Guardians Josh Bell is getting back to basics as he joins Cleveland

On Apr 8, 2023

CLEVELAND — A player coming to a new team, a new city and a new fanbase and trying to do a bit too much early is a tale as old as time, a song as old as rhyme.

The Guardians signed Josh Bell to a two-year, $33 million deal that includes a player opt-out after the 2023 season. The club needed a middle-of-the-order hitter to help protect Jose Ramirez, and Bell, as a switch hitter who hit 37 home runs in 2019 and 27 home runs in 2021, checked all of those boxes.

One week’s worth of games isn’t anywhere close to a large enough sample size to glean anything useful in terms of any trends moving forward, positive or negative. But within the first week of the season, Bell didn’t get off to a storybook beginning in his time with the Guardians. He recorded his first hit of the season on opening day, a single, but then didn’t register another hit until Wednesday in Oakland.

He acknowledged that slow start Friday, saying, “[The team’s 5-2 start is] awesome to see, especially when a guy like myself hasn’t played very well at all.”

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Bell went 2-for-22 on the road trip, though he also drew two walks in three consecutive games. In an effort to get him going, Bell was dropped from fourth to fifth in Friday’s lineup. Josh Naylor was moved to the cleanup spot behind Ramirez.

It isn’t anything like a punishment. It’s simply a common theme across baseball, and flip-flopping Bell and Naylor for the moment might kick-start things.

“I think it’s human nature. Guys all normally try to do too much it,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said. “We see it all the time. That’s why we moved him out of the four hole today just to, one, to protect [Ramirez] the best we can, and to take a little bit off of [Bell]. He’ll be fine. If you read his baseball card, there’s a lot of crooked numbers there. Just, he’s going to have to click on and then hopefully you’ll settle in and be who he is.”

Bell tends to be a slightly slow starter anyway, with a career .759 OPS in March and April, which is lower than his career OPS in May, June, July and August. He’s still been drawing walks, but the hard-hit contact hasn’t quite shown up. So he’s trying to go back to basics — with both his left-handed and right-handed swings. In a major way, it means an attempt to not do too much at the plate.

“Yeah, I think there’s a quality at-bat emphasis,” Bell said. “I think when I can simplify things, just get back to the basics from both sides, it gets tough from time to time trying to honor both sides and put work in on both sides. But when both sides are going really well, it’s really fun to play. So I’m pumped to show you guys that this weekend.”

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The team is hopeful the breakthrough arrived Friday in the club’s 5-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners. Bell came through with an RBI single and now has hits in back-to-back games.

“Obviously I wish I had done it in the first inning [as well], but it’s good to get the monkey off the back and hopefully it’s a step in the right direction,” Bell said.

After Bell came through in a key moment, Francona added, “Yeah, I was happy for Josh. I mean, that’ll help him immensely.”

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The Guardians know the power is coming. It’s a matter of figuring out what ends up being the spark that ignites it. And whether, perhaps, that was it on Friday.

“I think that you got to look at every game as an opportunity to show what you can do,” Bell said, when asked about pressing too much with a new team. “I’ve had really good games [in my career], I’ve had really bad games, but I’ve got to look at each opportunity as a blessing.