BRADENTON, Fla. — Josh Bell doesn't remember exactly when or where the meeting occurred, but the conversation has resonated with him ever since. It was within the first few years of him being drafted 61st overall by the Pirates in 2011.
Tom Prince, then a manager in the minor leagues and now the Pirates' bench coach, told Bell he was chosen by the organization to one day provide Andrew McCutchen the lineup protection he lacked. You can imagine what sort of reaction that elicited.
"I thought to myself, 'Holy crap,' " Bell told me earlier this spring. "The standard was set there."
Now, with McCutchen gone, Clint Hurdle must find someone to provide that same protection for Bell in the Pirates' batting order.
Lineup protection is viewed as a myth by some who study the game — particularly those who look closely at analytics — but players rarely understate the importance of having a formidable hitter in front of and behind them in the order.
McCutchen spoke repeatedly last season of Bell's impact. Bell led the team with 305 plate appearances in the cleanup spot and 81 percent of McCutchen's plate appearances were batting third.
McCutchen's walk rate only increased by one percent in Bell's first full major league season. However, he saw more pitches in the strike zone — 46.3 percent compared to only 42.3 percent in 2015 — and pitchers made more mistakes trying to avoid putting men on base in front of Bell.
McCutchen slashed .279/.363/.486 in his final season with the Pirates, while Bell batted .255/.334/.466 with 26 home runs and 90 RBI.
"When I finally get up and finally have the opportunity to hit behind him, it’s a guy I’m focusing on protecting and trying to make sure he’s getting good pitches to hit," Bell said. "And then for us to both eat like we did last summer was amazing."
Additionally, Bell seemed to help David Freese, whose 298 plate appearances in the No. 5 spot led the team, and vice versa. Freese had a .370 on-base percentage when batting fifth. Freese, McCutchen and Bell each ranked among Major League Baseball's top-30 players in pitches per plate appearance.
McCutchen is gone. Freese, meanwhile, is expected to be in a bench role after the club acquired Colin Moran, a 25-year-old with 16 games of major league experience, in the Gerrit Cole trade.
Although Hurdle is still sorting through lineups, Moran has hit behind Bell more often than any other player this spring. Sure, Moran could provide the power that Freese did not.
After all, Moran, a left-handed batter, hit 18 home runs at Triple-A Fresno last season. He'll also benefit from the dimensions at PNC Park, but his free-swinging ways could make teams more likely to pitch around Bell.
For all of Freese's faults, he got on base when healthy. Hurdle is also experimenting with who will hit in front of Bell. There have been many studies that suggest a team's best offensive threats should bat No. 2 and No. 4 in the order to best maximize run-scoring opportunities.
Hurdle has used a variety of players at No. 2, including Josh Harrison, Corey Dickerson, Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco. But Marte and Polanco have both seen time hitting in front of Bell. Neither player is known for plate discipline and both enter the season with question marks.
Marte was suspended 80 games last season and Polanco was limited to only 108. Dickerson, whom the Pirates acquired from the Rays last month, could be best equipped for the job. The left-handed hitter created 15 percent more runs for his team than the league average last season, according to FanGraphs' Weighted Runs Created, which is a park-adjusted metric that quantifies a player's offensive value.
That would have ranked second to only McCutchen on the Pirates last season. With McCutchen gone, there isn't a simple solution to the problem. And if Bell doesn't have protection, the club's inept offense will be far worse in 2018.
• Tyler Glasnow has no business being in the Pirates' bullpen. Sure, he could be a late bloomer for a number of reasons, and spring training stats can be meaningless. But his 11.74 ERA and 1.96 WHIP in 7 2/3 innings this spring are a stern reminder that nothing has changed.
Hurdle isn't the type to overanalyze spring training statistics and has been vocal in wanting Glasnow to be in the majors, but Glasnow can't find the strike zone and can't get big league hitters out. That's a problem.
• Don't fret over Elias Diaz's .091 batting average this spring. He's ready for a prominent role on this club. Don't forget this man went through quite the ordeal less than one month ago.
• What in the world is Hurdle going to do with Adam Frazier? Frazier needs to play. It's a good problem to have, but I'm not so sure the Pirates should be patient with Moran over at third base. Perhaps he'd benefit from more time at Triple-A, especially after he missed most of last season's second half with a concussion and broken orbital bone.
But Harrison referred to himself earlier this spring as one of the best second basemen in the league. Yeah, it doesn't sound like he'd be all that receptive to moving to third. Frazier has played only seven games at third base during his five professional seasons.
• Jose Osuna might be playing elsewhere sooner rather than later. The Pirates seem determined to force Moran into the lineup. Freese isn't going anywhere, and he shouldn't. He gets on base when healthy and has position versatility. The 34-year-old was a National League Gold Glove finalist at third base last season.
Check out Neal Huntington's response when I asked about Osuna's progress at third base last month: "We love the bat and think the young man can hit. If he has the opportunity to go out and help a team because he can go to third base in a double switch or he gets good enough he can make some starts there over the next handful of years it's going to be a credit to his work."
The italic emphasis is mine.
• Ivan Nova and Jameson Taillon were perfect selections to start opening day and the home opener, respectively. Hurdle doesn't take the task of picking a home opener starter lightly. It's clear that Taillon is going to be the ace of this staff in the not-so-distant future. What a wonderful story.
• Austin Meadows belongs in Triple-A. He has to show he can actually hit pitching at that level before the Pirates should even consider bringing him to the major leagues.
• This club doesn't have a fourth outfielder, despite the market being flooded with players that could have helped in that regard. Maybe Daniel Nava can help once he recovers from back surgery. If not, the Pirates might regret not signing someone such as Ichiro Suzuki, who had 27 hits as a pinch-hitter last season.