ATLANTA -- For the first time since 2016, Josh Bell played the outfield.

Nationals manager Dave Martinez started Bell in right field in Sunday afternoon’s 5-4 loss to the Braves to get him and Ryan Zimmerman in the lineup against lefty starter Max Fried. With the start, Zimmerman tied Tim Wallach’s Nationals-Expos record for most games played at 1,767.

Bell came up through the Minors with the Pirates as a right fielder, but only appeared there in 16 games (14 starts) during his rookie season before shifting full-time to first base. He was a below-average defender during that brief time in the outfield and registered -5 Defensive Runs Saved and a -3.3 Ultimate Zone Rating.

Bell has been taking pregame reps in left field for over a month, and Martinez, who played 16 seasons in the Majors at all three outfield positions, felt confident that Bell could handle right field again. For one thing, there’s less ground to cover in right than in left at Truist Park. Down the right-field line is only 325 feet compared to 335 feet in left, and the power alley is deeper in left-center than in right-center.

“For me, left field was the toughest one to play. It really was,” Martinez said. “It was the angles. The angles are a little bit tougher than in right field. For me, when we teach guys to play the outfield, I like to start them out in center field just so they see the ball. And then the next thing is to put them at the toughest place, which is left field for me, and work them out in left field. If you can play left field, I think you can play pretty much anywhere.”

Bell acquitted himself well in right field and only had a few balls hit his way. He cut off a ball in the gap to hold Adam Duvall to a single and fielded a liner in the corner that Austin Riley hit for a double. His throw to the cutoff man after Riley's double was slightly offline, but Dansby Swanson looked likely to score from first regardless of the throw.

A third ball was hit his way, but second baseman Luis García caught the popup in shallow right.

“It was definitely a different perspective, but something that I remembered,” Bell said. “The game seemed a lot slower out there, and there’s a lot more time to react. I didn’t really get too many plays out there, so it was a pretty easy day.”

Time will tell whether this becomes a long-lasting development to add more big bats to the lineup against lefties, or if this is a temporary experiment while Juan Soto is out with a right knee contusion. At the very least, the lineup benefitted, as Bell and Zimmerman combined to go 4-for-10 with two RBIs.

Regardless, Bell seems unlikely to play right field much going forward. When Soto returns from his injury -- he pinch-hit on Saturday and Sunday, and Martinez is hopeful that he will start on Tuesday after an off-day to rest -- he will return to his customary right field and push Bell’s outfield appearances back to left field.