Twins first baseman Josh Bell addresses his old scouting report, development as a hitter

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of Twins players talking about the accuracy of their scouting reports before they made the major leagues.

Twins first baseman Josh Bell was an All-Star during the 2019 season. He’s totaled 193 career homers, and he’s played at least 140 games in every full season since 2017.

Bell, 33, didn’t develop into that type of player overnight.

Below is a conversation with Bell, who signed a one-year, $7 million contract with the Twins this winter. He shares his reactions to his 2013 Baseball America scouting report and how he became a player who has lasted 10 years in the majors:

The Pirates stunned the industry when they landed the thought-to-be-unsignable Bell for $5 million at the 2011 draft deadline, the biggest draft bonus ever outside of the first round. He was considered virtually unsignable because his mother is a professor at Texas-Arlington and wanted him to attend Texas.

“That might be a misconception,” Bell said. “My family is big on education. I think my mom wanted what was best for me whether that was going to pro ball or signing. At that time, all my friends were going to college, and UT is a great place. I was weighing that versus going to play in the minor leagues at a young age. The Pirates kind of forced my hand a little bit, and it worked out.”

He had written all 30 teams and asked them not to select him because he was committed to attending Texas, but Pittsburgh had him ranked sixth on its draft board and popped him at No. 61 overall.

His 2012 pro debut ended quickly, as he had surgery April 26 after tearing the meniscus in his left knee while running the bases. He was supposed to return for instructional league, but persistent swelling in the knee scuttled that plan.

“Yeah, that was tough. I got my knee drained five or six times. Initially, they told me I was supposed to be back ready to play in four to six weeks. It came down to a point to where I was ready to go rehab somewhere else. They finally said, ‘You need to go see Dr. [James] Andrews.’ He looked at the surgery, and he said, ‘They should have told you four to six months.’

“That was a rough first go in pro ball. That was definitely a difficult time period for me.”

A switch-hitter since he was 5, Bell has big-time power potential from both sides of the plate. He’ll be a huge home run threat once he adds more balance and incorporates his legs more into his swing.

“My dad started me [switch hitting], pretty much right when I started T-ball,” Bell said. “I switched every at-bat up until high school. No matter who I was facing, I was always switching at least once or twice a game just to get those reps.

“I feel like my swing’s flaw is coming up and out of my legs. That’s why I hit ground balls. That’s what I worked on all offseason. That’s what I’m working on every day in camp. If I can hammer out what I need to hammer out, I should get more balls in the air.”

With his bat speed, strike-zone discipline and mature approach, he also should hit for average.

“I tried my hardest not to strike out ever,” he said. “Obviously, at this level, it gets harder and harder. Putting balls in play weakly isn’t necessarily the best thing for me, not being a speed guy. It’s a blessing and a curse sometimes, but I try to command my strike zone, put balls in play as best as I can, but I try to do it with authority.”

A high school center fielder, he had average speed before he got hurt, and there’s some fear that he might lose a step after his knee injury.

“I got drafted as an outfielder and I got hurt my first year,” Bell said. “Then the Pirates extended [Andrew] McCutchen, [Gregory] Polanco and [Starling] Marte. After Polanco signed his deal, they gave me a first base mitt. They told me, ‘You’ve got a couple of years, and then you’ll be ready for the big leagues.’ And it worked out.”

“I mean, I remember it still being kind of painful, but you have to push through some things. I was hungry to get back out there. I didn’t have too bad of a season. I think I hit .270 with 14 homers, but it felt like it was the worst season of my life coming off of high school where you hit .500. Definitely a good foundation for me. I got my feet wet a little bit, and I was able to build from there.

“I had a really good manager in Tom Prince. Someone would get banged up whether it was a hammy or an oblique. He would say, ‘If the big leagues called, would you be ready to go in the Show tomorrow?’ Nine times out of 10, guys would be like, ‘Yeah, for sure, I could play through this.’ He was like, ‘All right, then keep playing.’ That was always in the back of my head.