Bell ready to mentor young Nats in return to Washington

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – A familiar face is back on the field with the Nationals this Spring Training.

A lot has changed since the last time Josh Bell wore the curly “W,” but he has quickly settled back in with his former – and now current – club this week.

“What I love about Josh, he does the baseball stuff on the field, hitting,” manager Dave Martinez said. “But what he does in the clubhouse means a lot. This is his second stint with me. He understands what he needs to do in there.”

Bell’s return to the Nationals on a one-year deal added power and veteran leadership to a young club. The 32-year-old played in Washington from 2021-22 before being traded to San Diego as part of the Juan Soto blockbuster. Over his nine-year career, he has picked up insight from playing on the Pirates (2016-20), Padres (‘22), Guardians (‘23), Marlins (‘23-24) and D-backs (‘24) that he is ready to share this season.

“I'm more of a lead-by-example guy,” Bell said. “[I] have conversations here and there. But I can always go back to different scenarios where I've learned from cats in the past – whether it's [Ryan] Zimmerman or [Andrew] McCutchen or [Manny] Machado, the veterans that I've played with and taught me a thing or two. So hopefully I can teach that to the younger guys.”

After finishing 71-91 the past two seasons, the Nationals are developing with the goal of playoff contention. Bell reached the postseason for the first time with the ‘22 Padres, hitting two clutch homers in a run to the National League Championship Series. The following season, he played in the Wild Card Series with Miami. Bell also was on an 89-win Arizona team last year that barely missed out on a playoff berth after the NL Wild Card race came down to tiebreakers with the Braves and the Mets.

“I really think it takes all of us diving into the same common goal – the ‘we over me’ mentality,” Bell said. “It takes Davey, it takes Riz [general manager Mike Rizzo] putting the lineup out there every night. It takes us preparing and trusting the lineup, trusting the guys that we have. But you’ve got to stay healthy. There's so much. It's a long season. But I think if we can start off strong, the rest will take care of itself, so that’s the focus.”

It took Bell seven seasons in the big leagues to reach the playoffs, and the feeling of competing into October remains at the forefront of his mind.

“It’s the only thing I think about,” Bell said. “It's why I think I've focused so much on power this offseason, knowing what this team needs. Because we have the speed, we’ve just got to get those guys in. I think I'll hopefully come through, and we'll be celebrating at the end of the year.”

Bell will primarily DH this season with Nathaniel Lowe being acquired from the Rangers to play first base. He has worked on improving his posture at the plate in order to stay in his legs and add leverage to his swing. Bell hit 19 home runs last season between Miami and Arizona; Washington has ranked last in the NL in dingers each of the past three years.

“I feel like I'm not afraid to strike out more if it means less ground balls, because that's been a part of my game for a little bit,” said Bell, who had a 49.6 percent ground-ball rate last season. “I know when I'm at my best, I don't hit the ball on the ground – I strike out a little bit more. So if I can take one and get rid of the other, then I'll be in a good place and the average should stay the same or go up.”

Bell is returning to a team that still has five of the six players he was traded for in 2022 participating in Major League camp – CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, James Wood, No. 13 prospect Robert Hassell III and No. 4 prospect Jarlin Susana.

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“That’s just baseball; I would have made the same move,” Bell said. “It was tough going coast to coast, but the opportunity that I had in San Diego was unbelievable – playoff baseball for the first time in my career and special moments that I’ll never forget. In regards to the Nationals, you see what we got in return. So it’s just part of the game, and I’m happy to be a part of it.”