BRADENTON, Fla. — On a sun-splashed Tuesday afternoon at Pirate City, a fungo-slapped baseball hit the artificial turf field and took a sharp, awkward bounce toward Josh Bell, bouncing off the side of his glove before rolling into foul territory near first base.
"You've gotta keep that glove open," said Kevin Young, a special assistant for the Pirates standing 10 feet to Bell's left. Bell nodded in agreement and continued the infield drill work, walking over to Young for advice between reps.
The two men have become close over the past three years, exchanging text messages throughout the season and continuing that dialogue into the winter. However, this week's voluntary minicamp is the first time in four years they've been able to spend every fielding drill together.
After splitting time between right field and first base in previous offseasons, Bell is now the Pirates' unquestioned starting first baseman. At first, it was his bat that earned him the title. With Young's help, it's one he's earned in the field, too.
"It’s huge having him, especially a guy who made the transition himself," Bell told DKPittsburghSports.com of Young, a former Pirates first baseman. "For him to have his eyes on me the whole ride definitely made things a lot smoother in the process. If I ever have questions or something is nagging on me or wearing on me, I bounce it his way and he’ll give me feedback."
Bell, 25, completed his first full major league season in 2017, breaking the Pirates' single-season record for most home runs by a rookie with 26, and he was named a National League Rookie of the Year finalist.
He drove in a team-high 90 RBI while batting .255 with an OPS+ of 108, appearing in all but three games for the Pirates in 2017. With Andrew McCutchen unlikely to remain in Pittsburgh long-term, Bell is now arguably the foundation of the franchise.
His accomplishments in the field have proven to be as valuable as his impact at the plate, too, finally providing the Pirates stability at first base.
Although Bell committed 10 errors, he registered plus-6 defensive runs saved, according to FanGraphs, and his Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR), a metric used to measure fielding, improved from 2016. His defensive fWAR ranked 21st among major league first basemen, but there was tangible progress.
Bell used his 6-foot-4, 235-pound frame to make athletic, diving plays. He was also able to analyze scouting reports on opposing hitters to anticipate sharply-hit balls to first.
"It’s solidified now that this is what he’s doing, this is where he’ll be," said Young, who also played third base and outfield during his 12-year major-league career. "Now its a matter of, ‘OK, how do I balance my work between defense and offense? How much time do I spend on the holes in my game?’ Now it’s just management. It’s him managing what type of big-leaguer he wants to be. In his mind, I know he wants to be a Gold Glove defender. And he can do it."
For Bell, his first goal last season was to play well enough in the field that Clint Hurdle would stop replacing him late in games. Through the first two months of the season, Bell was replaced 19 times in 54 games. He was replaced only nine more times the entire season, most of which were because of double switches.
In turn, Bell was able to face hard-throwing late-inning relievers — which he said was invaluable for him as a hitter — and allowed him to make a greater impact for a struggling offense.
Young admitted he is surprised by Bell's progress. In November 2014, Young was invited to join Neal Huntington and Kyle Stark in Scottsdale, Ariz., to watch Bell play first base in an Arizona Fall League game. Young was not scheduled to begin his job with the Pirates for a few more weeks, but he wanted an early scouting report on his first major project.
Bell, a second-round draft pick three years earlier, didn't inspire much confidence, as Young recalled.
"To tell you the truth, the first time I saw him I didn’t see a lot," Young said with a laugh. "I was like, ‘Whoa.’ It was going to be tough."
Young would know. He was a shortstop in college at the University of Southern Mississippi before playing outfield, third base and first base in the majors. He and Bell did not speak until spring training four months later, but it took one workout for Bell to show Young he was serious about the switch.
The organization used the same basic plan it used for Pedro Alvarez's switch from third to first but unlike Alvarez, Bell was a sponge, eagerly absorbing as much information as possible. It wasn't smooth for the top prospect, but he showed tangible signs of growth early.
"When you have an outfielder coming into first base, it’s a little more of a challenge," Young explained. "You’re taking about 230 feet from home plate versus sometimes 85 feet from home plate. The game speeds up really fast. … It was a challenge at first, but he wanted to learn. You saw the dedication, the work ethic."
The problems weren't solved in one spring training. Bell committed 16 errors in 116 games between Double-A and Triple-A that season. The following offseason, he was told to still take reps in the outfield, which limited his time learning the nuances of first.
In 2016, he committed 14 errors in 96 games at first base for Indianapolis before he was promoted to the major leagues in July. Bell played in 45 games for the Pirates that summer, appearing in 23 games at first and 16 in right field.
After another offseason of splitting time between both positions, Bell started 139 games at first in 2017. Like the previous two seasons, Bell exchanged text messages often with Young, who traveled to Pittsburgh from his home in Scottsdale for around 30 games.
If Bell is frustrated with a bad play, he'll quickly text Young after a game to see what went wrong. And despite the distance, Young makes an impact by watching each of Bell's games, sharing notes with Bell and infielders coach Joey Cora. From there, Cora and Young devise a workout plan for Bell during the season.
"It’s nice knowing that I have a spot there, but it’s one of those things where I’m just happy to have a spot," Bell said. "If I were still in the outfield I’d still be getting after it, doing those types of drills. I’m just happy that now that I have a spot, it’s less of a question mark over there, too. Now I'm comfortable there."
But Bell wants to be great at that spot. With a foundation now in place, he can focus on the finer points of the position — Young gave him a tutorial on throws down the line at the end of Tuesday's workout.
Hurdle knows the standard Bell holds himself to. During infield drills Tuesday, he yelled, "Hey Bell, when you're on stage for your Hall of Fame ceremony, I'll be sitting in the crowd. Dream big, kid."
Bell didn't react to the comment. He just continued to work, with Young standing nearby.