When the Nationals signed Josh Bell to a 1-year $6 million deal, the expectation was that he would provide the team with some veteran leadership and a solid bat in the middle of the lineup. However, after a brutal April, it did not look like that was going to happen. Bell seemed like a prime candidate to be DFA’d midseason.
After March and April, things looked ugly for the then 32 year old slugger. He was hitting .137 with a .503 OPS. It looked over for the veteran who had slowly been declining over the past few seasons. Now it looked like that decline was accelerating.
However, Bell managed to turn his season around and actually had his best season since the last time he was in DC. From May 1st onward, Bell hit .265 with an .807 OPS. Those are great numbers for a guy on a one-year prove it type of contract.
The numbers were even better after a swing change in late May. Before the season, Bell changed his swing to try to add more power to his game. As we know, that attempt failed miserably. Eventually, Bell went back to his old stroke which added more line drives. In the final four months of the season, Bell had an .845 OPS.
Even with the horrible start, Bell rebounded to be an above average hitter. For the season, he had a .742 OPS and a 107 wRC+. Those are his best marks since his 2022 season which he split between the Nats and the Padres.
Before this season, Bell had bounced around a lot. Since leaving the Nats in the Juan Soto trade in 2022, Bell has played for four teams before coming back to DC. This was the first time since 2021 that Bell was not traded midseason. Maybe staying in one spot for a full season helped Bell gain consistency.
That consistency has been something Bell has always seemed to lack in his career. He has almost always been a one good half, one bad half guy. When you look at the numbers this year, that looks unchanged. After all, he had a .679 OPS in the first half and an .842 OPS in the second half.
However, Bell really just had one abysmal month before getting on track. After April, Bell was a very consistent threat in the middle of the Nats lineup. Of course, some weeks and months were better than others like all hitters, but overall he was steady.
As Nats fans know with Bell, he can go on some insane heaters. He did that this season as well. The one he went on in May when they were in Seattle was nuts. However, my favorite Bell heater of the season was in mid-September. He was on a cold streak, which landed him on the bench for a game against the Cubs. His number was called late in the game to pinch hit though. Bell launched a pinch hit homer and then went on a rampage the next few days.
He hit 4 homers and drove in 12 runs in three games. Everything Bell touched that week turned to gold. It was crazy to see and it is a reminder of what the big man is capable of when everything is clicking.
Given his strong season and phenomenal underlying data, which suggests he underperformed, the Nats should consider bringing Bell back. Of course, I hope the Nats can land a big fish like Pete Alonso or Josh Naylor. However, if/when that doesn’t happen, Bell would not be a bad backup plan.
He would not really be blocking any blue chip prospect at first base and he brings a lot to the clubhouse. When they pan to the dugout, you often see Bell right by CJ Abrams and James Wood giving them tips. He is also a great guy in the community. With that in mind, I would not hate the idea of bringing him back on another one-year deal.
After a disastrous start, I would say that this was a pretty successful season for Bell. His underlying offensive numbers were the best they had been in a while and he launched 22 homers, which is solid enough production. You can’t ignore that first month when grading him, but it was not a bad season for the big fella.