Josh Bell doesn't want to hit RH

[thundercleetz]

So does Bell want to switch hit or not? I'm kind of confused by what has been said in this topic. Has there been any indication that Bell is going to give up switch hitting?

[Tony-OH]

No. In fact, it looked like he made some improvements in the AFL. IF he doesn't want to SH there's no sense in making him do it. That's the part that doesn't make sense. I'll assume that he does want to switch hit for the time being.

Right, because clearly 18 at bats can tell us a bunch.

At some point the organization has to say you know what, either he's a platoon guy or we try to see if he can hit effectively left-handed versus left-handed pitching. The difference in power throughout his entire career is striking and should not be glossed over.

[thundercleetz]

Right, because clearly 18 at bats can tell us a bunch.

At some point the organization has to say you know what, either he's a platoon guy or we try to see if he can hit effectively left-handed versus left-handed pitching. The difference in power throughout his entire career is striking and should not be glossed over.

I just hope the decision comes sooner then later.

[Lucky Jim]

I did bring it up in season, that's what kicked off the whole debate of him dropping RH hitting, I was one of the first to suggest it. It just kind of got buried in the 246 threads about who was the better prospect, will he be ready this year, and how bad are his splits.

BK is a very straight shooter, and he's been around long enough to know how something comes back to you when you say things publicly, that and I just happen to very much agree with him, if you see JB in person you'll see what I mean. And I'd think that if one of the two had a bit of a bias and would say something just for public benefit I'd say it'd be the agent more than the coach.

You brought up his body language and failure to prepare RH during the season? When?

[RShack]

I talked with Brad last night and he stands by his comments 100 percent. His main point is that the guy is a much better hitter from the left-side of the plate (and the stats back that up). He said that during BP, Bell could hit the ball over the scoreboard left-handed but could barely make the warning track right-handed. The power difference between the sides is steep. In fact, we both agreed if Bell only hit right-handed he wouldn't be a prosect at all, he's that bad right-handed.

So, if a guy has never hit well right-handed and has a tremendous power difference between the sides, why not see if he can handle left-handed pitching from the left side? His left-side is special. Honestly, if we're talking about a guy who hits like a light-hitting second baseman from one side of the plate, why not see if he can handle left-handed pitching from his special side?

I think everybody can accept that not everyone should switch-hit. To the extent there is a controversy, it's about Brad's comment about him not wanting to work on it. Now, I wasn't there, and I don't know Brad, and I don't pretend to know exactly what he meant by that. But that's the part that has people pausing and reading the quote 2 or 3 times just to make sure they're reading it right.

I think there's less concern about whether he "wants" to be a switch-hitter than there is about the idea that he "doesn't want to work at it". If you're saying that Brad repeated that Josh "doesn't want to work at it", that will cause folks to wonder about his work ethic. People figure, "Hey, we gave up Flat Breezy for this guy, and he has a MLB spot just waiting for him if he only produces in the bus leagues, and he doesn't want to work on a weakness? What kind of attitude is that?" (Not saying people should or shouldn't take it that way, but surely you can see how it happens.)

[Lucky Jim]

I think everybody can accept that not everyone should switch-hit. To the extent there is a controversy, it's about Brad's comment about him not wanting to work on it. Now, I wasn't there, and I don't know Brad, and I don't pretend to know exactly what he meant by that. But that's the part that has people pausing and reading the quote 2 or 3 times just to make sure they're reading it right.

I think there's less concern about whether he "wants" to be a switch-hitter than there is about the idea that he "doesn't want to work at it". If you're saying that Brad repeated that Josh "doesn't want to work at it", that will cause folks to wonder about his work ethic. People figure, "Hey, we gave up Flat Breezy for this guy, and he has a MLB spot just waiting for him if he only produces in the bus leagues, and he doesn't want to work on a weakness? What kind of attitude is that?" (Not saying people should or shouldn't take it that way, but surely you can see how it happens.)

Exactly right. No one questions the projection or the critique beyond the way it seems to imply a character issue.

I don't think any of us are going crazy over it, just trying to suss out why he'd say he didn't want to work at it.

[byrdz]

Right, because clearly 18 at bats can tell us a bunch.

At some point the organization has to say you know what, either he's a platoon guy or we try to see if he can hit effectively left-handed versus left-handed pitching. The difference in power throughout his entire career is striking and should not be glossed over.

That might be the best way to handle the situation. Tell him he's going to be platooned and that would probably be the end of his SH days.

[Stotle]

Exactly right. No one questions the projection or the critique beyond the way it seems to imply a character issue.

I don't think any of us are going crazy over it, just trying to suss out why he'd say he didn't want to work at it.

Eh, I'm going to disagree very slightly (though I understand exactly what you are saying and acknowledge it isn't wrong). I just think it's worth noting that the relationship between a coach and player allows for these types of interactions without there actually being a huge issue. Without the context of the relationship between coach and player, I don't really know what to make of the comment -- but I'm not reactionarily scared that the player is a problem.

My broader concern is having a coach relay those thoughts to the media, at which point you lose control over your comment and it can be spun in a number of ways. I think with the increased interest in prospects, this will become more of an issue when you have MiL staff that isn't used to being peppered with media questions. In the end, it probably doesn't matter. It just goes to the idea of trying to maintain professionalism in all the ranks (and no that is not a slam at the O's -- just a general framing of my concerns).

[Tony-OH]

It just goes to the idea of trying to maintain professionalism in all the ranks (and no that is not a slam at the O's -- just a general framing of my concerns).

Not sure I understand your conclusion. Are you alluding to the fact that Komminsk was some how unprofessional for telling the truth about a player? I'm sure if Bell was working hard in the cage to get better he would have pointed that out, so why not point out if the guy was not working hard?

Bell seems to have a good work ethic overall, but according to Komminsk, he does not act like he even wants to hit right-handed. Perhaps it's just something the Orioles need to bring up to him this off season and see if it's a mutual agreement to have him focus on solely batting left-handed.

[Lucky Jim]

Not sure I understand your conclusion. Are you alluding to the fact that Komminsk was some how unprofessional for telling the truth about a player? I'm sure if Bell was working hard in the cage to get better he would have pointed that out, so why not point out if the guy was not working hard?

Bell seems to have a good work ethic overall, but according to Komminsk, he does not act like he even wants to hit right-handed. Perhaps it's just something the Orioles need to bring up to him this off season and see if it's a mutual agreement to have him focus on solely batting left-handed.

Information asymmetries are important w/r/t prospects, in part. Further, there's just no reason to let the public in on something like that, that I can tell. If it's a real problem, handle it internally. If not, all you do is kick up a bunch of dust that may or may not be overestimating the importance of the comment.

The bottom line is that the gain in public knowledge can't possibly outweigh the possible damage to the value of the prospect that's attendant w/ broadcasting possible flaws. (It's a little different than saying "he needs to work on his change-up, I think.)

That's the perspective, right or wrong. And I'm not saying it's right. Just a line of thought.

[Stotle]

Not sure I understand your conclusion. Are you alluding to the fact that Komminsk was some how unprofessional for telling the truth about a player? I'm sure if Bell was working hard in the cage to get better he would have pointed that out, so why not point out if the guy was not working hard?

Bell seems to have a good work ethic overall, but according to Komminsk, he does not act like he even wants to hit right-handed. Perhaps it's just something the Orioles need to bring up to him this off season and see if it's a mutual agreement to have him focus on solely batting left-handed.

Eh, I don't want to step on toes, particularly since you are close with people in the organization. But in my limited coaching experience, and in my dealings with current D-I coaches, I've seldom run into someone of the opinion that airing any dirty laundry to the press is a good thing. This sounds like a straight-forward guy shooting from the hip with a world of honesty. That's not always the best approach to handling release of info to the media (and I understand that will upset a lot of people to hear said -- but the media and the people don't deserve or need all of the details all of the time).

The reason I said I wasn't slamming the Orioles is that I don't think he said anything particularly destructive. He wasn't throwing anyone under the bus. But if I were a partner in a firm and one of my lawyers made a similar comment to the Journal about the work ethic of another attorney, or a client or an opposing counsel, I'd pull them aside and say, "This isn't a big deal, but I just wanted to remind you that we need to be careful of how we phrase things when we are putting info out there for mass consumption."

Hopefully that wasn't offensive -- but regardless, it's how I feel things should generally be handled.

[Tony-OH]

Eh, I don't want to step on toes, particularly since you are close with people in the organization. But in my limited coaching experience, and in my dealings with current D-I coaches, I've seldom run into someone of the opinion that airing any dirty laundry to the press is a good thing. This sounds like a straight-forward guy shooting from the hip with a world of honesty. That's not always the best approach to handling release of info to the media (and I understand that will upset a lot of people to hear said -- but the media and the people don't deserve or need all of the details all of the time).

The reason I said I wasn't slamming the Orioles is that I don't think he said anything particularly destructive. He wasn't throwing anyone under the bus. But if I were a partner in a firm and one of my lawyers made a similar comment to the Journal about the work ethic of another attorney, or a client or an opposing counsel, I'd pull them aside and say, "This isn't a big deal, but I just wanted to remind you that we need to be careful of how we phrase things when we are putting info out there for mass consumption."

Hopefully that wasn't offensive -- but regardless, it's how I feel things should generally be handled.

I understand that line of thinking and it's one of the reasons why I don't quote managers, coaches or scouts directly when they tell me these kinds of things. But, Brad said it and the one thing Brad is not afraid to do is tell the truth about guys. If that bothers the Orioles then I guess someone will talk to him, but honestly, maybe it provides a little motivation to Bell if he wants to remain a switch hitter?

Personally, I think it helps players to read about their weaknesses, because sometimes a player doesn't realize how the organization views them.

I understand your line of thinking, I really do, and some cases I might agree with you, but in this case, Brad wasn't saying that Bell never works hard or is a slacker, he just said he doesn't "look like he wants to hit right-handed."

When a guy has terrible splits, you would think they would be taking extra hitting, or tee-work, or soft-toss from that side. From what I've heard, he didn't do that in his time at Bowie and in fact had to be reminded to work on a few things from that side of the plate.

Maybe Bell was worn out a bit from a long season, or maybe he's shy and wasn't sure about asking for extra help from an unfamiliar coaching staff, but what it comes down to is he did not show the coaching staff that he wanted to improve his right-handed hitting.

Taking that into consideration along with the fact his splits show he's not even a prospect from the right-side of the plate, suggests he should focus on hitting solely left-handed.

[allstar1579]

You brought up his body language and failure to prepare RH during the season? When?

I didn't say anything about a "failure to prepare". But thanks for putting words in my mouth. I said that I noticed him hitting LH 2/3 of the time in BP. You also have to consider that this is only in BP I witnessed (there were quite a few) and doesn't count days they took BP in the morning, or on the road.

And I did bring up his body language when I was having discussions about whether he should drop hitting RH. But since I am not "scouting" for the OH anymore, I have no obligations to do some full write up that most people aren't going to read anyway.

[allstar1579]

Not sure I understand your conclusion. Are you alluding to the fact that Komminsk was some how unprofessional for telling the truth about a player? I'm sure if Bell was working hard in the cage to get better he would have pointed that out, so why not point out if the guy was not working hard?

Bell seems to have a good work ethic overall, but according to Komminsk, he does not act like he even wants to hit right-handed. Perhaps it's just something the Orioles need to bring up to him this off season and see if it's a mutual agreement to have him focus on solely batting left-handed.

Yeah, I'll have to agree here. It's something that doesn't just "come up" in conversation, especially during a season, to ask a guy you just acquired if he wants to drop switch hitting. You don't want to offend the guy on the first day. After a while (like now) if you want to have to conversation with him from an organizational standpoint (or a coaching standpoint) and ask him what he would like to do and share your opinions, that's one thing, and it would more likely come near spring training.

Just seems that people are dissecting it a bit too much. I get that it seems like maybe something was implied, but in the times I've met and talked to Brad, he's not the kinda guy to do that. I mean did we consider maybe Bell really doesn't want to hit RH? Nothing is going to be answered until ST anyway, so I don't know why we are so worried about it right now.

[Ruzious]

I also don't see any issue here other than - The O's need to make a decision based on all the relevant facts and communicate it effectively to Bell.