The only problem is that his production has been awfully lopsided.
Entering Sunday’s action, Bell has amassed 483 plate appearances in 112 games played. If we look at his season-long numbers since he became an every-day player in 2017, basically everything is either a new career high or on track to be. The slugger is slashing a very healthy-looking .280/.364/.574 with 27 home runs, 89 RBI, 78 runs scored, 36 doubles, a 137 wRC+, and 2.1 If we split his campaign and look at it prior to and after the All-Star break, it doesn’t look nearly as wonderful, As Bell approached the All-Star break and prepared for his first appearance in the midsummer classic, he had already set a new single-season career high in homers. The only question at that point was how much further he’d go. Getting to the 30-dinger plateau seemed like a formality (and it probably still is), but after going homer-less for more than a month, he’d probably feel more relieved about getting there than anything else. Of course, it doesn’t help that the Pirates have completely fall...