s hitting breaking pitches,” the GM said. “We’re seeing fewer of the off-balance swings. As long as he retains the discipline to take walks when they want to pitch around him, or they have to pitch around him, and he makes them come into the zone and gives them a chance to make mistakes, he’s going to continue to do a lot of damage.”
The damage Bell has done has included tape-measure home runs. Like the monster 474-foot blast he hit over the batter’s eye in center field against Cincinnati on April 7. And the 451-foot shot he smacked into the hedges that spell out PIRATES beyond the center field wall against Oakland on May 4. And his 472-foot cannon ball on May 8 against Texas that cleared the stands in right-center field and landed in the Allegheny River — without bouncing.
What’s it like to hit such breathtaking home runs?
“It’s definitely a cool experience knowing that I have the opportunity to do that with my swing and my frame,” Bell said. “It’s all about syncing up my body, syncing up my timing, and then connecting. I’ve put a lot of hard work in during batting practice and it’s carried over into games.”
Bell remembers something that Williams told him during spring training in Bradenton this year that was inspirational and prophetic.
“One day, Trevor came up to me and said: ‘I have a feeling you’re going to crush a lot of balls this year. I’m excited to watch you play. There’s a buzz going around this team that you’re going to hit a lot of balls hard this year. I can’t wait to see that,’” Bell recalled.
Williams was right. And it sure has been fun to watch.
