Tim Benz: Pirates’ Josh Bell thinks he knows why his hot start faded in 2019

Pirates first baseman Josh Bell has an interesting philosophy on his swing.

It’ll be worth tracking as this season progresses for him in Pittsburgh.

Well, unless he gets traded for two prospects that are barely old enough to shave, as was the case for Starling Marte last week.

Bell is a 27-year-old All-Star coming off a career-best season. So, why wouldn’t the Pirates trade him now?

After all, he’s about to make a lot of money.

Not this year, of course ($4.8 million). Or even the next two years in arbitration.

But eventually.

So, yeah. Best to just deal him now and get something back in exchange while they can.

Oops. Sorry to get off on a tangent.

Anyway, back to the actual on-field baseball thought already in progress…

Whether Bell wants to start holding an audition for potential future employers or (gasp) simply help the Pirates win a few games here and there before he leaves, monitoring his plate approach will be a point of interest throughout 2020.

Bell was going strong in April and May of last year. As of June 6, the first baseman was hitting .338 with a 1.090 OPS, 18 homers and 51 RBIs. Pitchers had a brutal time trying to find holes in his swing.

As long and as intricate as it is, those holes were able to be found. But Bell was barreling up so many pitches, they couldn’t be exploited.

Unfortunately, from June 7 on, Bell wasn’t the same hitter. His numbers plummeted. He was a .208 hitter with just four home runs in June. It never got much better from there during the rest of 2019.

The easy analysis is to blame his swing for being too complicated, not compact enough. Too much motion in the box before pitches are delivered.

Bell disagrees. At PiratesFest, the switch hitter said his issues are less about swing mechanics and more about timing between breaking balls and fastballs of opposing pitchers.

“In this game, if you aren’t syncing up to fastballs, you aren’t going to be in a good place,” Bell explained. “And that’s what made me successful over the first few months of the season. As I started seeing more and more (breaking balls), maybe I got too competitive with it. Maybe trying to sync up off the breaking balls.

“If you aren’t syncing up to fastballs, you can’t hit either.”

Bell insists that while his swing path and preload routine may not embody the classic short and compact approach hitting coaches like, any other way may not work for him.

“When I look at a Nolan Arenado, there is a lot going on,” Bell said. “Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield. There are guys that focus on timing but have a lot of rhythmic movements to their swings.”

That’s not the traditional thought process. Take the response of fellow Pirate Bryan Reynolds when I asked him a similar question. He hit .314 as a rookie last year.

No doubt, someday he will command many trade headlines himself.

“I’m the opposite,” Reynolds said. “I want to keep it as simple as possible. I’m not a guy who has had a lot of success when I have tried to over-complicate my swing.”

I’m sure whatever franchise Reynolds winds up with will find any swing-path issues easier to massage than Bell’s. But Bell insists hitters have to be true to themselves.

“I’ve tried so many different things,” Bell continued. “I did that in 2018 (when he had just 12 home runs and 61 RBIs), and I’m never going back. More is better for me.”

One thing is clear for both Pirates stars — with Marte’s offense gone and his run-saving potential on defense subtracted from the outfield, they’ll both need a year-long amount of plate production equal to their shorter, hot stretches of a year ago.

For Bell, that was roughly the first 10 weeks of the season. For Reynolds that was most of the season, prior to some struggles in September. The rookie got stuck in the autumn only hitting .230 over his last 22 games of the year.

One thing is equally true for Pirates fans.

Regardless of their flaws, enjoy them while you have them. It won’t be for long.