• Hitting the ball hard
• Making contact often (not striking out)
• Hitting the ball on a line
• Using the whole field

As is usually the case with home run hitters, they strike out a lot, and Bellinger has been struck out in 72 (29.03 percent) of his 248 plate appearances thus far in his young MLB career. But aside from that, he absolutely positively possesses all of the other elements of hitting for average.

Of particular note is that “Using the whole field” thing. While old-schoolers might think that this simply means “going with the pitch,” and indeed that is part of it, it also means the ability – or gift – to be able to basically hit the ball exactly where you want it to go, and Bellinger excels at this.

If you recall, in only the fourth game of his major league career, Bellinger dropped a perfect bunt down the third base line to beat the defensive shift that the Philadelphia Phillies had employed against him. It worked perfectly.

In addition to his power, Bellinger has shown tremendous baseball savvy by bunting to beat defensive shifts being used against him, as he did here against the Phillies on April 28 in only his fourth major league game.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

But on Tuesday night, the 6′-4″ / 210-pound first baseman / outfielder took this gift to the next level.

With one out in the bottom of the sixth inning and with runners at the corners in a scoreless tie, Angels manager Mike Scioscia elected to employ a defensive shift against to-this-point 0-for-2 (with two walks) Cody Bellinger. On the second pitch of the at-bat and standing almost flat-footed, Bellinger was able to steer a 91-MPH fastball off of Angels left-hander Jose Alvarez through the six hole right where Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons was not. Simmons was instead almost directly behind the second base bag. As a result, Dodgers veteran second baseman Chase Utley easily scored what would prove to be the game-winning run in the eventual 4-0 Dodgers victory.

“Some guys don’t have that ability to manipulate the barrel but Cody does,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of his young star following the game. “He’s beat the shift with the bunt and that right there – left-on-left – and we needed a base hit to keep the line moving and that spot right there, get a guy going at first and third, that was a big hit.

“And Cody, he’s not just a guy that can slug, he can still barrel it wide and hit a base hit when he needs to, and take a walk when he needs to, so there’s a lot of things … again, I say it – it seems like every single night – that he does something to help us win, and tonight it wasn’t a homer, it was a base hit to left,” added the Dodgers skipper.

Standing almost flat-footed, Bellinger was able to steer a base hit through the vacated shortstop hole to beat the shift and drive in what would prove to be the game-winning run against the Angels on Tuesday night.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

As he so often does, Bellinger downplayed what is clearly a God-given gift.

“I think for me it’s just being comfortable in my role and where I attack from,” Bellinger said. “Sometimes it’s in a situation I can be early and just kind of be preset, but for me it’s just kind of one of barrel control, yeah.”

Of course, it’s impossible to ignore that huge zero in Tuesday night 4-0 shutout win, and that came courtesy of what was arguable the best outing of Dodger right-hander Kenta Maeda‘s two-year Dodger and MLB career. Maeda tied his season-high of seven innings pitched, allowing only four hits and no walks while striking out six. As Dodger fans know, Maeda’s struggles earlier in the season forced the Dodgers to relegate him to the bullpen, a role that Maeda was neither happy with nor wanted to remain in. Did his exceptional outing on Tuesday night help his efforts to return to the Dodgers starting rotation?

“He’ll make another start,” Roberts said, when asked this question. “I don’t know exactly what day we’ve got him slated, but yeah, he’ll make another start.

“It’s one of those things that’s … you know, it’s a performance game, but we do have the depth in starting pitching. But I think that Kenta understands that what he can control, he’s taking charge of and he’s getting good results. So, again, credit goes to him,” Roberts added.

According to Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes, Maeda had all four of his pitches working exceptionally well on Tuesday night, especially his curveball. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Although the Dodgers needed only Bellinger’s RBI single to win on Tuesday, center fielder Joc Pederson‘s towering 408-foot home run to center field two batters later was the icing on the cake and all but took the wind out of the Angels sail. It was Pederson’s seventh home run of the season and his fifth since his June 13 return from the disabled list for a concussion.

“Maybe it knocked some sense in me,” Pederson kidded with reporters after the game.

Pederson’s three-run blast in the bottom of the sixth inning sealed the deal in Tuesday’s 4-0 win over the Halos.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

But all kidding aside, Dodger fans and baseball fans in general are witnessing history unfolding before our very eyes nearly every time that Cody Bellinger steps into the batters box. And when you think about it, Bellinger’s tremendous God-given gifts are actually gifts for each and every one of us.

Thank you, Cody … and God.