An excited Rick Eckstein pulled Josh Bell into the batting cages at Pirate City early in 2019 spring training, sharing a vision he had for the Pirates slugger: Thirty home runs and 100 RBIs.

Eckstein, in his first season as Pirates hitting coach, believed Bell was on the verge of a breakout season. It wasn’t entirely based on baseball acumen after two decades of coaching, either.

“I actually had a dream. I saw it. I could see it. I knew it was coming,” Eckstein said. “The next day, I came to the park and I was animated, I remember it. I was like, ‘Josh, Josh, Josh. You’ve got to tell me.’ And he was like, ‘What?’ I said, ‘You’re going to be an All-Star this year. You’re going to get invited to the Home Run Derby, and I want to know your plan to win it.’ ”

Eckstein ignored the numbers, as Bell struggled in his second season, batting .261 with 12 home runs and 62 RBIs. Eckstein also ignored Bell’s constant tinkering at the plate. What Eckstein couldn’t ignore was Bell’s work ethic, his approach to hitting and how his mind works.

“When you’ve been around hitting … you see indicators,” Eckstein said. “Even though a player might not be performing at X, those indicators were screaming at me and I couldn’t deny it. I could see it coming. I had to make sure that he knew what I saw.”

Bell shared this story at spring training in late February, before baseball was shut down by the coronavirus crisis. Bell reflected on a career year in batting average (.277), doubles (37), homers (37), extra-base hits (77) and RBIs (116) and WAR (2.7).

Which Josh Bell home run was your favorite? pic.twitter.com/68ALCjbu0k

— Pirates (@Pirates) May 4, 2020

What started as a dream became a goal, and surpassing his goals allowed the 6-foot-4, 250-pound first baseman to realize his dream of being selected to his first All-Star Game and participate in the Home Run Derby.

“That was our goal for the season,” Bell said of Eckstein. “You look back on last year and I gave him a hug at the end of the season and said, ‘Hey, let’s rinse and repeat next year.’ ”

Now comes the biggest question for Bell: If and when baseball returns, what will he do for an encore?

What Bell wants more than anything is consistency, especially after he followed a monster May (.390 batting average, 12 homers and 31 RBIs) by a midseason slump. He batted .208 in June and .218 in July. By the time he rediscovered his swing in August, hitting eight homers, the Pirates had endured 24 losses in 28 games and sunk to last place in the NL Central.

“I think, at least for me personally, I’m at my best when I’m focusing on one day at a time, just how I can get better one day at a time,” Bell said. “When I try to eclipse numbers or try to hit homers, that’s when everything goes south for me.”

Once again, Eckstein saw indicators this spring that Bell is ready to take another step forward. It wasn’t based on Bell’s spring training statistics — he was hitting .208 with one home run and five RBIs in 10 games — but rather his mental approach to becoming the newest face of the franchise.

“He’s acknowledged for him where things got off track and how to be better prepared for that, the ebbs and flows of a season we all know about,” Eckstein said. “The way his mind works and how he’s able to interpret information and the way he processes it and the way he attacks the working environment is superior.”

For Bell, everything is intentional. His focus was not on the numbers but rather getting his timing down on pitches. That was interrupted by the covid-19 global pandemic, so Bell will have to start over if and when baseball returns this season.

When the subject of his work ethic comes up, Bell’s eyes light up. He believes he has discovered a secret to success. Make that “The Secret,” the popular self-help book and film about the New Thought claim that believing in and repeatedly thinking positively about something can affect an outcome. Bell said he has watched it at least a dozen times over the past five years.

“I try to live my life by it,” Bell said. “I try not to say anything negatively about myself. I try to focus on tangible things that I can work towards to better myself on a regular basis. I know the end goal. I know where I want to be in 10 or 15 years, and I know each and every day I have to work towards that. … It’s about following the path that I want to be on and knowing that path and walking.”

What Bell wants to become is a perennial All-Star and a Hall of Famer someday, goals that will require him to at least replicate but more likely exceed his 2019 statistics over the next decade.

Of Bell’s 37 home runs last season, 21 came on fastballs, 10 on breaking balls and six on offspeed pitches. Bell is anticipating pitchers to throw fewer fastballs, especially now that Starling Marte is no longer batting ahead of him. Bell is hoping the return of Gregory Polanco in the fifth spot could help but is focusing more on his own production than anything.

“I have no control over what the league is going to do to me, whether or not they are going to try to pitch in certain situations, so I can’t say I’m going to try to hit 40 or 50 homers this year,” Bell said. “What I can say is, I’m going to try to be on time for every pitcher and have an approach against them and let the numbers take care of themselves.”

The Pirates are counting on Bell to provide power to the middle of the order once again this summer, after seeing what he can accomplish.

“For me, I know what I’m capable of,” he said. “It boils down to how I’m working every day.”

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