At the end of October, MLB announced the finalists for the Golden Glove award. All MLB fans collectively put their palms together as they see Juan Soto being named a Finalist for the Golden Gloves field of NL rights. Thankfully, he didn’t win the prize. The MLB coaches and managers dodged a big bullet with that, because I don’t know how they could explain the Soto Gold Glove win and keep the integrity of the award intact.
However, Soto’s involvement is just the beginning, a small dose of what is to come. On Thursday, MLB announced receiver its coveted the Silver Slugger Award, which names the best players in both leagues in every position. All in all, I couldn’t agree more with most of these decisions, but one recipient was such a monstrously bad decision I couldn’t help but complain over my computer screen: National League DH recipient , Josh Bell.
If you’ve followed my work before, you know my thoughts on Josh Bell’s 2022 season. While he was great with the Nationals, he was arguably the worst baseball hitter after being traded to the San Diego Padres – next to teammate Juan Soto. With San Diego, Bell took down .192 / .316 / .271 in 53 games. That’s good for 75 OPS-plus, making him 25% worse than a normal hitter with Pads. Not good for an All-Star.
Despite those dire numbers, Bell has had a solid season overall, posting an OPS-plus total of 128, the highest since 2019. His 153 OPS-plus as a member national team will be the highest of his career if he maintains his pace. However, those first two-thirds of the season didn’t give Bell relief from his tough finale, or his lack of time as a DH.
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Bell doesn’t play as a DH at all. In 32 games (31 starts) as DH in 2022, Bell only accumulated 134 appearances on the disc. Here is a list of all the players in the National League with more playing time for DH this year:
- Nelson Cruz
- Daniel Vogelbach
- Luke Voit
- Bryce Harper
- Andrew McCutchen
- Charlie Blackmon
- Marcell Ozuna
- Albert Pujols
- Justin Turner
- Garrett Cooper
- JD Davis
- Willson Contreras
- Ketel Marte
- Christian Yelich
- Tommy La Stella
- And a partridge in a damn pear tree
Now, just because these people have spent more time in the position doesn’t mean they DH are betterS. Be Honest. So out of all these names, here is the one who also has a better OPS-plus in 2022 than Josh Bell (128):
- Harper
- Pujols
- Contreras (attached to 128 OPS-plus)
Now, when you look at it that way, Bell’s pick doesn’t look all that bad. Sure, Pujols probably deserves it more. After all, the Machine finished ahead of Bell in home runs, batting average, slip rate, OPS and OPS-plus. He did all that at 42 years old while obtain 700 career running house. That in itself would form a Silver Slugger, but I’ll look beyond it since it’s close. Harper is definitely a better hitter, but he’s only played in 99 games, so he’s out of the conversation. So in the end, yes, Bell isn’t a bad choice, is it? Well…until you look at Bell’s stats as a DH.
See, Bell’s 128 OPS-plus were on for the entire season. As a designated assassin, his numbers are much worse, slashing .235 / .338 ./. 339, good for 0.677 OPS and 93 OPS-plus. With that in mind, let’s take a look at all the players from the previous two lists who have better OPS-plus as DH:
- Harper
- Pujols
- Marte
- Vogelbach
- Davis
- Cooper
- Contreras
- Blackmon
- Turner
Among these players (as a DH), Bell has the lowest polishing average, third lowest OBP, lowest slip rate, least disc appearances, and lowest OPS. Bell was much better at attacking as the first fighter and insulting his team as a DH. Not available why he should be awarded in that position. For a player who played less than a quarter of a game at DH, but won the award for best player in that position, it was infuriating. There are some better candidates that have played better as their team’s DH, and a handful of players who are better overall. When the boost happened during the final stages of the season, Bell also disappeared, and even though he did re-emerge a bit in the post-season, that still doesn’t mean he’s worthy of the hardware. .
I can excuse Soto being named a finalist for the Golden Glove Award, because he did qualify but did not win. I cannot excuse this. Bell isn’t the best DH in the National League, not by a long shot, and naming him Silver Slugger was a bad, bad decision.
