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Dodgers News: Cody Bellinger Ranked Baseball’s No. 6 Prospect By ESPN’s Keith Law

Matthew Moreno
2 Min Read
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Dodgers Minor League first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger was rated the No. 6 prospect in all of baseball by ESPN’s Keith Law. Bellinger was ranked No. 92 by Law prior to the 2016 season.

In total, the Dodgers had four players named to Law’s ranking of the top 100 prospects for the 2017 season. After Bellinger, Los Angeles was represented by outfielder Alex Verdugo (No. 31) and right-handed pitchers Walker Buehler (No. 40) and Yadier Alvarez (No. 46). The quartet was ranked among the Dodgers’ top 10 prospects by Baseball Prospectus, while Baseball America named Bellinger, Alvarez and Verdugo to their list.

The Dodgers selected Bellinger out of Hamilton High School (Chandler, Ariz.) in the fourth round of the 2013 Draft. He burst onto the scene with in 2015 behind a strong campaign with High-A Rancho Cucamonga, and rode that success into last season.

Bellinger hit .263/.359/.484 with 17 doubles, 23 home runs and 65 RBI over 117 games with Double-A Tulsa. He played first base (81 games), left field (13), center field (13) and right field (nine) for the Drillers.

Bellinger was promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City last September, and went 6-for-11 with three home runs and five RBI in three regular-season games.

The 21-year-old then batted .250/.364/.361 with one double, one home run, six runs scored, five RBI and seven walks in nine games during Oklahoma City’s playoff run that concluded with a defeat in the Pacific Coast League championship.

Bellinger finished last year in the Arizona Fall League, where he hit .314/.424/.557 with eight doubles and three home runs in 20 games for the Glendale Desert Dogs.

In addition to receiving national recognition from Baseball America, Baseball Prospects and ESPN, Bellinger was rated the top first base prospect by MLB Pipeline.

Matthew Moreno is a journalist from Whittier, Calif., who is a credentialed reporter and is currently the Managing Editor of DodgerBlue.com and LakersNation.com. In addition to covering Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angels Lakers, Matthew has a strong passion for keeping up to date with the sneakerhead culture. It began with Michael Jordan and Air Jordan shoes, and has carried over to Kobe Bryant's signature line with Nike. Matthew previously was the lead editor and digital strategist at Dodgers Nation, and the co-editor and lead writer at Reign of Troy, where he covered USC Trojans Football. Matthew graduated from California State Long Beach University with a major in journalism and minor in communications. Contact: matt@mediumlargela.com