Bell says hitting will get better
Not just for him, but whole team
CINCINNATI — Josh Bell is nowhere near OK with the results.
But the Pirates first baseman also believes they will improve.
Through 16 games, the Pirates (3-13) had the secondlowest batting average (.209) and the worst OPS in the National League, with four members of the starting lineup entering Thursday hitting .189 or worse.
Individually, Bell also has had a quiet start, slashing .213/.246/.328 with 2 home runs, 3 extra-base hits and 5 RBIs. For context, Bell was slashing .310/.382/.586 through 16 games of 2019, with 3 home runs, 9 extrabase hits and 13 RBIs.
Are the Pirates in trouble? Bell doesn’t think so.
“We’re not going to have guys swinging soft here, hitting one-something,” Bell said Thursday before the start of a four-game series against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.
“That’s just not going to happen from us. So I’m excited to see what happens next.”
The problem for Bell has been identifying bad pitches and letting them go while also swinging at good ones and driving them, a process that includes Bell looking to use all fields and not simply focus on pulling the ball for power.
“It’s all approach,” Bell said. “When you’re trying to hit the ball to left-center field [as a lefty], you have just a little more time to make swing decisions. When you’re trying to pull the ball, you have to go a little bit earlier.”
There’s something else that might be affecting Bell, although neither he nor Pirates manager Derek Shelton wanted to cite this as an excuse — the inability this season to rely on in-game video. Previously, hitters could return to the clubhouse and watch video of their at-bats.
That’s no longer possible because of the Houston Astros/Boston Red Sox cheating scandal and also wanting to avoid a group of people in a small room hovering around a screen.
As a result, Bell said any adjustments must be made game-to-game instead of between at-bats.
Kela activated
The Pirates activated reliever Keone Kela (COVID19) from the injured list Thursday. To make room on their 40-man roster, they designated pitcher Miguel Del Pozo for assignment. In five games, Del Pozo allowed 7 earned runs over 3⅔ innings, walking 8 and striking out 2.
Gonzalez stays hot
Erik Gonzalez has found a groove and was in the lineup again Thursday. He began the game hitting .458 (11 for 24) with 3 doubles, 1 home run and 8 RBIs over his past 6 games. Gonzalez is hitting .500 (7 for 14) with runners on base. He leads the National League with a .636 (7 for 11) average with runners in scoring position.
Shelton said he has been impressed by the Gonzalez’s consistency, saying it’s a carryover from what happened when Gonzalez hit .322 in 20 games (16 starts) in September 2019.
“The fact he’s continued to hit the ball hard, I think it’s a credit to ‘Gonzo’ and to our hitting guys because I think [hitting coach] Rick [Eckstein] found something last year in September, and ‘Gonzo’ got away from it a little bit.”