Cody Bellinger started the 2019 season on a 10-game hitting streak and had six home runs during that span to help spark the Los Angeles Dodgers to an 8-2 record. He was named National League Player of the Week for March 31-April 7, and later NL Player of the Month.
The recognition was a result of Bellinger’s record-setting pace. He’s cooled off some but still leads the Majors in batting average (.383), on-base percentage (.469), slugging (.761), hits (72) and RBI (49).
For all of his impressive performances thus far in 2019, Bellinger arguably had his best all-around game in Monday’s series against the New York Mets. He hit a go-ahead home run off Jacob deGrom and picked up two assists.
The second of which completed an inning-ending double play to help Kenley Jansen and the Dodgers escape a bases-loaded jam in the eighth. Bellinger’s remarkable throw from deep right field earned him “MVP” chants when he came to bat in the bottom half of the inning, which he thoroughly appreciated even if it required a moment to gather himself, via SportsNet LA:
“It was cool. I stepped out for a second, just because it got in my head a little bit. And then I was just focusing in, but yeah, it was special.”
Bellinger became the first Dodgers player with a home run and multiple outfield assists in a single game since Gary Sheffield on July 3, 1998. With 19 homers and seven outfield assists this season, he’s the first player to reach those totals through 52 games since Babe Ruth in 1932.
Bellinger’s laundry list of accomplishments this season include putting the Dodgers in the record books with his home run marking a 33rd consecutive home game in which the team went deep. He also tied an MLB record by reaching 14 homers in a season before May 1 and broke Rafael Furcal’s Dodgers franchise record with 44 total hits during March/April.
Bellinger additionally joined Christian Yelich (2019), Alex Rodriguez (2007) and Albert Pujols (2006) as the only players in MLB history to hit 14 home runs before May.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and several of Bellinger’s teammates have marveled at his success and impact when playing the field on multiple occasions this season. “It’s been amazing,” Alex Verdugo recently said.
“I joke around about it all the time: he’s got video-game numbers. It’s fun to watch him play. Hope he keeps it going.”
At minimum, Bellinger is in the thick of the conversation for NL MVP. Should he win the award, he’d be the first Dodgers player to do so since Clayton Kershaw in 2014. Kirk Gibson was the club’s last position player to win MVP in 1988.
