CLEVELAND, OH – The Cleveland Guardians have formally signed free agent DH/1B Josh Bell.

Bell, 30, break up the 2022 season between the Washington Nationals and San Diego Padres, gathering career-highs in hits (147) and walks (81) on his option to successful his first profession Silver Slugger Award (DH). For the yr, he batted a mixed .266 (147-for-552) with 29 doubles, 3 triples, 17 house runs and 71 RBI in 156 video games (.362/.422/ .784). On the time of his August 2nd commerce to San Diego together with Juan Soto, he ranked fourth within the Nationwide League in on-base pct. (.384), fifth in common (.301), sixth in hits (113) and seventh in OPS (.877), compiling two 15-game on-base streaks alongside the best way. For the yr, he completed sixth within the NL in walks and eighth in on-base pct. (.362).

The 2019 NL All-Star and Progressive Subject Residence Run Deby participant began his skilled profession with the Pittsburgh Pirates after his 2011 second spherical choice (61st general) out of Dallas’ Jesuit Faculty Prep Faculty. He was named Pittsburgh’s Minor League Participant of the 12 months in 2014 and 2016, participated in two SiriusXM Futures Video games (2014-15) and was a consensus top-100 prospect previous to his 2016 MLB debut. He performed 5 seasons for the Pirates, ending third within the 2017 NL Rookie of the 12 months voting, and ending sixth within the NL in RBI (116) and extra-base hits (77) throughout his 2019 All-Star marketing campaign. He was traded to Washington following the 2020 season, spending a season and a half with the Nationals. For his profession, he has batted .307 (138-for-449) with 29 2B, 22 HR and 76 RBI in 121 video games vs. the American League golf equipment (.378/.532/.910), together with a .314 (64-for-204) mark vs. the AL Central (.875 OPS). Since 2017, he ranks fourth amongst ML switch-hitters in HR (127), complete bases (1303) and extra-base hits (294).

Josh has been very energetic locally throughout his time within the Majors, serving because the official participant ambassador for the Nationals Philanthropies’ Youth Baseball Academy and was Washington’s Roberto Clemente Award nominee in 2022 along with being Pittsburgh’s 2020 nominee. He additionally shared his love of studying by launching the Josh Bell E-book Membership in 2021, a month-to-month program during which he chosen books written to encourage being and turning into higher people, increasing the e book membership idea in 2022 to achieve Black youngsters. He labored with the Washington D.C. Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy, whose mission is to assist at-risk youth. He was voted the “Good Man” Award by Washington D.C. media after the 2021 season.