Josh Bell hit his 13th homer and walked Tuesday in the Nationals’ 6-1 victory over the Reds.
For the second time this season, Bell has finished a game with a .700 OPS. He’s at .707 right now after homering in back-to-back games. He previously topped out at .702 after homering against the Marlins on Apr. 11. From there, he dipped all of the way to .497 on May 9 before rebounding in late May. He merely treaded water in June, but he’s up .358/.452/.566 in 16 games this month, and the Nationals might get a little something for him at the deadline if this keeps up. He definitely knows the drill, as he was traded at the deadline each of the last three years (from the Nationals to the Padres in the Juan Soto deal in 2022, from the Guardians to the Marlins in a salary dump in 2023 and from the Marlins to the Diamondbacks last year).