Rookie Bellinger already making indelible mark
LOS ANGELES — Although Cody Bellinger is making his playoff debut this week for the Dodgers, the 22-year-old rookie is already a veteran of tickertape parades.
Bellinger’s father, Clay, played only four majorleague seasons, but three ended in the postseason with the Yankees — and two concluded with championships. In some of Cody’s earliest memories, he is a wide-eyed kid sitting in a car alongside his parents while cascades of paper and cheers pour down into Manhattan’s metal canyons.
“I definitely remember the World Series parades,” Bellinger said Wednesday in the Dodgers’ clubhouse. “I remember being there. I remember (the games) more because of the videos.”
Bellinger’s rookie season has already been indelible, and he heads into the NL Division Series against the Diamondbacks on Friday night shouldering none of his teammates’ baggage from these 104-win Dodgers’ recent playoff failures.
With Bellinger’s 39 homers and left-handed bat in the heart of their order, the Dodgers have a different, more dangerous look than the previous incarnations of the team that has fallen short of the World Series in four straight postseasons.
To earn his own parade memories down Sunset Boulevard or Figueroa Street, Bellinger must extend the extraordinary season that has left him all but certain to be the Dodgers’ second straight NL Rookie of the Year.
“I’ve dreamed about it for a long time,” Bellinger said. “It’s weird. I’ve always seen commercials for the postseason, but now I’m actually in it . ... Everybody is doing the same thing they did for 162 games. There’s just going to be a little more excitement and adrenaline in the air.”
While Bellinger’s ordinary build belies his extraordinary power, the first baseman/outfielder will be no surprise to the Diamondbacks or any other opponent. He set the NL rookie home run record and finished second in the league behind Giancarlo Stanton, connecting every 12.3 at-bats, while placing sixth in slugging percentage (.581) and eighth in extra-base hits (69).
He isn’t worried about being a target under the October spotlight, and his coaches and teammates don’t expect postseason pressure to affect a player who began 2017 as a humble prospect simply hoping for a September call-up.
“He just stayed the same guy he was in spring training, when we were all over him, telling him to go do stuff for us,” said Andre Ethier, whose locker is next to Bellinger’s stall at Dodger Stadium. “You never really saw him get too excited or ride the success too high. I don’t think that’s in his personality.”
Bellinger batted .250 with five homers in September, ending the season in a 9-for-48 dip. His power numbers also dipped during the second half of the longest season of his baseball life, but the Dodgers are confident he has more big hits in him, particularly if he maintains the plate discipline so important to postseason success.
“I think Cody’s temperament, mindset definitely plays in the postseason,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.