Josh

Bell

Bell will get a chance to be an everyday option at first base for Minnesota in 2025. There have been flashes of brilliance for the 33-year-old, but there just isn’t enough consistency — and there are too many other quality options — to suggest he has mixed league value to begin 2026.

Bell is coming off a mediocre season where he batted .237/.325/.417 with 22 home runs and 63 RBI for the Nationals. He did post a 10.7 percent walk rate and lowered his strikeout rate to 16.5 percent, which is the second-lowest of his career. He also registered a 12 percent barrel rate, which is the second-highest of his career, so there remains some value in his bat. The Twins love to platoon, but since Bell is a switch-hitter, he could play every day at first base next season as a short-term solution.

CJ Abrams is also getting a breather in this one. Wood takes a seat against Atlanta ace Chris Sale after striking out four times in the front-end of Tuesday’s twin bill at Nationals Park. It’ll be Josh Bell taking over at DH and Nasim Nuñez handling shortstop during the nightcap.

Bell has been a force of nature over the past week, batting .391 (9-for-23) with four homers and 15 RBI over his last seven games. The 33-year-old veteran slugger takes a seat in this one with righty Mike Burrows toeing the rubber for Pittsburgh. It’ll be Andrés Chaparro getting an opportunity at the cold corner with franchise building block James Wood at DH.

Bell didn’t waste any time continuing his power surge by taking Marlins starter Adam Mazur deep for a three-run homer in the opening frame. It was his 20th big fly of the season. He also added a sixth-inning sacrifice fly, which turned out to be a pivotal insurance run once Miami mounted a late comeback effort. The 33-year-old switch-hitting slugger remains a decent power source in deeper mixed leagues having eclipsed 20 homers in exactly half of his 10 seasons in the big leagues since 2016.

Bell did most of his damage in the late stages of the one-sided affair, taking Marlins relievers Josh Simpson and George Soriano deep in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively, to record his first multi-homer performance of the season. The switch-hitting 33-year-old slugger is on a mini-tear at the moment with three homers in his last two games and should continue to benefit from a weak slate of opposing pitching staffs with series against the Pirates and Braves on tap over the next week.

Robert Hassell III homered leading off the inning, bringing the Nationals within one run. Bell later gave the team the lead while batting for Riley Adams, and the Nats added one more run afterwards. Bell’s homer was a Wrigley Field-only shot to left-center, with Statcast saying the 376-foot fly would have been a homer in just the one park. However, Bell was working against the wind, and the ball would have traveled farther most days.

Bell drew a walk in the first inning, then took Carson Whisenhunt deep for a solo homer in the third. He added a double in the seventh before he was replaced defensively at first base by Nathaniel Lowe. The 32-year-old is hitting .229/.327/.391 with 14 homers and 41 RBI across 391 plate appearances.

The 32-year-old slugger has been swinging a hot bat, but they’ve opted to give him a breather in this one with left-hander Jose Quintana toeing the slab for the Brewers. Paul DeJong will function as the team’s designated hitter in his absence on Friday and will bat third for the Nationals.

This is just a routine day off for the 32-year-old, who has been tremendous since adopting more of a line drive approach near the end of May. In 39 games since June 1, Bell is hitting .276/.351/.433 with four home runs, 13 runs scored, and 16 RBI. A trade to a team with a deeper lineup could unlock him for fantasy managers in the second half. Amed Rosario will DH and bat third on Wednesday against a left-handed starter.