NL WILD CARD SERIES: PADRES VS METS

October 7, 2022

Josh Bell

Citi Field

San Diego Padres

Postgame Press Conference

San Diego - 7, New York - 1

Q. Josh, Bob talked a little bit about the postseason being a reset. After the way the two months have gone since you came to the Padres, how good did that feel to get the reset in that first at-bat?

JOSH BELL: It felt really good. Obviously things didn't go my way the past couple of months, but I was talking to my dad about it yesterday, and he was like every at-bat you've had in Major Leagues, Minor Leagues, Amateur Ball, it was all practice for this moment. You've got the most important at-bats of your career ahead of you so just make the most of them. So hopefully I can continue to do that.

Q. What did it mean in the confidence Bob showed not only in starting you but putting you in the 4 hole tonight?

JOSH BELL: It was huge. I talked about it before. There's no anxiety coming out of that man. He trusts 1 through 9, he trusts everyone in the clubhouse. So for him to trust me in there and slate me behind Machado, it definitely meant a lot, and I was happy to pull through.

Q. Josh, to be able to come out so strong against Max because of his pedigree, especially in the post season, how good was it to just be aggressive against him and to put seven runs up against him?

JOSH BELL: No, it was huge. Obviously we want to set a standard here, get our starters some run support, and let them do their job on the bump. We were able to do that tonight, and hopefully we can do that tomorrow with Snell.

Q. What is it about seeing Max Scherzer like you do? How do you hit so well against him?

JOSH BELL: I don't know. I feel like I was just on time for the fastball, ready for it. I hit the fastball a couple times. I hit the cutter a couple times.

I feel like generally any starter, if you see the fastball well and you're on time for it, good things happen. So that's what happened tonight.

Q. Referring to the conversation with your father, was there any time before that where you started to kind of maybe look forward to the postseason as an opportunity to change things?

JOSH BELL: No, we were trying to get there for the most part. Obviously I want to finish strong. Obviously I wanted to hit .400 the second half, but it didn't happen for me.

But for me to have a fresh slate here and know that it's not about me, it's about this team pushing forward, it's a different atmosphere, and it's a lot of fun in the clubhouse.

Q. How would you describe the bat flip and just how that felt?

JOSH BELL: I don't know. I kind of blacked out for it. There's not a lot of times where you know when you get a ball, especially opposite field. Looking back on it, I don't even remember doing it. I got a lot of pine tar on my hands too, so I was trying to get rid of the bat.

I don't think it was anything too egregious, but just happy to be in the moment there, and whatever happened happened.

Q. Josh, I know you've been waiting for the postseason at-bat for a long time now. For you to do what you did in that at-bat, what did the moment feel like for you?

JOSH BELL: I felt like I was on a cloud. Obviously hyper-focused with the atmosphere and all that here, just knowing the importance of each and every pitch and trying to get on the board early and trying to be on time and not missing mistakes. For me to pull through there was huge for me, and it was huge for the team.

Obviously you've got a guy like Yu on the mound, it only takes a couple of runs of run support, and he can just do his job. So happy to help.