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Mound meetings

In Heath Bell's converted save opportunity (No. 15) on Wednesday night, against the same St. Louis Cardinals club that dismantled him in a non-save sitch on Monday, the right-hander threw nine of his 15 pitches for strikes. That's a little encouraging, since he acknowledged that he just needed to throw more strikes.

He also admitted that he needed to stop relying on his fastball so frequently, and he did just that: Bell threw five curveballs and a changeup among his offerings.

In the appearance, the Miami Marlins' closer allowed a hit and didn't record any strikeouts. But again, the velocity was just fine, and Cards hitters fouled off a handful of pitches.

As iterated, don't jump ship because you view Monday's blowup as evidence that Bell just can't hack it anymore; he's more of a recovering nibblaholic who fell off the wagon. He may never be as good as he was for the San Diego Padres, but he has still has plenty of utility left.

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