Dodgers number one prospect and 2012 first-round draft pick Corey Seager, who celebrated his 21st birthday this past Monday, is a shortstop.

Cody Bellinger, who was selected by the Dodgers in the fourth round of the 2013 draft, is a first baseman and an outfielder.

But aside from both being 6′ 4″ tall, Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger are as different as night and day.

…or are they?

After spending his draft season with the Ogden Raptors of the short-season Pioneer Rookie League in 2012, Seager was promoted to the Low-A Great Lakes Loons and then to the High-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in 2013. And after spending half of 2014 at Rancho, Seager was promoted to the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts and began the 2015 season with the (new) Double-A Tulsa Drillers (for now, that is).

After spending his draft season with the Arizona Dodgers of the short season Arizona Rookie League in 2013, Bellinger split time between Arizona and Ogden in 2014 and began the 2015 season with the Quakes (for now, that is) completely bypassing Low-A Great Lakes.

Seager played at Rancho Cucamonga as a 19 year-old and was the youngest player in the highly competitive California League.

Bellinger is currently playing at Rancho Cucamonga as a 19 year-old and is the youngest player in the highly competitive California League.

Just as Corey Seager did in late 2013 and early 2014, Quakes first baseman / outfielder Cody Bellinger is playing in the California League as a 19-year-old – and doing very well.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Seager has MLB lineage with his oldest brother Kyle being a Gold Glove third baseman with the Seattle Mariners. His next oldest brother Justin (22) was a 12th-round draft pick by the Mariners in 2013 and is currently playing first base and third base for the Mariners High-A Bakersfield Blaze.

Bellinger’s father Clay spent three seasons with the Yankees and one with the Angels as a utility infielder / outfielder.

Okay, so maybe Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger aren’t that different after all.

Through the first 19 games of the new season, Seager is hitting .372 with a .398 on-base percentage and a .641 slugging percentage for an outstanding OPS of 1.039. And while Bellinger doesn’t have the offensive numbers that Seager does, his triple-slash with the Quakes after 19 games is .260 / .345 / .438 for an OPS of .784. He has two home runs, five doubles, one triple and had driven in 10 runs.

Perhaps the biggest glaring difference between these top two Dodgers prospects is that Seager has an everyday position as a shortstop whereas Bellinger has split time between first base (16 games) and the outfield (4 games). Bellinger has yet to commit an error at either position (Seager has two at shortstop) and he made an absolutely incredible over-the-shoulder running catch in center field in last Friday night’s 11-2 loss to the Lake Elsinore Storm. Oh, and Corey bats left but throws right while Cody bats and throws left.

So how does a 19-year-old from Chandler, Arizona fit in with his teammates – many of whom are as much as six years old than him?

“It’s a great bunch of guys, there’s not a bunch of different cliques,” said Bellinger. “We’re all one team and we all support each other and that’s the biggest thing.”

Even though Bellinger has been doing well in the early stages of the new season, he acknowledges that playing in the California League is nothing like playing in the rookie leagues.

“It was an adjustment coming in,” Bellinger said. “Obviously in High-A the pitching is a lot better – there’s a lot more movement, they can spot a ball, the speed – there’s a little bit of an adjustment period. I’m just seeing the ball pretty well right now and I’m sticking with my plan that I had in spring training, and it’s working pretty well right now.”

Like every great player, Bellinger gives credit to his teammates for his team’s success, including a recent six-game winning streak – especially the Quakes pitching staff.

“The starting pitching has been good and the bullpen has been really good,” Bellinger said.

Bellinger also credits the Quakes coaching staff for the team’s success and with helping the team gel very quickly in the new season.

“Good coaches, obviously. They all bring us together,” said Bellinger. “Good team camaraderie, we all do stuff together [off the field]. It’s a fun group of guys.”

Although Bellinger has played exceptionally well at first base, he seems to be a better fit in center field where he has above average speed and takes great routes to balls hit his way. But with an abundance of outfielders ahead of him on the Dodgers depth charts and a shortage of first baseman, it seems more likely that Bellinger will see more time at first base as he progresses through the Dodgers farm system. And at only 19 years old and with Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez’s contract due to expire at the end of the 2018 season, the timing couldn’t be better for Bellinger to replace AGon, who will be 36 when his contract expires.

But whether it’s as a first baseman or as an outfielder, it’s a pretty safe bet that young Cody Bellinger will be following young Corey Seager’s footsteps to Dodger Stadium – and that’s a very good thing.