Ozzie Guillen puts faith in Heath Bell again as he plans to use him for closing job - MLB Update
The Miami Marlins’ manager Ozzie Guillen reverts to Heath Bell again as he decides to employ him as a closer. Originally Bell was brought by the Marlins in the season as a specialist closer. After signing him during the off-season as part of their spending
spree, Guillen was extremely hopeful that Bell will ensure victories for the team under pressure cooker situations.
However, far from living up to the expectations of the management, he caused defeats by leaking runs late in the innings.
More often than not, whenever Guillen sent Bell to the mound, he struggled. Even during the games where the Marlins were better-poised to win, poor throws by Bell helped the opponents turn tables on them.
For the same reason Guillen removed him from the role earlier but only to bring Bell back again after keeping him out in the couple of games. Guillen was of the view that Bell will come out better once he had been rested.
However, Bell disappointed the manager again as he repeated mistakes and did not show any signs of improvement.
Afterwards, Bell was eliminated from a number of options that Guillen will resort to for throwing the last inning.
Right now as the fans see Guillen relying on other relief pitchers for the closing assignment, the manager has announced that Bell will be given another opportunity. The fact Bell has worked out loop-holes which he was suffering from earlier is the background
behind the renewed confidence of Guillen in him.
“I found out what it was,” Bell said. “I think I strided too far at the end of spring and into the season, and it was creating a bad habit, and then everybody else was about my arm, about my head, about second-guessing me about what pitches I threw. ...
I created a bad habit in spring, and nobody caught it.”
Meanwhile, Guillen believes Bell can be used more appropriately as a closer. Therefore, by allowing him another opportunity, they can allow Bell to finally show what has been missing from the relief pitcher since the beginning of the season.
“We’re thinking about putting him back where he belongs,” Guillen said. “We’re going to give him another opportunity.”
As Bell steps on the mound in the upcoming games, it will be interesting to see what kind of improvements he has made.
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