The Rise of Cody Bellinger

The Dodgers rookie has hit 11 homers, just 32 games into his big league career

Via: Fansided.com

If you’re a fan of Major league baseball, you have heard the name Cody Bellinger. The 21 year old has made a splash in the big leagues so far, becoming a household name for Dodgers fans and helping LA sit among the best in the MLB with a 32 and 20 record.

The son of former Major leaguer Clay Bellinger, Cody Bellinger has all the makings of a guy who can be one of the very best in this league. He became the quickest Dodgers rookie in franchise history to reach 11 home runs.

Loud Tools

Bellinger has made the move to left field with the Dodgers after playing most of his minor league career at first base. But considering the type of tools this kid has, left field may be the best place for him.

Defensively, Bellinger has an extremely strong throwing arm from the outfield. Here’s an example where he threw out Cardinals rookie Paul De Jong at home plate:

We all know about Bellinger’s bat, so let’s talk about the other aspects of his game that don’t get as much notoriety. According to Statcast, the rookie has the sixth-fastest running times for a triple this season — 11.06 seconds against the Giants on May 2. That calculates to 3.68 seconds between each base. The names that rank ahead of him in that category are what’s impressive. Billy Hamilton, Byron Buxton, and Dee Gordon. Some of the fastest players in the game today. But this is the interesting part. You look at those names. Hamilton, Gordon, Buxton. These are guys who have plus speed, but they aren’t power threats. they are more single, doubles type hitters.

Then you have Cody Bellinger. He possesses this amazing speed on the base-paths at a very big 6 foot 4, but he also has tremendous power at the plate. This is the type of player that doesn’t come along that often. There are players like Bellinger in the big leagues who possess all the tools. They are the best of the best like Mike Trout and Bryce Harper just to name a few. Still just 21 years old, the Scottsdale, Arizona native has tremendous upside. There’s room for improvement in his consistency at the plate, as he’s hitting .271 with 40 strikeouts in just 118 at bats in the Majors.

He will make adjustments

Bellinger has a quick, powerful upper cut swing, but it tends to get long at times. This pattern will become a problem when he faces arms that are throwing in the high 90’s. But he’s a great athlete and I don’t think there is any doubts he will make these adjustments on his own so he’s not susceptible to guys who do throw harder.

The long swing has been beneficial in one aspect. 4 of his 11 home runs this season have been pitches on the outer half. That is the thing about a long swing. You can extend your arms and get the barrel out on a pitch that is on the outer half. It does become a problem though when a pitchers bust you inside with a fastball if you’re unable to bring your hands in to get the barrel to the ball. Only 3 of his 11 homers were on pitches on the inner half. In fact, a lot of his hits in general have been on pitches either right in the middle of the zone or on the outer half of the plate. So there’s benefits to both. But in the long run, he will have to shorten up his swing so he can get the barrel to 98 mph fastballs on the inner half. Like I said above, there shouldn’t be any problem for Bellinger to make these type of adjustments.

With Andrew Toles out for the reason with a torn ACL, it looks like Bellinger will get the chance to be with the big league club for rest of the season if he keeps producing.

This is just the start for Cody Bellinger.

The sky is the limit for the talented 21- year old Dodgers left fielder.