Josh Bell sets modern record with high-pitch homer

Josh Bell, the Nationals’ designated hitter, began to hit the ball much harder after his average fell to .151 on May 27. Since then, he was up to a less frightening .228. In July, he hit .338 with a .443 on-base percentage.

That surge was punctuated by his ninth-inning homer on June 23, which was one for the books. The Nats had a six-run lead over the Padres in San Diego. Yuki Matsui quickly got two strikes on Bell. So Matsui figured it was a good time to get him to go out of the strike zone, chasing a high fast ball.

Instead, the Nats’ slugger went after the pitch, which was measured at 4.65 feet high. Despite that, Bell made loud contact and rocketed the ball nearly 400 feet for a solo homer.

MLB’s much-admired statistical guru, Sarah Langs, reported that Bell’s blast was the highest pitch hit out of the park since such tracking began in 2008.

Bell had to start his swing at an absurdly high level and make solid contact to create enough back spin to hit the ball out of the park.

Throughout his career, Bell almost always has been a slow starter and prone to cold streaks, bat he correctly predicted he’d come around.

“I think it’s all mechanics,” he told longtime Nats’ beat writer Mark Zuckerman.  “I was trying to do too much too early…. I felt like I was one swing away, and I felt that way for 150 at-bats. You can’t take them back now, but I’m just trying to salvage what I can.”

The switch-hitting Bell turns 33 this month. He had a career high 37 homers and 116 RBIs in 2019 with the Pirates and hit 27 in his first stint with the Nationals in 2021. He was traded along with Juan Soto to San Diego at the deadline in 2022.

On a one-year contract, Bell was widely expected to be traded at the deadline.

Despite his recent efforts, no team offered enough to make the Nats part with Bell.

The Nationals aren’t going anywhere this season, but with a lineup badly in need of pop, Bell resurgence is welcome for what likely will be a long two months for long suffering fans. For a haul of minor leaguers, Washington traded two effective relievers and their longtime closer, weakening a bullpen that was already among the worst.

Also traded were the Nats’ best right-hand batting platoon players, Armed Rosario and Alex Call. As Branch Rickey famously told slugger Ralph Kiner when asking for a raise, “We can finish last without you.”

A leader in the clubhouse, Bell is the Nationals’ youth baseball ambassador as part of the Nike Reviving Baseball in the Inner Cities (RBI) program. He holds monthly sessions with “Josh Bell’s Book Club” for adults seeking to become better read. Bell recently published a children’s book he wrote, “What Color is the Sky.” His mother is also a published author.

“The underlying theme of the book is something I want my kids to take to heart and grow up with — to know that no matter what happens, to keep their head up,” Bell said in a team announcement.

Obviously, after a tough start to his season, Bell has taken his message to heart.