Heath

Bell

Bell will be available in the pen until Orlando Hernandez reports later this week.

Bell has a 3.20 ERA in 25 1/3 innings for the Mets this season. He might only be up until a fifth starter is required.

Bell didn’t get into a game in his latest stint with the Mets.

Bell gave up eight runs -- four earned -- in Sunday’s blowout loss to the Yankees, but he allowed just two runs in 12 1/3 innings during June. He’ll be back.

Henry Owens was recalled instead. Bell was sent down on Tuesday, so the Mets couldn’t have placed Martinez on the DL retroactively to last week and still had Bell eligible to be recalled. Bell should return to the majors later this month.

“I’d love to have him back as our closer; he’s great at his job,” Hoyer said. “But I’m not going to bring him back if it means hurting the rest of the team. If we can afford him, I look forward to watching him sprint in from center field.” Bell will likely require an enormous percentage of the team’s payroll, where the Padres are expecting an increase of $53-55 million next year. Other notable free agents include center fielder Cameron Maybin, and starting pitcher Aaron Harang, who went 14-7 with 3.64 ERA this past season.

Bell entered the game with the Marlins trailing by two and gave up a single to Justin Upton and walked Paul Goldschmidt before hitting Cody Ransom to load the bases. He then got Gerardo Parra to ground out to first base, but Gaby Sanchez made a wild throw to home plate which allowed one run to score. A.J. Pollock then hit a sacrifice fly to knock in the second run. Things could have been much worse, though. Bell has now allowed 10 runs (eight earned) on 10 hits and eight walks over just 6 2/3 innings (10.80 ERA) this season. We still think he has some rope given his huge contract, but Steve Cishek is worth stashing if you are in the mood to speculate.

Luckily for Bell, Frank Francisco was even worse at his ninth-inning duties this afternoon. Called on to hold the line in a 2-2 game, Bell set the tone for his latest disaster by serving up a one-out double to Daniel Murphy. In Bell’s slight defense, one of his walks was intentional, but it was still an indefensible outing for Miami’s $27 million stopper. It’s anyone’s guess as to whether manager Ozzie Guillen will stick with his Friday pledge to return Bell to closing duties, but at the very least, Steve Cishek and Edward Mujica should remain owned in all formats.

Bell was pulled from the role last week, but given that he signed a three-year, $27 million contract with the Marlins over the winter, we figured it wouldn’t be long before he got his job back. The process may have been expedited after Steve Cishek blew a save Wednesday night against the Astros, which was followed by a scoreless inning from Bell. We’re not fully convinced that Bell will be effective moving forward, but those in shallow mixed leagues are probably safe to drop Cishek or Edward Mujica at this point.

One week after Cishek got stuck with one of Heath Bell’s blown saves, this one was all on him. Tasked with protecting a 3-2 lead, he got Jed Lowrie to fly out before serving up a triple to Carlos Lee. He then struck out Travis Buck and walked Chris Johnson before allowing an RBI single to Brian Bogusevic. He got Matt Downs to ground out to end the inning. Cishek’s peripherals are still sparkling, but the outing likely ensured that Edward Mujica, who pitched a scoreless eighth this evening, will remain the Marlins’ closer while Heath Bell sorts out his issues.