Josh Bell Is Heating Up, What It Means For The Guardians

Josh Bell helped lead the Cleveland Guardians to a victory over the Washington Nationals as his bat gets hot.

Author:
Tommy Wild
Apr 17, 2023 10:57 PM EDT

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Cleveland Guardians

Washington Nationals

Josh Bell's time with the Cleveland Guardians did not get off to the way he hoped after signing a two-year deal with the club in the offseason. The organization brought him in to be a much-needed power presence in the lineup and protect Jose Ramirez in the middle of the order.

However, this was not the case for Bell throughout the first four series of the season. Bell had just a .108 batting average and a .130 slugging during this time. He was getting on base because he had a 16.1 BB%, but the Guardians were hoping for a little more thump out of the bat.

Bell seems to have turned the corner on this rough start after a monster series against the Washington Nationals, the team he started with last season. He went off in the Nation's capitol paving the way for a Guardians series win.

The first baseman finished the three-game series with six hits, four doubles, three RBI, and his first home run in a Guardians uniform. This comes out to a massive 1.083 slugging which is exactly what Cleveland was hoping for when they signed him.

It would be fantastic if Bell could hit .500 for the rest of the season as he did against the Nats, but that's just not realistic. But what does this turning point mean for the rest of the Guardians lineup?

The emergence of Bell's bat makes this lineup even deeper. We already know that Steven Kwan and Jose will do their thing at the top of the order and Andres Gimenez has been fantastic in the middle and toward the back. Bell's presence in the middle of the order rounds out the order making it complete.

It also highlights the importance of Kwan, Amed Rosario, and Ramirez getting on base. Bell will continue to hit fourth or fifth in the lineup, depending on the day. Whether he's hitting home runs or finding gaps and getting doubles, those hits will obviously mean much more if there are runners on base to come around and score.

One thing is for sure, seeing Bell get the bat going is a welcome sight for the team and for fans.

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