This story was excerpted from Mandy Bell’s Guardians Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The closer that Spring Training gets, the more the realization sets in that the Guardians may be content with just the two additions they picked up over the winter. That means the pressure for Josh Bell to perform will only be greater … as if it wasn’t high already.

“With pressure, there has to be something there that’s worthwhile at the end,” Bell said. “I know what a power bat can bring to this team and what it means to José [Ramírez] to have someone with power behind him.”

What can the Guardians expect from Bell?

Bell has built a reputation of getting off to a hot start. Guardians manager Terry Francona's teams have been known for the opposite. Bell can bring some nice pop and energy to this lineup in the early (and sometimes brutal) weeks of the regular season in Cleveland. Last year, he was tremendous with the Nationals before he was sent to San Diego at the Trade Deadline, hitting .301 with an .877 OPS in 103 games. In his lone All-Star season in 2019, Bell hit .302 with a 1.024 OPS in the first half, compared to a .233 average with a .780 OPS in the second half. In his career splits, the trend remains the same.

Seeing Bell get a great jump out of the gate won't be too surprising. For him to help take this offense to the next level and get closer to assuring a second consecutive AL Central title, Bell will need to stay consistent all season, which he's already said he's confident he can do. And with Steven Kwan and Ramírez ahead of him, he'll have plenty of opportunities to make an impact.

"I think when you look at the lineup and have three to four guys around 20 stolen bases, especially at the top of the lineup, that's a huge opportunity for me to continue to play the game I want to play," Bell said. "For me, I can just focus on playing my game and be a complement to this great team."

What can the Guardians hope for?

Power.

There really doesn’t need to be much more of an explanation than that singular word. The Guardians have been craving a big bat in the middle of the order for years now, and after Franmil Reyes failed to fill that void last season, the need became glaringly obvious.

Bell hit 37 homers in 2019, 27 in ’21 and had 14 in the first half of last season before he was traded to San Diego, where he saw his offensive production slide. His career OPS entering ’23 is .810 and he already has a 100+ RBIs season ('19) under his belt. And for a team that hit the second-fewest homers in ’22 with a collective OPS (.699) and wRC+ (99) that ranked in the bottom half of the league, this addition was a no-brainer.

As much as Cleveland proved it can find ways to win without sluggers, it would be more than happy to have a couple of big swings added in the mix.

“It seems like this team is already slated to score a lot of runs with their style of baseball,” Bell said. “If I’m locked in power-wise, the team’s going to be in a great spot. But if we’re at the half and I’m hitting .330, everyone’s going to be happy, too. You have to pick your poison with this squad, we can beat you in plenty of different ways.”

If Bell comes as advertised, he and Ramírez could finally be the middle-of-the-order duo the Guardians have been waiting for.

“That was another big reason why I wanted to come here,” Bell said. “Hopefully we’re an awesome one-two punch.”