Newest Diamondback Josh Bell Fitting in With Work Ethic and Production

Thanks to hard work and dedication Bell has been terrific on both sides of the ball for Arizona.

Aug 8, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks first base Josh Bell (36) bats against the Philadelphia Phillies during the fourth inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

It wasn't easy catching up with Josh Bell this past weekend during the Philadelphia series. Not because he ducks the media. On the contrary, he's a very engaging and personable man.

It was tough catching up because he's been working so hard. Each time I approached him he was either on the way to field early ground balls, take early batting practice, heading to a hitters meeting, or taking care of his big body in the trainer's room.

Up until the All-Star break, Bell was not having a great season with the Miami Marlins. Batting just .228 with nine homers and 39 RBI through July 14th, it was not how Bell envisioned his 2024 season going.

After all he had a solid second half with the Marlins last year after the trade deadline, hitting .270 with 11 homers and a .818 OPS. That helped Miami captured a surprise Wild Card berth. While they bowed out to the Phillies in the Wild Card series, Bell went 4-8 with two doubles in the two games.

So it was certainly frustrating for Bell to have slumped throughout most of the first half. As the Marlins prepared to head into the All-Star Break, manager Skip Schumaker told his players "Nobody come in during the break, I want you guys to take a load off."

Bell had other plans though. "Skip, I gotta get in, I NEED this."

Shortly before the All-Star Break he called his father, Earnest Bell, and asked him to come out during the break and help him get some work in on his swing. His father's influence had been there all throughout his youth.

"The last time he coached my team I was eight or nine [years old]. He was kind of just coaching me personally after that and let somebody else run the team. He was at virtually every one of my hitting lessons. We'd have a lesson once a week and then we'd train five or six days a week in the garage to try to get everything right."

So they got to work. "Me and my dad worked out, hit, pushing sled, I just got back to the basics, did some drills I did in high school. So I was able to snap out of that slump I was in."

That's an understatement. Over his final 10 games with the Marlins coming out of the break he hit .342 with five homers and 10 RBI. That stretch included five straight multi-hit games.

Shockingly, Bell was placed on waivers by the Marlins however, and ended up being traded to the Diamondbacks just minutes before July 30th MLB trade deadline.

Gold Glove first baseman Christian Walker had just suffered an Oblique strain and the diagnosis was that he'd be out at least three weeks. Suddenly the D-backs needed a first baseman and they pounced.

Bell made an immediate impact, homering twice in his first game with the team on August 2nd in Pittsburgh, leading to a thrilling 9-8 D-backs win. In 10 games with Arizona he has five multi-hit games that include a double, a triple, and four homers. He's batting .286 with a .991 OPS and seven RBI.

Bell has not only been hot with the bat. He's playing excellent defense, making all the plays and tough scoops at first base. It's not always been that way, as he did not have the best defensive reputation or positive metrics.

That hasn't stopped him from putting the work in. Bell can be seen taking early grounders every single day. Nonetheless he was candid in acknowledging the prior defensive shortcomings.

"It definitely hasn't been all rainbows and sunshine at the position, but I think if I can put the work in, it's going to show up during the game. After this conversation, I'm going right out there, and work with Tony [infield coach Perezchica]. He's taught me a lot in the last week, and I'm definitely excited to continue, even going into this off-season with some of the stuff I've learned so far."

Shortly after our conversation he was indeed out on the field working with Perezchica, along with Geraldo Perdomo and Kevin Newman. Afterwards Perezchica gave glowing reports.

"I think the work that he's getting, he's liking. To his credit, he's a worker. At this time of year a lot of guys are banged up. I'm sure he is and everybody else. But he's coming out here, getting the work. Just working on the staples of infield. Glove presentation, exchanges, speed, just the little things that are going to get him in a better position to make plays."

Perezchica pointed to a pick Bell made on Kevin Newman's jump throw during Saturday night's game as an example of the type of results that he's getting as a result of the work.

As great as this jump throw from Newman was, the scoop from Josh Bell might be even more noteworthy.

It’s clear he’s steadily improving his defense at first with this #Dbacks coaching staff.

(Via MLB FilmRoom) pic.twitter.com/XChKVbADTy

— Alex D’Agostino (@AlexDagAZ) August 12, 2024

"It's a really exciting team for me to be on. We've been playing really well on both sides of the ball. Seems like our starters are lights out. The offense has been doing it whenever we're needed. It's definitely been a fun run so far, and hopefully we can keep things going. "

The opportunity to be right back in the middle of a pennant chase is something that Bell is especially appreciative of. The D-backs drew over 46,000 fans on Saturday for their game against the Phillies.

"I'm looking up at that stadium and I was like dude I haven't been in a home atmosphere since I was with the Padres two years ago. It was electric, it's what dreams are made of."

It's not known how long Walker will be out, and when he eventually comes back, he'll reclaim his starter's role. Bell could at that point play DH against left-hand pitching, and will be a crucial switch-hitting weapon off the bench come crunch time in September and potentially the postseason.

For now though, he is a perfect fit in a D-backs clubhouse and organization that values work ethic and cohesiveness, right along with production.