Josh Bell Heating It Up In Arizona Fall League

Josh Bell went to the Arizona Fall League on a mission.  After a slow start, it all seems to be coming together for Bell as he settles into his first AFL experience.  If he keeps hitting, it very well could be his last.

But before we get into all the juicy Josh Bell numbers from his big night, a Pirates left hander is pitching well too.  Obviously, the Pittsburgh Pirates knew a little bit more about Joely Rodriguez than we did.  When we saw him a couple times with the Double-A Altoona Curve this year, we thought it was going to be tough for Rodriguez to pitch well against more talented players.

But this afternoon, the southpaw got his second start of the Arizona Fall League season and pitched rather well lowering his ERA on the season to 1.69 in 5.1 innings pitched.

The Scottsdale Scorpions staked Rodriguez to an early lead, and he backed up his teammates.  The lefty pitched three rather clean innings allowing a run on four hits with a walk and three strikeouts.

In the first inning Rodriguez got a ground out, gave up a single, then a fly out and line out ended it.

Rodriguez opened the second inning with a lead off walk and then recorded a strikeout, but a wild pitch moved up the runner before an infield flyout and a whiff ended the inning.

In the third inning, it took just one pitch to get a ground out, followed by another groundout and a strikeout ended the final inning for the lefty.

Joely Rodriguez AFL stats

Ok enough about the pitching.  Let’s talk offense.  Let’s talk Josh Bell.  The Pirates talented prospect is picking up the pace in the AFL.  Bell had two doubles as the Scorpions designated hitter and also added an RBI single.   Bell now has four knocks in his last nine at-bats raising his season average to .278 and inching his OPS up to .739.

Bell is rather steady in an ultra sample size against right handed pitching and left handed pitching.  .273 against right handers, and .286 against left handed pitchers.   Bell is hitting .400 with runners on base with four hits in 10 at-bats.

Josh Bell AFL stats

Dan Gamache had a sacrifice fly for Scottsdale in the second inning, but failed to extend his micro-hitting streak.  The Scorpions third baseman put up an 0-for-4 with the sacrifice RBI.

Once again, Adrian Sampson pitched in relief, but the results weren’t impressive  The 6’3″ right hander gave up a single, but it was quickly forgiven with a nice double play in the seventh inning.  Sampson came back out for the eighth and surrendered a single and a bomb to the first two hitters he faced. The final line was two innings pitched, two runs allowed on four knocks.   Sampson has pitched four innings in the AFL and allowed three earned runs on six hits.

Adrian Sampson AFL stats