There comes a time when hitting under .150 with no defensive value has to get you a seat on the bench. When the team's losing and the dude behind you is hitting .315 with power, that time is now.
I don't care that Bell "needs to get going" or that Zimmerman will eventually get hurt if he plays. Bell's killing the team right now while it wallows under .500 and gets swept by a division rival.
I do not know if the Nats will consider playing Soto in right in Yankee Stadium with the short field. If that is the case, then you can play RZ at first and Bell DH for one series. If Soto must DH, then I think more or less Bell should only play against righties and that RZ should get all starts against lefties and even some righties. There may be a preservation issue with RZ, so I'm OK with much closer to a 50/50 split.
It's a bit less glaring than Bell, but there's a Schwarber issue, too, once Soto is ready. Yadiel has cooled some, but even in the last week he's .263 / .333 / .263. Hollow, but he's getting on. K rate is a problem (7 in 19 ABs). Schwarber's OBP and SLG are better for the past week, (.350 / .438), but this is marked improvement on his start and, at least, needs to continue or improve.
