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Bell making adjustments to inside fastballs

ST. LOUIS -- Josh Bell was sitting in the corner of the visitors' clubhouse at Busch Stadium on Wednesday morning, a bat in his hands, practicing his setup from both sides of the plate.

It hasn't been an ideal start for the switch-hitting rookie, who entered Wednesday batting .200/.273/.250 with six strikeouts and four walks. And it isn't hard to figure out what's been troubling the highly touted first baseman. Despite his struggles, Bell slugged his first homer of the year Wednesday off of Cards starter Michael Wacha. The pitch was a fastball over the middle of the plate.