Bell is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Pirates.
With Thursday's game beginning at 12:35 p.m. ET, Bell will get some rest after he had started at designated hitter or at first base in each of Washington's last seven contests while going 3-for-27 with a home run and three walks over that stretch. Bell's absence from the lineup will allow the Nationals to give James Wood a day out of the outfield and deploy him as their DH.
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Nationals' Josh Bell: Drives in two runs Saturday
Rotowire
Bell went 1-for-4 with a two-run single in Saturday's 7-6 loss to Miami.
Bell tied things up in the third inning, when his single to left field brought Keibert Ruiz and James Wood across home plate. Bell has gone 3-for-11 with three walks, three runs scored, one home run and five RBI across his last three starts.
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Nationals' Josh Bell: Smacks second homer of 2025
Rotowire
Bell went 1-for-4 with a walk and a two-run homer in Friday's 7-4 win over the Marlins.
Bell smacked his first home run since March 30 in the sixth inning, when he took the first pitch from Edward Cabrera deep to right field for a 395-foot, two-run home run. Bell has reached base safely in eight straight games, and over that span he has gone 6-for-24 with seven walks, five runs scored, one home run and three RBI.
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Nationals' Josh Bell: Out of Washington lineup
Rotowire
Bell is not in the lineup for Tuesday's contest versus the Dodgers.
It's a routine day off for Bell, who is sporting just a .603 OPS on the season. James Wood is getting a start at designated hitter Tuesday for the Nationals while Alex Call handles left field.
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Nationals' Josh Bell: Homers in win
Rotowire
Bell went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run in Sunday's 5-1 win over the Phillies.
Bell was hitless in his first 10 plate appearances this season before opening the scoring with a three-run homer in the fourth inning. The 32-year-old has hovered around 20 homers with 70-plus RBI in each of the past three seasons. He also entered Sunday with a strong track record at Nationals Park, boasting a .291 average and 25 home runs over 152 career games.
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Nationals' Josh Bell: Socks first spring homer
Rotowire
Bell went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run in Saturday's Grapefruit League game against the Cardinals.
Bell took Miles Mikolas deep in the first inning for his first long ball of the spring. The 32-year-old slugger is expected to be the regular DH for the Nationals this season while backing up Nathaniel Lowe at first base, and Bell posted the best numbers of his career during his first stint with Washington in 2021-22, slashing .278/.363/.483 over 247 games with 41 homers and 145 RBI.
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Nationals' Josh Bell: Returns to Washington
Rotowire
Bell signed a one-year, $6 million contract with the Nationals on Sunday, Andrew Golden of The Washington Post reports.
Bell will return to Washington, where he previously played in 2021 and part of 2022. The 32-year-old played in 145 games between the Marlins and Diamondbacks in 2024, batting .249 with 19 home runs, 71 RBI and 62 runs scored. With Nathaniel Lowe set to hold down first base with the Nationals this season, Bell will likely use his switch-hitting ability to operate as the team's primary designated hitter in 2025.
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Diamondbacks' Josh Bell: Losing at-bats
Rotowire
Bell entered as a pinch hitter and went 0-for-1 in Saturday's 5-0 win over Milwaukee.
Bell stayed in the game to serve as the designated hitter but didn't get any more plate appearances. Saturday's appearance was his first since last Sunday. The September returns of Christian Walker, Ketel Marte and more recently, Lourdes Gurriel, give the Diamondbacks more lineup options, limiting Bell's opportunities. Bell, who had 112 plate appearances during the month of August over 26 games, has just 43 this month with seven games left in the regular season.
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Diamondbacks' Josh Bell: Back in lineup Sunday
Rotowire
Bell will start at first base and bat cleanup in Sunday's game against the Astros.
Bell was on the bench for the first two games of the series, but he'll move back into the starting nine for the finale while Ketel Marte and Christian Walker get the evening off. Though Marte should eventually reclaim a full-time role at second base after being eased back in the lineup at designated hitter in the previous two contests, Arizona likely won't have room in the lineup for Bell against right-handed pitching while Walker and Joc Pederson occupy first base and the DH spot, respectively. Bell should at least replace the lefty-hitting Pederson in the lineup when the Diamondbacks face left-handed pitching.
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Diamondbacks' Josh Bell: Slides to DH
Rotowire
Bell served as the designated hitter and went 0-for-4 with an RBI in Tuesday's 8-7 win over San Francisco.
Bell, who had been the primary first baseman for the last month, moved to DH as Christian Walker returned to first base after being activated off the 10-day injured list. Bell acquitted himself well as a replacement, batting .283 with an .809 OPS over 28 games, and should see work as the DH against left-handers going forward.
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Diamondbacks' Josh Bell: Absent from starting lineup
Rotowire
Bell is not in the starting lineup for Saturday's game against the Dodgers.
Bell opened up the series going 3-for-5 with two runs scored and one RBI in Friday's 10-9 loss. Pavin Smith starts at first base Saturday, batting fifth.
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Diamondbacks' Josh Bell: Racks up three hits in loss
Rotowire
Bell went 3-for-5 with one RBI and two runs scored in Friday's 10-9 loss to the Dodgers.
Since receiving a day off Aug. 19, Bell has gone 12-for-33 (.364) over his last nine contests. He's picked up three RBI and scored six runs in that span, but all 12 of those hits have been singles -- the first baseman doesn't have an extra-base hit since a double Aug. 13. For the year, Bell is slashing .246/.314/.408 with 18 home runs, 61 RBI, 55 runs scored and 22 doubles over 129 contests between Arizona and Miami.
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Diamondbacks' Josh Bell: Getting night off
Rotowire
Bell is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Marlins.
Bell will take a seat for the first time since joining the Diamondbacks, giving way to Pavin Smith at first base. Bell had started 16 consecutive games for Arizona, going 15-for-64 (.234) with four homers. However, he's 0-for-14 in his last four games.
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Diamondbacks' Josh Bell: Homers twice in nightcap
Rotowire
Bell went 2-for-4 with two home runs and three total RBI in a 5-3 win over Cleveland in the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader.
Bell now has nine home runs in his last 12 games, including four in five contests since joining the D-Backs. Overall, the 31-year-old first baseman is slashing .241/.306/.420 this season across 469 plate appearances between Arizona and Miami. Bell should continue to see regular at-bats with Christian Walker (oblique) likely sidelined until late August.
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Diamondbacks' Josh Bell: Acquired by Arizona
Rotowire
The Diamondbacks acquired Bell from the Marlins on Tuesday in exchange for cash considerations, Craig Mish of the Miami Herald reports.
The acquisition of Bell would seem to indicate that the Diamondbacks expect to be without everyday first baseman Christian Walker for a while after Walker suffered an oblique injury in Monday's 9-8 win over the Nationals. While Bell has posted a mediocre .699 OPS on the season, he's been sizzling at the plate of late with six home runs over his last 12 contests. The Marlins will cover approximately $3.25 million of the $5.5 million remaining on Bell's $16.5 million salary for 2024 as part of the trade, per Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic.
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Marlins' Josh Bell: Heads to waivers
Rotowire
The Marlins will place Bell on waivers Sunday, Robert Murray of FanSided.com reports.
Bell remains in the lineup at first base for Sunday's contest against the Brewers, so he'll be available to play even while he's on waivers. The Marlins may simply be gauging interest in the veteran slugger, who has posted a .239/.303/.396 slash line with 14 home runs in 103 games this season. Bell has shown signs of life at the plate recently and has hit home runs in four consecutive games and has multiple hits in five straight contests. A $16.5 million salary for this season remains a major hurdle to the 31-year-old being moved, either via trade or waivers.
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Marlins' Josh Bell: Power surge continues Friday
Rotowire
Bell went 2-for-5 with a solo home run in Friday's win over the Brewers.
He took Janson Junk deep in the ninth inning, giving the Marlins their third long ball of the game and giving Bell his third straight game with a homer and fourth straight game with multiple hits. The switch-hitting first baseman, and pending free agent, is doing what he can to improve his trade value as the deadline approaches -- over his last 13 contests he's slashing .300/.375/.620 with five home runs and nine RBI.
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Marlins' Josh Bell: Goes deep again Thursday
Rotowire
Bell went 2-for-5 with a solo home run and an additional RBI in a loss to the Orioles on Thursday.
Baltimore built a 6-0 lead before Bell put Miami on the board with a sixth-inning solo shot to center field. The Marlins later strung together a ninth-inning rally, with Bell's single plating the tying run to send the game into an extra frame. Bell has gone deep in three of his past four contests and is batting .467 (7-for-15) with three homers, five RBI and four runs over that span.
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Marlins' Josh Bell: Homers in victory
Rotowire
Bell went 2-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk in Wednesday's 6-3 victory versus the Orioles.
Bell belted the only long ball of the contest, swatting a solo shot to center field in the fourth inning. It was his second homer in three contests following a 22-game stretch during which he went deep only once. Bell has hit 11 home runs through 100 contests, so he'll have to pick up the pace to reach 20 long balls for the fifth time in his career.
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Marlins' Josh Bell: Slugs 10th homer
Rotowire
Bell went 1-for-3 with a solo home run, two walks and an additional RBI in Monday's loss to the Mets.
Bell took Mets starter David Peterson deep in the fifth inning before adding an RBI groundout in the ninth. The 31-year-old has struggled mightily during the month of July, batting just .136 with two home runs, seven RBI and three runs scored in 15 games.
