PITTSBURGH — Josh Bell will start his first MLB game Sunday against the Miami Marlins.
Bell well was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis to take the place of an injured Jung Ho Kang before Saturday nights’ 3-1 Pirates’ loss and went 0-1 as a pitch hitter. More importantly, perhaps, he got his first major-league work in the field.
Bell played two innings at first base, collecting all four putouts. Playing the in field is a significant development for Bell, as the team has said that his continued work on that front has been the issue keeping him in Triple-A.
He looked perfectly comfortable at the plate in his first stint with Pittsburgh. In four games around the All-Star break, he went 2-for-2 with two walks and a pinch-hit grand slam. In the field, at least in Indianapolis, it has been a different story. He has 14 errors on the year with the Indians. Manager Clint Hurdle made it clear that while Bell will be given a chance to see what he can, the call up was made out of necessity.
“The day before we called him up, he made two errors,” Hurdle said. “It’s a work in progress. [John] Jaso is a better defensive first baseman than Josh is right now. It’s a matter of fact. When he’s over there and starting, we’ll look for the opportunities to get him at-bats and make the plays that he can make. We’ll see what he can do and probably [defensively substitute] for him later [in games] as we have in the past.”
The reason the Pirates decided to give Bell the call-up instead someone like Dan Gamache or Jason Rogers is the opportunity for him to contribute offensively.
“I’m looking forward to a fresh look and seeing what he can bring,” Hurdle said.
INJURY OPPORTUNITY
Kang is expected to miss two to four weeks with his shoulder injury, and Hurdle said that it can be an opportunity for him to reset mentally after a rough stretch of the season.
“These opportunities throughout the game happen to individuals,” Hurdle said. “It’s up to the individuals and the team to help turn it in to a positive. … There will be an opportunity for him to rekindle, reignite, reset when he is able to come back to be in a stronger position offensively, defensively and mentally than when we was hurt.”
Since June 18 — the day after an incident occurred in Chicago that resulted in Kang being investigated for sexual assault — he’s hitting .210 with 37 strikeouts. He’s been struggling in the field recently, as well, with nine errors of the month of August. Hurdle thought the fielding issues may have stemmed from some things Kang has been doing to protect his left knee, which he had off-season surgery on.
“One of the things we identified earlier with some of the fielding miscues was being a little bit late on his set position,” Hurdle said. “We’re working on core work. He had challenges this year on his lower core work because of the knee. He wasn’t able to do things all last year.”
Kang told me right after the All-Star break that defense was the only time the knee was an issue.
GLASNOW GETS START
Tyler Glasnow will make a four-inning, 65-pitch rehab start with Double-A Altoona Monday night. The Curve are in the midst of a road trip and will be playing Harrisburg.
