An educated opinion on Josh Bell
There are not many people in the baseball industry that know new Bowie Baysox third baseman Josh Bell better than De Jon Watson.
Watson is the assistant general manager in charge of player development for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the team that traded Bell to the Orioles.
He has gotten to know the player and person well since Bell began his Dodgers' minor league career in 2005.
This year, before Bell and Steve Johnson were traded to the Orioles for George Sherrill, the 22-year-old, switch-hitting Bell was playing at Double-A Chatanooga.
He was hitting .296-11-52 with 30 doubles.
"Josh was having a solid season for us. More power was coming as the season went on," Watson said. "He has really made strides this year on offense."
"He has big, raw power. I think it will be above average in time and he has a chance to be a middle of the order run producer. He's a good looking young kid who makes great adjustments from at bat to at bat. He's a very competitive young man, the Orioles got a good player."
Watson said the Dodgers worked with Bell this year to reduce his lower body movement at bat. He has very quick hands and bat speed.
Bell this year is batting .335-11-45 in 230 at bats with a .600 slugging percentage as a lefty hitter, but only .212-0-7 in 104 at bats with a .269 slugging percentage as a right-handed batter.
Watson said that disparity was not a concern for the Dodgers.
"Most switch-hitters have years where they are better from one side. For Josh, it's a matter of seeing more left-handed pitching. His power is equal from both sides, he just needs the reps (vs. lefties)."
He said the Dodgers never considered having Bell bat only from the left side.
"Never, not even close to thinking that way," Watson said.
Bell is 1 for 4 so far with Bowie, but has missed the last two games with a minor ankle injury. He should return to action soon.
Bell, a fourth-round pick in 2005, lost weight to get down to 220 pounds and said that has helped him a lot on defense.
"We tried to clean him up at third and get him quicker with the exchange from glove to hand," Watson said. "He has plenty of range and lost weight last year making him more agile with a good first step. He just needs to be more consistent with his throws. He has tools as you'll see when you get to watch him.
"He's a great kid that worked his tail off. We had a lot of long talks over the three years he was here. His work ethic and work habits are solid. We had conversations on what he needs to do to play at the Major League level and he was open and receptive to those things. I think it's just a matter of time before you see him in Baltimore."
When the O's acquired Bell, Andy MacPhail expressed confidence that Bell would remain a third baseman. Watson said the Dodgers saw it that way, also.
"I think he has a chance to play a solid third base in the Majors. Josh being a former basketball player has some quickness. I could see him staying there."
The final question to Watson was this one. Could Bell progress enough to help the Orioles in the Majors next year?
"From our standpoint, he was a kid that was definitely on the come."
Coming Soon - In the next few days check here for Watson's opinion and comments on new Baysox pitcher Steve Johnson.
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Categories (click for archive)Orioles News | Steve Melewski |
Good read. I am glad that we got this guy, and hopefully he can tear up lefties as well as righties in time. I'm glad to hear about how quick his bat is. This will definitely help his power in the future. I could see hime being a 30-35 HR guy in the future.
I'd prefer Sherill back. He's lights out for the Dodgers and inexpensive. Bell is a terrible fielder, and just because he is big doesn't mean he has hit for power. Brandon Waring's OPS is better and he's a more legit 3 baseman. This guy will grow into a huge guy as time wears on. He's a DH kind of guy without huge power. More an Aubrey Huff type. This is one AM got desperate on.
Hey Steve, how does this effect Brandon Waring? It seems like he is mashing the ball in Frederick and I like what I've heard about him. Will he switch positions?
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He plays first and third and you always need more than one of each so I don't see him switching positions. - Steve
Steve,
Love reading your reports. I don't post but I'm reading them and appreciate your perspective (as well as your guest's take). I'm an Orioles fan who realizes that all but one team goes home unhappy after the season. I'm enjoying this season--despite the frustrating losses--because we're seeing a team slowly come together with real talent. I hope for Josh Bell's sake he's part of that future.
Thanks!
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It is always nice to hear that people enjoy the reports. Thanks for taking the time to write in, Julia. - Steve
It's safe to say if he makes the roster, he will get planty of "reps" from the rigth side!
Great report! My concern is that he really isn't in a position to be critical. I hope he can stick defensively. I don't believe that the Orioles can stand pat with Bell and a guy like Huff at first to make up enough ground on the AL East going into 2010. I understand this year and last were about other priorities, but in professional sports you can't just write off 3-4 years at a time and expect a lot of fan gratitude. MacPhail has done well, but I think fans are getting a little too enamored with the idea of the "plan" rather than the idea of winning baseball games. DT is a tremendous man, but he I'm not sure he will survive when the heat gets turned up in terms of expectations. That should begin as early as THIS offseason. Time to start spending to supplement the talent. Roch thinks one big FA pitcher and one power bat. I am skeptical it will happen but if it got done, this team is really on target!
Not a bad return on a 32-year-old at a position of luxury for a rebuilding squad.
No brainer move by MacPhail.
I had the pleasure of sitting next to DeJon as he long ago scouted for the Reds (Reds? I think?) and got to talk baseball with him. I'm sure he thought he was sitting next to some dippy girl who didn't know anything about baseball, and I was pretty certain I was sitting next to a player's relative. Imagine our surprise. :)
I'm thrilled to see he's moved on and up, he's excellent at what he does.
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Pretty neat story and you're no dippy girl, you are one of our important readers and contributers. I must say it was very nice of him to do an interview about players no longer in his organization. I could tell he really likes Bell. - Steve
Awesome work, Steve Melewski!!!!!!!!
Thanks for this.
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Well, thank you very much. - Steve
I'm going to have to semi-agree with your above posters and say that I hope this doesn't block Waring. Judging solely on stats and the one Frederick Keys game I have caught this year, he seems to be a very legit candidate for a future third baseman.
Of course, you really can never have too many prospects. I liked George Sherrill too, but we sold high on him, which is a good thing. 3 months ago we were complaining that we should have traded him last year and that his trade value was so low that we couldn't get anything for him. This seems to be a typical case for our fans of the grass always being greener on the other side. I'm very happy that we were able to sell fairly high on Sherrill, especially since middle tiered closers (let's face it... he's not an elite) are fairly easy to find and obtain. We are sitting on a potential gold mine in JJ (who is 26), and Wilfredo Perez could pan out. Trading Sherrill was a great thing to do, and we to get a corner infielder or even a switch-hitting DH.... I'm perfectly happy with this trade. Getting another young arm is a plus as well.
Who is De Jon Watson? Do you think that Bell will be up in the Majors for next season and will Ty be starting there next year and bell will come in a couple days a week to play third?
It takes a special brand of self involvement to post a comment that asks questions that are explicitly answered in the post to which you are responding, Ryan Jackson.