Heath Bell earns confidence of manager despite poor showing in the season - MLB Update
Manager Ozzie Guillen keeps faith in Heath Bell, despite his performance on the mound calling for the opposite treatment. One of the easily scapegoats behind the slump the Marlins are suffering at the moment in the season can be in the form of Heath Bell.
For number of occasions, when the Marlins may have easily registered the wins, he let them down.
It was to be no surprise then that the manager will soon put him on rest and give another pitcher a chance in his place.
Not growing panic just at the beginning of the season, the manager believes he has everything in his artillery, only it is a matter of time when he shines there.
Defying all the criticism being made at Bell, he sent him on the mound against the San Francisco Giants.
This time Bell proved his manager right and registered a save for his side, at a time when the game may have easily gone the other way.
In a pre-game statement about Bell, the manager stressed the importance of adjusting quickly. For so long as he struggles in this regard, it is going to be difficult for him to become their saviour late in the innings, he maintains.
"He has to make an adjustment," Guillen said. "He's our closer. We have a better ballclub when Heath Bell is in the closer's spot. If this kid continues to struggle then we have to do something different, something I don't want to do but on the other hand
I have to do it. We're desperate for wins."
Bell was part of the extravagant deals the Marlins inked before the start of the season. He had signed a three-year contract worth $27 million with the club.
Fans are right in questioning those deals as results are not forthcoming.
Last year National League Batting Champion, Jose Reyes has also betrayed expectations after clinching a $108 million contract with the club.
Bell cannot expect the management to have patience for a very long time in him. He has to ultimately come up with something for which he was added to the roster.
While he cannot be blamed for everything that has happened to the Marlins so far in the season, he genuinely cost the side a few nearly certain wins. He will be looking to make up for those outings as he finds better control on the mound ahead in the season.
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