One Bell of a Debut- Oriole #882

Highly touted third base prospect Josh Bell made his MLB debut for the Orioles last night. I know that the title of the post is a bit of a stretch, since he went 1-4 with a single, strikeout and an error while playing third base, but it was the Orioles' first debut of a big-time position prospect since the Wieters Era began last May 29.



As you might be able to read in this picture, Josh was acquired from the Dodgers, along with RHP Steve Johnson, for George Sherrill just before the 2009 trading deadline. I had the chance to see Josh play for the AA Baysox for the last month of the '09 season and also saw him in Sarasota this spring. He has been playing for the AAA Tides this season; after a slow start to the season, he found his stroke over the past month and had 10 HR and 44 RBI prior to his call up. I don't think the Orioles intend to keep him up for the rest of the season, but were forced to call him up after Luke Scott's HR injury yesterday and since Felix Pie isn't quite ready to come off his rehab assignment.



Here's a picture of Josh's first Major League hit. He smacked a 91 mph sinker from Trevor Cahill into left field in the bottom of the 7th inning. The Orioles lineup only mustered 4 hits off Cahill in 7 innings, so it was nice to see Josh contribute.

I also had the pleasure and luck to run into the U.S. Men's Soccer team manager, Bob Bradley, who was at the game to throw out the first pitch. He was a very nice guy and it was awesome to talk to him for just a minute after watching the U.S. team's run in this year's World Cup. He said that he obviously wishes that he was still there, but enjoyed his time there while it lasted.