It is no secret that Cody Bellinger has struggled for the Los Angeles Dodgers in his sophomore season, and in the last month in particular. In his last 25 games entering play Thursday against the Milwaukee Brewers, he hit just .218/.327/.322 without any home runs and only one RBI.
Bellinger broke out of that slump in a big way in the series finale when he slugged a grand slam off the right field-foul pole in the Dodgers’ 21-5 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.
After the game, Bellinger discussed how good it felt to finally hit one out of the ballpark, and credited his teammates and coaches for helping him stay the course, via Michael Duarte of NBC L.A.:
“I lost it in the air, so I didn’t really know where it was. And I saw it hit the pole, and it felt pretty good. I’ve kind of been grinding it out and felt pretty good the last few days. It was nice to see some results. … You want to perform every single day and when you know you’re not performing to the capability that you have, it’s frustrating. I have to give credit to my teammates and coaching staff for giving me good advice.”
Bellinger added he sensed he was close to finding his swing a couple games back and isn’t worrying about the results of his at-bats. Bellinger almost snapped his homer-less streak a couple games earlier, although he was robbed at the center field wall by Lorenzo Cain.
While he obviously isn’t producing at the level he did in 2017, Bellinger has still hit 18 home runs while driving in 49 runs, scoring 63 runs and stealing six bases without being caught.
So he is still very much a productive player and could be a key for the Dodgers down the stretch if he can recapture his 2017 magic.
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