After the Cleveland Guardians acquired first baseman Kyle Manzardo from the Tampa Bay Rays, they decided to ship fellow first baseman Josh Bell to the Miami Marlins before the deadline.
That way, Bell went from a divisional race to another playoff push: the Guardians are just two games behind the Minnesota Twins for the AL Central lead, but even if the Marlins probably won’t catch the Atlanta Braves at the top of the NL East, they are arguably in a better position to make the playoffs than Cleveland and, once there, make some noise.
Miami has a talented and deep pitching staff but was missing some bats to make a push.
They got some in Bell and Jake Burger.
In his Marlins debut on Wednesday, Bell had a stellar day and gave Marlins fans a glimpse of what he can do.
“‘I think the moves that were made over the last few days were for moments like this.’ Josh Bell went 4-5 with a HR and 2 RBI in the Marlins 9-8 victory in extra innings and speaks with our @JessBlaylock postgame!” Bally Sports Florida: Marlins tweeted.
"I think the moves that were made over the last few days were for moments like this."
Josh Bell went 4-5 with a HR and 2 RBI in the Marlins 9-8 victory in extra innings and speaks with our @JessBlaylock postgame!@Marlins | #MakeItMiami pic.twitter.com/Cl88VskjsI
— Bally Sports Florida: Marlins (@BallyMarlins) August 3, 2023
It was quite a debut for Bell, who homered against a great pitcher in Zack Wheeler and fueled a comeback victory.
The Fish were down 5-0 when Bell put them on the scoreboard with his dinger.
The Marlins sure hope Bell can give them more nights like this.
NEXT: MLB Insider Reveals That Marlins Have Interest In Tigers All-Star
