It was my plan to do The Grandstander's traditional "Bucs at the Break" post later this evening or tomorrow morning, and I will do that, but I cannot let any more time pass without commenting on the unbelievable debut this weekend of Pirates prospect Josh Bell. You know the story - Bell brought up just to provide an extra bat off of the bench for the final three game series against the first place Cubs before the All-Star Break, just in case they need a pinch hitter, and he'll be headed back to Indianapolis after the weekend.
The debut on Friday was nice - a first pitch pinch hit single off of no less than Jake Arietta, that contributed to a rally that led to a Pirate victory. Nice story, but what happened last night topped that.
Sent up as a pinch hitter with the bases loaded in the fifth, and the Pirates holding a one run lead, Bell parks one on the river walk over the right field grandstand. Grand slam! And a close, back-and-forth game becomes a rout in the Bucs favor.
So far here's the log on Bell: 2 AB, 4 pitches faced, 2 hits, 2 runs scored, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1.000 BA, 3.500 OPS.
Yeah, I'm having a little fun with the numbers here. Two at bats doesn't even qualify as a "small sample size", but still, what an impressive debut. Has any Pirate EVER had a better one?
And how do you send this kid back to Indy?
(Photos courtesy of the Pittsburgh Pirates.)
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