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Pirates Notebook: Josh Bell Makes His Spring Training Debut

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BRADENTON, Fla. – A little less than five weeks removed from having surgery to remove a loose body from his left knee, Josh Bell stepped back onto the field again today in a live game situation, getting the start at first base in Spring Training action against the Yankees. Bell would go 0-for-2 with a walk from the plate, but he felt that the outing was a good first step back into competitive action.

“I felt great,” Bell said after he exited the game. “It was great getting in the box for the first time in a while with a live game situation.”

Bell hit a short dribbler down the first base line his first time up, then he struck out looking in his second at-bat. He took a four-pitch walk in the fifth inning in his final at-bat of the day.

“It wasn’t really a good first at-bat on my behalf, but the second at-bat was better in my opinion,” Bell said. “I felt really grounded in my swing. It was nice being able to draw the walk my third time up. That coupled with being out there on defense felt really good, so I was happy to get those repetitions under my belt.”

Bell worked with Joey Cora and Kevin Young over the past few weeks on getting up to speed on defense, and he said that he doesn’t feel behind at the plate, saying that he feels as though he is in the same spot as before the surgery.

“For the most part, guys have gotten maybe 20 at-bats or so [in Spring Training so far],” Bell said. “In my mind, that’s like five games, so I feel like I can catch up quickly.”

As for the injury, Bell said that he started feeling confident in the knee about 10-12 days after the surgery, and it was just the process of checking the boxes off when it comes to rehab and progression, proving to the Pirates’ staff that he was ready.

Running the bases and sliding were the final steps of the process for Bell, as he has slid about ten times in the last few days. As for today’s game, it was good to just get out there and play.

“It was nice to shake some of those cobwebs off, and I look forward to tearing the rest of them off in the coming weeks.”

Nova Works Three Innings Against Former Team

Ivan Nova went three innings for the first time this spring, giving up two hits and one walk while striking out two. He allowed one unearned run in the third inning after committing two errors, one throwing and one fielding; otherwise, he felt good about his outing once the adrenaline of facing his former team wore off.

“First off all, this one was a little emotional facing my former team of a long time,” Nova said. “Sometimes, I was trying to do too much. After a little bit, I was able to pick it up and throw my pitches and throw strikes.”

Overall, Nova got out of the outing without allowing an earned run, but it wasn’t the cleanest three innings he has thrown as a Pirate. In the second inning, he threw a four-pitch walk to Yankee outfielder Aaron Hicks. He only allowed three walks last season in his 11 starts (64.2 IP) for the Pirates.

The third inning was a strange one for Nova. It consisted of two wild pitches, one throwing error to first base, one fielding error as he dropped to ball while trying to tag out a runner, and a line drive that hit him in the hand. Luckily, Nova got Starlin Castro to strikeout swinging on a ball in the dirt (wild pitch) that was blocked by catcher Elias Diaz.

As for the hand, Nova had his hand and wrist heavily wrapped after the game while icing, but he said that there is nothing wrong, and it was just precautionary.

Freese and Meadows Go Oppo

David Freese went 2-for-2 with a run scored today, the first a line drive to right field and the second a live drive up the middle (on the right side of second base bag). Watching Freese drive the ball to opposite field is a thing of beauty, and I wanted to dive in a little deeper to see how the numbers reflected it.

In 2016, Freese went 45-for-80 (.563 AVG) when he hit the ball to right (opposite) field. Included in those 45 hits are 14 doubles and nine home runs (1.638 OPS). See his spray chart from last year below:

Out of his 13 home runs hit last season, none were pulled down the left field line. Looking at line drives on the spray chart, Freese hit the majority of them to right or center field. Essentially, if David Freese was able to take the pitch the other way, there was a good chance it was going to be a hit.

He does a great job of letting the ball get a little deeper into the plate and taking it the other way. When you get out in front of the ball, you have a much better chance of rolling it over for a groundout. It was good to see that Freese’s advanced approach is in midseason form this early in the spring.

As for Meadows, he pulls the ball to right field the majority of the time when hitting for power, as he hit all 12 of his 2016 home runs to right. Today, with the bases loaded, it would have been easy for a guy like Austin Meadows – with a lot of pressure on his shoulders to perform well this spring – to load up and try to pull the baseball. Instead, Meadows stayed back on a breaking ball coming across the plate and drove a line drive double down the left field line.

“That the approach all through the minor league system — to stay in the off gap,” Tom Prince said about Meadows’ hit. “They can come up here, not change much, and continue to do what they do best.”

Notes

** Jordy Mercer hit his second home run of the spring in the third inning. It was a line drive no-doubter for the veteran shortstop, who hit 11 home runs for the Pirates in 2016.

** Erich Weiss went 3-for-3 after entering the game in the bottom of the 5th as a pinch hitter for Freese. In his first at-bat, he doubled on a line drive to center field and moved up to third base on the throw. In the 7th, he led off with a single up the middle, then he hit another RBI single up the middle later in the inning after the Pirates batted around. Weiss has been playing some third base this spring, as he did again today. He was drafted by the Pirates as a third baseman, but he hasn’t played the position since 2013.

** The only run that the Pirates surrendered today was unearned in the third inning by Nova. The combination of Josh Lindblom, Felipe Rivero, Juan Nicasio, Edgar Santana, and Dovydas Neverauskas only allowed three hits over their six innings of work. Rivero was the star shining brightest of them all, striking out all three of the batters he faced on ten pitches (nine strikes, one foul).

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