Part of what made the 2019 season so special for the Los Angeles Dodgers was Cody Bellinger turning into a human-highlight reel en route to being named an All-Star and winning the National League MVP, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger.
Bellinger is a true five-tool player, and he showed off all those skills in a May win over the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium. The moment came in at No. 2 in DodgerBlue.com’s ranking of the top plays from Bellinger’s 2019 MVP season.
The night got off to a good start for Bellinger as he threw out Michael Conforto at home to save a run early in the game and then proceeded to hit a towering homer off eventual two-time NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom.
Despite those heroics, the Dodgers still found themselves in a tight game late, and that is when Bellinger made what he called his favorite play of the 2019 season.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts went to closer Kenley Jansen for a five-out save with the bases loaded and his team holding a slim 8-5 lead. The first batter Jansen faced, J.D. Davis, hit a fly ball to right field that certainly looked deep enough to bring home a run.
Maybe just don't run on Cody. pic.twitter.com/G4qoAvV5HF
— MLB (@MLB) May 28, 2019
Bellinger had other ideas though as he settled under the fly ball for the second out of the inning and immediately came up firing. Being the heads-up player that he is, Bellinger knew that he did not have a play at the plate, so he threw to third base instead.
The decision ended up being the right one as he fired a perfect strike to Justin Turner and he tagged out Carlos Gomez to end the inning and preserve the lead. To make matters even better, Turner applied the tag before the runner trying to score crossed home plate.
The run did not count and the Dodgers went on to win as Bellinger’s teammates and the entire crowd at Dodger Stadium watched in awe at one of the many highlight plays he made throughout the course of his outstanding 2019 season.
Furthermore, that night he became the first player with 19 home runs and seven assists through his first 52 games since Babe Ruth in 1932.
Best Cody Bellinger Plays From 2019 NL MVP Season
No. 3: Consecutive walk-off wins against Arizona Diamondbacks
No. 4: Throwing out Stephen Strasburg at first base to preserve Hyun-Jin Ryu’s no-hitter
No. 5: Defensive play helps seal win against San Francisco Giants
No. 6: Catches to rob Atlanta Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr.
No. 7: Grand slam off Madison Bumgarner
No. 8: Throwing out Brandon Crawford and setting MLB record in same game against San Francisco Giants
No. 9: First multi-home run game of the season
No. 10: Home run on bobblehead night
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events and more!
