The Los Angeles Dodgers made a bit of a surprising move Tuesday as they called up Cody Bellinger, the the organization’s top position-player prospect, from Triple-A Oklahoma City. Bellinger started in left field and batted eighth against the San Francisco Giants in his MLB debut.
Bellinger went 1-for-3 with an intentional walk, and although he swings a big bat, his first career hit was a cue-shot infield single in the ninth inning. While that wasn’t necessarily how Bellinger envisioned collecting his first hit, it was still an achievement he reveled in.
With Joc Pederson on the 10-day disabled list and Adrian Gonzalez entrenched at first base, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Bellinger will log time in the outfield, and added he expects to play the 21-year-old regularly, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“I see him in the outfield right now. Obviously, things can change but over the course of the next few, three, four, six, seven days either in center field or most likely left field,” Roberts said. “I think while he’s here he’ll be out there quite a bit. I don’t know about every day. … Cody has hit left-handed pitching throughout his entire professional career. So I feel good about the at-bat.”
How long Bellinger will remain with the Dodgers may likely depend on how well he hits. He was given an opportunity to face a left-handed starter Tuesday night, and might do so again in Thursday’s series finale against the Giants.
Bellinger batted .343/.429/.627 with four doubles, five home runs and 15 RBIs over 18 games with Triple-A Oklahoma City this season, but was just 2-for-11 with two RBI off southpaws. After Thursday, the Dodgers hit a stretch of drawing several right-handed starters.
