Bell is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Pirates.
With Thursday's game beginning at 12:35 p.m. ET, Bell will get some rest after he had started at designated hitter or at first base in each of Washington's last seven contests while going 3-for-27 with a home run and three walks over that stretch. Bell's absence from the lineup will allow the Nationals to give James Wood a day out of the outfield and deploy him as their DH.
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Nationals' Josh Bell: Drives in two runs Saturday
Rotowire
Bell went 1-for-4 with a two-run single in Saturday's 7-6 loss to Miami.
Bell tied things up in the third inning, when his single to left field brought Keibert Ruiz and James Wood across home plate. Bell has gone 3-for-11 with three walks, three runs scored, one home run and five RBI across his last three starts.
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Nationals' Josh Bell: Smacks second homer of 2025
Rotowire
Bell went 1-for-4 with a walk and a two-run homer in Friday's 7-4 win over the Marlins.
Bell smacked his first home run since March 30 in the sixth inning, when he took the first pitch from Edward Cabrera deep to right field for a 395-foot, two-run home run. Bell has reached base safely in eight straight games, and over that span he has gone 6-for-24 with seven walks, five runs scored, one home run and three RBI.
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Nationals' Josh Bell: Out of Washington lineup
Rotowire
Bell is not in the lineup for Tuesday's contest versus the Dodgers.
It's a routine day off for Bell, who is sporting just a .603 OPS on the season. James Wood is getting a start at designated hitter Tuesday for the Nationals while Alex Call handles left field.
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Nationals' Josh Bell: Homers in win
Rotowire
Bell went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run in Sunday's 5-1 win over the Phillies.
Bell was hitless in his first 10 plate appearances this season before opening the scoring with a three-run homer in the fourth inning. The 32-year-old has hovered around 20 homers with 70-plus RBI in each of the past three seasons. He also entered Sunday with a strong track record at Nationals Park, boasting a .291 average and 25 home runs over 152 career games.
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Nationals' Josh Bell: Socks first spring homer
Rotowire
Bell went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run in Saturday's Grapefruit League game against the Cardinals.
Bell took Miles Mikolas deep in the first inning for his first long ball of the spring. The 32-year-old slugger is expected to be the regular DH for the Nationals this season while backing up Nathaniel Lowe at first base, and Bell posted the best numbers of his career during his first stint with Washington in 2021-22, slashing .278/.363/.483 over 247 games with 41 homers and 145 RBI.
Bell signed a one-year, $6 million contract with the Nationals on Sunday, Andrew Golden of The Washington Post reports.
Bell will return to Washington, where he previously played in 2021 and part of 2022. The 32-year-old played in 145 games between the Marlins and Diamondbacks in 2024, batting .249 with 19 home runs, 71 RBI and 62 runs scored. With Nathaniel Lowe set to hold down first base with the Nationals this season, Bell will likely use his switch-hitting ability to operate as the team's primary designated hitter in 2025.
Bell entered as a pinch hitter and went 0-for-1 in Saturday's 5-0 win over Milwaukee.
Bell stayed in the game to serve as the designated hitter but didn't get any more plate appearances. Saturday's appearance was his first since last Sunday. The September returns of Christian Walker, Ketel Marte and more recently, Lourdes Gurriel, give the Diamondbacks more lineup options, limiting Bell's opportunities. Bell, who had 112 plate appearances during the month of August over 26 games, has just 43 this month with seven games left in the regular season.
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