Bellinger, latest can’t-miss kid, is on the mark
Dodgers rookie is showing great tools, including a great amount of power.
DENVER — On April 27, after his third day in the major leagues, Cody Bellinger received a text message from the general manager who drafted him.
His first series had not gone well. His lone hit was an infield single. He struck out in nearly half his at-bats. He looked overmatched, more project than prodigy, a 21year-old guessing and flailing in San Francisco.
“Don’t forget, have great confidence,” Ned Colletti wrote. “You will do very well. You adjust better than anybody.”
The response was sheepish but resolute.
“I’ll get back on track soon, don’t worry,” Bellinger replied.
He was right. Any fears were unfounded.
Bellinger finished his first week by hitting two home runs in a game. In his second week, he homered three times and became the first Dodger since 2015 chosen National League player of the week. By his third week, he was batting cleanup and the fans at Dodger Stadium chanted his name.
“Pretty impressive, huh?” shortstop Corey Seager said. “It has not been a bad three weeks for him. But everybody knew he could do this.”
The highlights fit into a tidy reel. There was the bases-clearing triple against San Francisco. There was the grand slam in San Diego. There was the tying single against Pittsburgh’s lefthanded closer.
The footage grows by the day. Bellinger launched his seventh home run Friday night at Coors Field to claim the team lead. Heading into Saturday’s game, his 1.117 onbase-plus-slugging percentage ranked eighth in the majors among hitters with at least 60 plate appearances.
Bellinger can play all three outfield positions in addition to first base. He possesses enough speed to steal bases and enough arm strength to dissuade runners from testing him. A lefthanded hitter, he has homered against left-handed pitchers and right-handed pitchers. He can disarm defensive shifts with bunts. In three weeks, he has become a vital member of manager Dave Roberts’ lineup.
His swing combines the grace of clean mechanics with the specter of violence. He maximizes his effort with each hack. He knows no other way, so he attacks opposing pitchers with “the intent to punish the baseball,” director of player development Gabe Kapler said. “To drive the [heck] out of the baseball.”
Said Roberts: “When he swings that bat, something really exciting can happen.”
Bellinger represents a bridge between the Dodgers’ two most recent leadership groups. Acquired during Colletti’s regime, after hitting only one home run in his senior year in high school, Bellinger blossomed into a slugger in the player development system built by president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman.
Bellinger began 2017 as Baseball America’s No. 7 prospect. His time as a prospect appears over.
Roberts identified the formula that makes Bellinger unique. He combines elite talent with uncommon knowledge handed down by his father. Clay Bellinger scrapped for a decade in the minor leagues before the New York Yankees called him up as a utility man in 1999. He clung to the roster for three seasons. In Roberts’ eyes, Clay transferred that gritty ethos to his son.
The Yankees released Clay after the 2001 season. He appeared in two games for the Angels in 2002 and spent the next two seasons in the minors before walking away. The family settled in a Phoenix suburb, where Clay gave hitting lessons. Some of his pupils played for Mike Woods’ team at Hamilton High in Chandler.
Impressed by Clay’s pedigree, Woods offered him a chance to coach the junior varsity team. Woods soon met Clay’s preteen son.
“Cody wasn’t very big, but he had a beautiful swing,” Woods said. “And he was a baseball rat.”
Clay coached his son’s team when they went to the Little League World Series in 2007, but Cody was several years from stardom. He spent his sophomore season on the Hamilton JV squad. It wasn’t until his junior year that he sprouted above 6 feet. Even so, he remained more bone than muscle.
Before the draft in 2013, Oakland invited Bellinger to a showcase. Watching in the stands was Farhan Zaidi, who would replace Colletti as the Dodgers general manager after the 2014 season.
“He was kind of like a beanpole,” Zaidi said. “But he got up there and he swung the bat with bad intentions.”
Bellinger was a difficult prospect to project. As a first baseman, his future depended on his slugging. During batting practice, Bellinger felt he could put on a show. But during games, opposing pitchers kept him contained inside the ballpark — even if they could not keep him off the bases. Scouts were pessimistic. “Some of the guys have admitted it to me, ‘We didn’t project him to be a power guy. We didn’t know how that body was going to fill out,’ ” Woods said.
Bellinger slipped to the fourth round. Colletti does not cast his scouting department as a collection of soothsayers. He admitted he did not project Bellinger to transform into a power hitter. But the organization felt entranced by his smoothness at first base and his athleticism. The team offered him a $700,000 signing bonus, nearly $300,000 above the recommended amount for the 124th pick.
Assigned to rookie ball in the Arizona League, Bellinger homered once in 47 games. When he moved up to the Class-A Pioneer League in 2014, he hit .312, but still homered only three times.
“When I was drafted, I didn’t know any better,” Bellinger said. “I didn’t think I had to hit for power.”
That changed in 2015, when the new front office challenged the teenager by sending him to Rancho Cucamonga of the Class-A California League, where the average hitter was closer to 23. He responded by hitting 30 homers and 33 doubles, establishing himself among the organization’s most promising assets.
The surge was in part because of maturity. He had grown to 6 feet 4 and gained comfort inside his frame. He also adjusted his stance, tilting his bat toward the pitcher before each pitch, which added torque to his swing and helped generate backspin on balls. Kapler said the organization could not claim credit for the transformation — the credit belonged to Bellinger.
“Belly is not a development story,” Kapler said. “He is a talent story. He is a guy who steps in the batter’s box and everything pretty much looks right.”
That same season, Bellinger expanded his defensive portfolio beyond first base. The mixture of graceful movement in the field and enhanced hand-eye coordination convinced the Dodgers to test Bellinger in the outfield. For Bellinger, who had dabbled there in high school, the assignment felt familiar.
Bellinger maintained his production in 2016. Playing in the double-A Texas League, considered a proving ground for future big leaguers, he cut his strikeout rate from 27.6% to 20.2%. He hit 23 homers and had an .843 OPS. He excelled during a season-ending stint with triple-A Oklahoma City.
“That’s when it was like, OK, this guy might be ready sooner than we think,” Zaidi said.
The versatility proved crucial in his arrival in the majors. The Dodgers called up Bellinger to play the outfield when Joc Pederson suffered a groin injury. His success allowed the team to shut down ailing first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and keep Bellinger on the roster. When Andrew Toles suffered a torn knee ligament, Bellinger shifted to the outfield.
On Tuesday, Bellinger dealt with the reality of his newfound prominence. Inside the Dodgers clubhouse, cameras showed him preparing for an on-field interview with MLB Network. A technician fitted him with equipment. The sight amused his teammates.
“Do you get anything for being player of the week?” reliever Josh Fields said.
“A watch,” cracked fellow reliever Chris Hatcher. “A Rolex?” Fields said. As Bellinger fiddled with the clip-on microphone, Seager walked through the room, looked at the television and grinned. It was not long ago, Seager mused, that he was the youthful, bashful budding star.
Seager adjusted to the fame. Bellinger will too.
“We’re just hoping he stays as consistent as possible,” Seager said. “He’s handling it as best he can. He’s just got to keep figuring it out, basically.”