So you want Josh Bell to stay with the Pirates? You want him in the starting lineup Friday night when the club returns from the All-Star break to play the Washington Nationals? I'm all for it under one condition: Bell has to be the starting pitcher. He has to be better than what the Pirates have been throwing out there for the past 1 { months. They lost to the Chicago Cubs, 6-5, Sunday and were fortunate to take two of three in the weekend series after getting just 5 innings from Francisco Liriano Friday night, 2 1/3 innings from Chad Kuhl Saturday night and 3 2/3 innings from Jon Niese Sunday.
Sadly, Bell isn't a starting pitcher.
I know, you want Bell at first base. Right now. For the rest of the season. For the next decade or so.
You're going to be disappointed with that "now" thing.
Bell is the Pirates' first baseman of the future, but management is pretty clear that future isn't quite yet. It told Bell he was called up for the weekend but would go right back to Class AAA Indianapolis. An unlikely pinch-hit single off Jake Arrieta on Friday night, a magical pinch-hit grand slam off Adam Warren on Saturday night and a terrific nine-pitch walk against John Lackey on Sunday didn't change any minds at team headquarters.
"I don't see moving him to first base in front of (John) Jaso right now with the job (Jaso) has done," Clint Hurdle said before the game Sunday. "I think down the line we'll see what a little bit more (of Bell) would look like. I don't know when down the line is."
I'm guessing that isn't what you want to hear.
But it's the right call.
Neal Huntington and Hurdle are wise not to overreact to Bell's three at-bats, good as they were. Bell was in his first full season at Indianapolis when he was called up. He was smoking the ball all over the park, hitting .324 with 19 doubles, 13 home runs and 53 RBIs in 83 games, but, as Huntington pointed out, too many young players "do remind us that there's a difference between Triple-A domination and success at the major-league level, especially in a playoff environment ...
"(Bell) has made it look very easy. But he's not going to hit 1.000."
Huntington said he still is "kicking" himself for calling up Pedro Alvarez and Gregory Polanco before they were ready. Each was sent back down before sticking in the big leagues.
"We wish the identification of when a player is ready for the big leagues is much more science than art, but it is much more art than science," Huntington said. "We work hard to put our guys in a position to be, in our minds, ready. You see what Andrew (McCutchen) and Neil (Walker) did and how easily they transitioned and how many more at-bats they had at the upper levels (of the minor leagues). You can't help but feel that's why they transitioned as easily as they did."
There's also the matter of Bell's defense. Bell, a former outfielder, talked of being much better at first base now that "hundreds of reps have turned into thousands of reps." But Huntington called him a work in progress. "The goal is that we get a nine-inning defender. We still have work to do before we get a nine-inning defender with Josh."
Huntington conceded the club might be tempted to keep Bell up if it didn't have Jaso, who is hitting .275 after getting two singles and an RBI Sunday. Jaso hasn't been the team's problem. The offense hasn't been the problem despite getting little from McCutchen before this weekend. It's that lousy starting pitching that's been the issue.
Of course, Huntington knows none of that will stop the talk-show callers today screaming for Bell, especially after Jaso made the final out Sunday.
"We realize the small-sample-results monster is rearing its head right now, but we're also excited about what he can become," Huntington said of Bell. "Now, our goal is to put him in a position to be the guy we believe he can be ...
"It's a good thing to have more players than roster spots. We look forward to keep Josh growing and developing."
Management believes the best place for that is at Indianapolis playing every day, not with the Pirates being thrown into a pennant race as a starter or playing sporadically off the bench.
Bell acknowledged it will be difficult to go back to Indianapolis after "an awesome first taste" of the big leagues but seemed to understand it is inevitable. He sounded a lot like Crash Davis in "Bull Durham" when he said, "Whatever I can do to help the team win is what I'm going to do _ no matter what squad I'm on."
Then, Bell grinned, the same grin that lit up PNC Park after his grand slam Saturday night. "I'm really excited for where this is going," he said of his career.
Huntington is excited as well.
"To have that guy sitting there, ready to come in, it's nice to know. It's also incredibly encouraging to see how comfortable and confident he was in the batter's box. It allows you to feel this guy is pretty close offensively. It gives you tremendous comfort to know he's making quality progress and that he's becoming the player that we believe he can become."
Bell's time is coming.
Down the line, of course.
Whenever that might be.
