Josh Bell was a second-round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates and made his Big Leage debut with the club in 2016. Since that time, he has been traded on four different occasions and is now with his sixth major league team.
MLBbro.com reporter Brett Quintyne spoke with the well-traveled hired gun about his latest deadline trade, his mission in Arizona, life goals and the Bros who inspired his MLB journey.
“Another deadline, another trade,” Bell told MLBbro.com as he is used to moving around mid-season. “I’m happy to be on a better team with aspirations of going on to the postseason and doing some damage there,” he added as he looks to be in the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
Josh Bell Is A Rare Switch-Hitter
The number of switch-hitters has decreased over the years and once again that number will be under 10 percent in 2024. It’s always been part of Bell’s game.
“I started switch-hitting as a kid, virtually every at-bat I would go back and forth,” he said as he spoke about his early memories of hitting from both sides of the plate. “As the competition got better, I started matching up lefty righty and have pushed that through to the Big Leagues so I am definitely thankful for it,” Bell said of that skill set.
Josh Bell Had Strong Foundation Of Women Driving HimTo Give Back
“Having support, educated women. When I have questions I feel I can always go to them,” Josh said when asked about his mother and sister being professors at different universities. “As I get older, I wonder if I’m going to go back to college, or what I will do after the game. It’s great to have that family support into my adulthood,” he continued.
“Giving back is important, it helps my game. It makes me realize there is a bigger World out there than just baseball. I’m helping the kids but they are helping me as well,” Bell gushed about the book club he launched in 2020. On a monthly basis, he helps select books that will inspire children to become better individuals.
Even though Texas is known for its high school football, he didn’t participate.
“My dad tore up his knee in college and said if he ever had a son, he’s not going to play football,” Bell gave as his reasoning for not playing on the gridiron. “It was a tough couple of years with the coaches in my ear, but I made the right choice,” he added.
Which MLBbros Inspired Josh Bell?
Away from the diamond he likes college football. “I was committed to play baseball at the University of Texas but my best friend went to Texas A & M, and another good friend went to TCU. If it’s on I’ll watch it.” Bell spoke of rooting for the teams that play in his home state.
And who are the Bros that Josh Bell admired as he was coming up in the game?
“The first guy that comes to mind is Prince Fielder,” he recalled. “Obviously Griffey. Seeing CC Sabathia everywhere. I had the chance to play against Brandon Phillips a couple of times. Those are the ones that stand out for me.”
Josh BellMLBbro slugger Josh Bell put together one of his best offensive performances of the season on Saturday, May 18 as the Miami Marlins defeated the New York Mets 10-9 in extra innings.
Bell went 3-for-5 at the plate with four RBI, a home run, and a run scored. His three-run shot in the bottom of the ninth tied the game and gave Miami the chance to win in extras.
“It was nuts,” Bell said of his game-tying three-run homer in the ninth. “Obviously, the fifth, sixth inning rolls around [and] you’re hearing the ‘Let’s go Mets’ chants. I know their fans travel well, but it was nice to hear our fans cheer that whole inning. I kind of blacked out there for a little bit, but I felt like it was the moment to do so. I can’t take that back.”
Josh Bell Delivers For Struggling Miami Marlins
When the game was on the line, Bell stepped up and delivered for his team, something he has done numerous times throughout his career.
The win against the Mets marked the fourth win in a row for Miami.
At the start of the season, the Marlins struggled and were looking to find their identity. And Bell was not having much production at the plate either.
Through April, he hit .167 with three home runs. It was only a matter of time before he would start to find his rhythm at the plate.
“I didn’t think he was going to hit .160 or .170 forever,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “He’s just too good of a player, and [he’s] a switch-hitter, [so] he’s going to be playing every day. It wasn’t like I was going to take him out of games, because he’s good on both sides of the plate. It was just a matter of time, and we needed him to get going because [in] the middle of the order, there’s guys on base in front of him.”
“And he felt it. He took it personally. He wasn’t happy about it. He was staying after games. He was coming really early before everybody was showing up. The guy puts in work, and he doesn’t take a day off ground balls, either. When your best players are going out there early and doing the work, everyone follows. And so Josh is a big deal in that clubhouse, and obviously a big deal for me as a young manager to lean on with different things — not just baseball-related. I felt like he was going to catch fire here pretty soon, and what a big hit tonight.”
Through 59 at-bats during May, Bell is hitting .322 and has a .525 slugging percentage.
When he joined Miami last year, he wasted no time giving the team some production at the plate.
Through 53 games, he hit .270 with 11 home runs and 26 RBI. He also made the most of his appearances in the postseason, appearing in two games and hitting .500 with two doubles and a RBI.
The 31-year-old is a key piece to this Marlins roster and the energy he brings impacts the team on and off the field.
Bell is that veteran player you want to have on your team and he will look to continue to make a positive impact with Miami.
The Miami Marlins were competing in one of the toughest divisions this season, but they found a way to make it to the postseason and two of our MLBbro’s played a key role in making that happen.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Josh Bell will be making their second postseason appearance and they both will look to help the Marlins make a deep postseason run.
It came down to the end of the season for the Marlins to find out that they would be appearing in the postseason, and it wasn’t an easy task.
On Saturday, the Marlins clinched a playoff berth for the fourth time in franchise history after defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-3.
Jazz Chisholm Blossoming Since Getting Healthy
Both MLBbro’s contributed to the team’s win. Chisholm hit his 19th home run of the season and Bell had a two-run double.
Chisholm’s 19 home runs is a new career-high for the 25-year-old. The centerfielder loves playing in Miami and he believes the team has a close bond on the field.
“I feel like we’re just the biggest family in the league,” Chisholm said in an article from Times Union after the victory on Saturday. “I feel like nobody is as connected as us as a team. I feel like when someone gets going, everybody gets going. That’s the plan here and we’re just family and we’re coming in together.”
Having that team chemistry is very important and is a vital component for teams having success and winning titles. The Marlins went into that game against Pittsburgh with one thing on their mind.
“Before the game we called it ‘Clinch Day’ and we weren’t expecting any other day to be Clinch Day except today,” Chisholm said. “And that’s what we did, and we handled it today.”
Chisholm has developed into a leader on this Marlins team and he’s a player who provides a lot of energy on and off the field. And this brother is young too, so he has some years to continue to develop and be a dominant player in the league for years to come.
Through 97 games, Chisholm is hitting .252 with 52 RBI and 22 stolen bases to go along with his 19 home runs.
Josh Bell joined the Marlins this season and has delivered at the plate time after time, a big reason why the Marlins sought out to get him.
And now he’ll get a chance to do that in the postseason.
When the Marlins clinched a playoff berth on Saturday, Bell got to experience that in a familiar place. From 2016 to 2020, Bell played in Pittsburgh and became a fan favorite there.
“Thought I’d celebrate here years and years ago,” Bell said Saturday. “But just to be able to celebrate here now is icing on the cake.”
Bell brings that veteran leadership to the team and at any point during the game, he can change things with just one swing of the bat.
Last season, Bell appeared in the postseason with the San Diego Padres and put together a solid stat line, hitting .250 with two home runs and five RBI through 10 games.
Chisholm has only appeared in one game in the postseason, which came in 2020. He went 1-for-3 that game with a double.
We’ll get a chance to see both players look to contribute in big ways once the Wild Card begins.
The Marlins are one team you want to keep an eye on during the postseason.
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