Anatomy of Twins Slugger Josh Bell's Adjustment Against Left-Handers

For a good part of the first half of the season, left-handed pitchers found a way to attack and contain Minnesota Twins slugger Josh Bell's power from the right side of the plate.

Bell, one of the most consistent switch-hitters of his generation, did not completely lose his power.

At first glance, that's what his .400 slugging percentage after 120 plate appearances against left-handers in the first half of the season suggests. For Bell, who has put together 38 consecutive games with a slugging percentage above .400 since June 29, that doesn't seem like a result beyond his reach either.

In fact, he entered Monday with a .253/.315/.420 slash line, with his .420 slugging percentage as the main component of his .735 OPS.

However, Statcast's expected statistics reveal a notable difference between what Bell has produced and what he "should" have gotten. His .400 slugging percentage against left-handers finished above his .382 xSLG. This time, the quality of contact did not meet expectations, but Bell found a way to turn his swings into more effective production. And that becomes much more evident when we analyze his plate discipline, how he worked on his swing, and what the quality of his contact has been.

Each of those aspects takes us into revealing territory, as Bell has made adjustments to correct some of his inconsistencies from the right side of the plate in the second half of the season. To get into the details that explain his offensive jump, I chose three key stretches to compare: the first and second halves of the season and his most recent production in August. Numbers below are per Statcast.

Period	K%	Whiffs%	xSLG	Miss Distance (in)	Barrel/BBE%
1st Half	20.8%	23.5%	.382	3.2	8.1%
2nd Half	10.0%	15.2%	.482	7.6	9.4%
August	0.0%	9.4%	.740	0.9	16.7%

There are several interesting details at first glance, but the most marked change is in Bell's approach. And I think one adjustment conditioned the other, and the other: so far in August, his whiff rate has dropped 14.1 percentage points compared with the first half of the season and 5.8 points compared with the second half. That improvement in his swings has reduced the strikeouts. His K% is at 0.0 this month in 37 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers.

Minnesota Twins designated hitter Josh Bell (56) hits a home run. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

If you've followed Bell for some time, you know he goes to the batter's box to take a lot of swings. But even with that approach, it's difficult to make contact often enough to avoid strikeouts. So, following the anatomy of these adjustments, we arrive at miss distance (in), a metric that helps explain the accuracy of his swings. In the second half of the season, a stretch that includes Bell's recent August run, his average miss distance was 7.6 inches. But when we narrow the sample to the 75 pitches Bell has seen this month, the reduction looks absurd: his miss distance is just 0.9 inches.

That detail perfectly reflects how Bell is getting more contact, fewer missed swings, and fewer strikeouts. In addition, he has doubled his Barrel/BBE%.

But we're not done yet. The heat map confirms it:

Josh Bell hit chart from Baseball Savant. — Josh Bell | Baseball Savant | Baseball Savant

The numbers speak for themselves. In every zone where Bell has put the ball in play this month, his slugging percentage is above 1.000. Of course, there are also some weak spots, but the overall results have been devastating.

Bell continued the offensive party Monday night with a three-run double that opened a four-run rally by the Minnesota Twins against left-hander Martín Pérez. He has nine hits in his last 19 at-bats against left-handed pitchers, including two home runs (against Shane Drohan on August 7 and Grant Wolfram on August 10). He also reached base in 20 consecutive games, the longest active streak behind Philadelphia's Bryce Harper.

His current explosion, although it still belongs to a small sample, is showing his ability to make adjustments at a time when the Twins have struggled against left-handed pitching. The Twins have faced left-handed pitchers in eight of their last 17 games. They have done so 42 times all season, and carry a losing record of 18-22. With Bell producing at this level, the Twins are finding an answer to one of the problems that has affected their lineup the most.

All statistics were verified using Statcast from Baseball Savant.

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