PITTSBURGH — Josh Bell’s recall to Pittsburgh may have been necessitated by an injury to Jung Ho Kang, but general manager Neal Huntington made it clear that while he’s here, he’s going to play. That process started with Bell making his first MLB start Sunday, and he’s expected to continue to get chances to prove what he can do while Kang misses two to four weeks and David Freese serves as the team’s primary third baseman.
“We brought Josh up to play,” Huntington said. “How much he plays will be dictated by some things beyond his control but also some things within his control. We do anticipate he’ll get some at-bats at first base as we move forward.”
Huntington added that the specific amount of time that Bell sees will be determined on a game-by-game basis by manager Clint Hurdle. The limiting factor will likely be Bell’s defense, and although both Hurdle and Huntington have acknowledged the fact that he’s a work in progress, they are hopeful that he’ll be able to pick up some things at the major-league level that he wasn’t seeing in Indianapolis.
“He’ll see some things up here,” Huntington said. “Last night’s game is a perfect example. His first inning on the field as a major-league first baseman, he’s got a left-handed pitcher on the mound with Dee Gordon trying to drag a bunt. Now, fortunately, it checked up back to the mound, but there’s not Dee Gordon in Triple-A. There might be a fast baserunner, but there’s not Dee Gordon. There’s things you have to learn at the major-league level. He’s worked awfully hard to put himself in a position where he’s capable. There are going to be some times where he shows he’s still a two-year-old first baseman who hasn’t quite made the adjustment as quickly as [John Jaso] has, but he’ll be able to go over there and, in our minds, be competent.”
“Be competent” isn’t exactly a sparkling endorsement. So why, then, did Huntington decide that this was the time to the pull the trigger on a Bell promotion?
“The opportunity for the bat,” he said. “The defensive work is going to continue to be a work in progress. [Jaso has] probably made it look a little easier this year than most people have made it look in the transition. [Freese] has made it look really easy. [Sean Rodriguez] makes it look like he’s been playing the position since he was five. It is a challenging position for an outfielder to come in and play. We anticipate he’s going to make some plays he’s supposed to make, there’s going to be some plays he doesn’t make. We’ll have to overcome that. He’s going to make some plays that make you throw your head back and say, ‘Wow, that’s great.'”
The other factor in play was that Bell hadn’t been hitting all that well in Triple-A. Since his demotion, he went 23 for 108 (.211) and hit just one home run in 31 games. Huntington said that part is pretty understandable for a young player sent back to Triple-A after performing well in the majors.
“Triple-A is the place nobody wants to be,” Huntington said. “The older player can’t wait to get back to the big leagues. The younger player who’s never been to the big leagues can’t wait to get to the big leagues. The player that’s come up and sent out in the same year, that’s a hard place for him to be. Some guys respond to it by trying to do more. Some guys respond to it by wondering why they got sent out. Some guys, it doesn’t catch them at all and they just do their thing.
“Josh fell into the trap of trying to do more, recognizing that he had four quality plate appearances up here and not wanting to go back down. He got away from doing the things that got him called up in the first place. The last 7-to-10 days or so he was doing the things that allowed him to get called up and should allow him to be successful up here.”
TINKERING ON THE COLE TRAIN
Gerrit Cole has been working through some issues over the last month, and it’s been a bit of a struggle for him. He’s given up 12 hits in back-to-back starts and it’s been the first stretch since his rookie season where he’s looked hittable in the major leagues.
Huntington suggested that Cole going through some adversity in the majors has been a difficult experience because he faced very little while he breezed through the minor leagues.
“Generically speaking, we’re always looking for guys to experience adversity in the minor leagues, because if the first time you experience adversity is at the major-league level, that’s hard,” Huntington said. “Because it’s under the microscope, it’s under the highest level of scrutiny and it’s under the highest level of pressure. That’s why when guys go through struggles in the minor leagues — Mitch Keller goes through a tough four-start stretch in Low-A ball — it’s actually fantastic, because he’s been able to dig himself out of it and he knows how to regroup and collect himself.
“Gerrit never really had that. He had it in the first couple starts in Triple-A, but he was able to right the ship pretty quickly. He’s so intelligent and so passionate, but sometimes those things make it harder to make an adjustment than a guy who just takes it easy or maybe doesn’t have the analytical ability he has. I know he and [pitching coach Ray Searage] are working closely on what is it mechanically-related, what is it mentality-related. He’s in his own way and he just has to go out and trust his abilities and be the pitcher he’s capable of being, rather than trying to make the perfect pitch every single time. There’s work being done behind the scenes. Gerrit’s going to make it right and put himself in position to help this club.”
As for what Cole’s specific issue has been, Huntington dodged a bit, saying its “something with respect to pitch execution” and throwing out some scenarios that would seem to fit, but not confirming any of them.
“There’s a combination,” he said. “There’s been some good pitches that have found some outfield grass. There’s been some pitches that have been in the middle of the plate that have been hit hard. There’s been some pitches in the middle of the plate that haven’t been hit hard that have still been hits.
“Is it overthrowing? Is it something mechanical? Is it lack of conviction with a pitch? There’s something that isn’t quite right. That reminds us how challenging this game is that it’s that small of a difference between two or three really good outings and two or three outings right now that have you asking me about why he’s struggling. We think Gerrit, much like we think [Andrew McCutchen] is a swing away from getting white-hot, we feel Gerrit is a minor tweak away from being they guy we’ve all come to expect.”
BIG KANG THEORY
Kang’s struggles, both defensively and offensively, since the middle of June have been pretty well documented. To this point, the Pirates have referenced his timing when hitting as the biggest issue. But Sunday, Huntington put forth a new theory for the source of Kang’s issues.
Huntington postulated that because Kang spent this offseason rehabilitating from knee surgery instead of preparing for the season, he hasn’t been able to maintain strength in his legs as the season has gone on. It’s a compelling idea because it could possible explain both his poor second half at the plate and his sudden fielding issues.
“The fact is that his legs just aren’t responding to him the way they’ve responded the first 25 years of his baseball life,” Huntington said. “There is a lot that we miss in this game. I probably haven’t given the fact that he had a rehabilitation off-season enough credit. I’ve talked more about his mechanics and the mechanics are one thing, but as Clint likes to talk about, everything starts with a thought. When you think about something, if your body’s not responding the way you want it to, your thought may be right, but you just may be a step late or a tic late. In Kang’s situations, the same leg explosiveness isn’t there.”
The hope is, that while Kang rehabs his shoulder injury, he can also get his lower body back to where it needs to be so that he can be a factor for the team down the stretch.
“This breather could be a benefit for him lower-half wise. Now, we have to keep the swing sharp and get the shoulder healthy, but this could be a nice break for Jung Ho.”
