Josh Bell returning to form. And one Marlins player adds perspective to playoff push

After a solid first month with the Miami Marlins after being acquired at the trade deadline, Josh Bell found himself mired in a two-week slump as the calendar flipped from August to September.

“Lost my footing there a little bit,” Bell said.

Bell has finally begun to turn things back around — and at the right time with the Marlins entering the final week of the regular season trying to lock up a playoff spot.

Entering Tuesday, Bell is hitting .379 (11 for 29) with two doubles, two home runs, four RBI and seven runs scored over his past eight games. He has four multi-hit games in that span after having just one through his first 14 games in September, a stretch in which he hit just .212 (11 for 52) with only three extra-base hits (two doubles, one home run).

“I was hitting more ground balls,” Bell said of the early September slump. “When I’m chopping the ball, things aren’t going well. It could be timing. It could just be how people are attacking me. I want to say it was about four or five days ago, I started flying out a little bit more. That’s generally a good sign. Fly balls are a good thing in this game, so try to hit more of those and see the ball land in the seats a little more.”

Bell has done that plenty since Miami acquired him from the Cleveland Guardians in exchange for third baseman Jean Segura and infielder prospect Kahlil Watson. In 48 games with Miami, Bell has already swatted 11 home runs — tied with Jorge Soler for the most on the team since his Aug. 2 Marlins debut and matching his home run total in 97 games with Cleveland to start the season.

The 31-year-old switch-hitter is also hitting .276 with a .342 on-base percentage and .497 slugging mark in his Miami tenure, all significant improvements over his start to the year with the Guardians (.233 average, .318 on-base, .383 slugging).

He has 11 multi-hit games with the Marlins, and Miami is 8-3 in those games.

Berti’s perspective on playoff push

Jon Berti has a distinct title in the Marlins’ clubhouse.

The speedy, do-it-all utility player is the organization’s longest-tenured position player on the big-league roster, a distinction that became his when the Marlins traded Garrett Cooper to the San Diego Padres on Aug. 1.

That puts him in prime position to provide perspective on the Marlins’ current playoff push.

Berti is one of just two players on the Marlins’ active roster who participated in the playoffs for Miami in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Jazz Chisholm Jr., who was called up late that season for his MLB debut, is the other. Three others — pitchers Sandy Alcantara (15-day injured list), Trevor Rogers (60-day injured list) ad Sixto Sanchez (minor leagues but mostly sidelined with injuries since that playoff run) — are still with the organization.

Prior to this season, that 2020 season was the only blip of success the Marlins have seen over Berti’s tenure with Miami, which began when he signed as a minor-league free agent ahead of the 2019 season.

The club’s record in the other three, full seasons: 57-105 in 2019, 67-95 in 2021 and 69-93 in 2022.

Miami surpassed the 70-win mark on Sept. 3 and on Sunday ensured it would finish with at least a .500 record for the first time since 2009.

“It is crazy to think about,” Berti said. “Outside of the 2020 year, we really haven’t had a lot of success since I’ve been here. This is what you play for, meaningful games in September down the stretch here, and we just have a really, really tight-knit group of guys here, and it just makes it that much more fun. We’re just going to keep going.”