The Los Angeles Dodgers have gotten off to a hot start during Spring Training, going 4-1-1 in their first six games after finishing Thursday afternoon’s game in a 7-7 tie with the Colorado Rockies at Camelback Ranch.
The Dodgers’ offense has looked particularly impressive, scoring at least five runs in five of the six games, and seven or more in four of those contests.
Thursday’s production came off the bat of the team’s new everyday right fielder, Cody Bellinger. The former center fielder and first baseman stepped to the plate with the Dodgers trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the fifth inning and proceeded to launched a two-run shot to straightaway center to tie the game.
.@Cody_Bellinger got all of that one. #DodgersST pic.twitter.com/AmiRGx9zKj
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) February 28, 2019
This was just Bellinger’s second game of the spring after he missed a couple of days earlier in the week due to minor back soreness. He is back feeling 100 percent now after taking the brief stretch to recover.
Bellinger is coming off a season in which he struggled at the plate a bit after setting the world on fire in his record-breaking 2017 rookie campaign.
All signs point to him being a huge bounce-back candidate for the Dodgers this season as he is expected to return to being an everyday player. Bellinger wound up being platooned for in the second half of 2018 due to his struggles against left-handed pitching.
In addition to Bellinger, Justin Turner, A.J. Pollock and Kiké Hernandez have all gotten off to hot starts at the plate this spring as well, which has to be encouraging for Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
