Josh Bell’s bat has started to heat up again, and that alone is enough to keep him squarely on the radar as the deadline approaches. After a wildly uneven first few months with Minnesota, he’s put together a strong June that could make him one of the more interesting veteran power bats available over the next five weeks.
Bell’s season has already played out in extremes. Over his first 51 plate appearances, he posted a 189 wRC+ and stacked up seven extra-base hits.
Then came a rough stretch: a 20 wRC+ across his next 76 plate appearances, with the struggles hanging around into May. June has looked much more like the version teams are hoping to get, though.
In 94 plate appearances this month, he’s hitting .299/.351/.529 with four home runs.
That kind of run is exactly why clubs sitting near the postseason picture will be watching closely. Bell fits the profile of a veteran left-handed power bat who could help a lineup in need of some punch, and there are a handful of teams that make sense.
One of the cleanest fits is Arizona. The Diamondbacks have already had Bell in the building once, and their situation at first base is hard to ignore. They’ve gotten the worst offensive production in MLB from that spot, sitting tied for the worst fWAR at -1.1 and carrying a 54 wRC+ that leaves them at the bottom of the league.
Arizona also has a Bell history that matters. They were the third and final team to trade for him during that three-year stretch, and he responded well, putting up a 120 OPS+ in 41 games. He added five home runs and 22 RBIs during that run.
The Diamondbacks’ path to the postseason is narrow. The wild card is their only real route, and at the end of June they sit three games behind the final spot.
They’ve gotten big seasons from Corbin Carroll and Gabriel Moreno, and Ketel Marte has found his form again lately. Nolan Arenado has been up and down at the other corner, but first base has given them almost nothing all year.
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