June 13th, 2019 at 9:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka Let’s face it, although there isn’t (wasn’t) a Dodger fan on the planet who didn’t have visions of soon-to-be (on July 13) 24-year-old Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger becoming the first .400 hitter in 78 years, it is (was) more wishful thinking than anything else.
Oh sure, it could still happen. But with his batting average currently sitting at a MLB-best .352 and with 94 games yet to be played in the 2019 regular season, the chances of it happening are decreasing almost daily; especially with today’s so-called pitching specialists – i.e., long relievers, middle-innings relievers, set-up men and, of course, designated closers – prevalent in the game today.
But is it the pitching that is responsible for Bellinger’s slow (but steady) decline in his batting average or could it possibly be something else … dare I say a nagging injury? Might it be Bellinger’s right shoulder that “popped out” when he dove for a ball against the San Diego Padres back on May 3? As Dodger fans may recall, Bellinger immediately popped it back in place, telling reporters later that it has happened to him before. However, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts kept Belli out of the line-up the next day.
“He’s playable today, but still sore,” Roberts said at the time. “Under the circumstances and where we are in the season, we just want to make sure he’s really on solid ground. This isn’t as severe as last year.”
Or is it?
After the May 3 ‘popping out’ thing and for the remainder of the month, Bellinger went an amazing 28-for-80 (.350) at the plate. However, since the calendar flipped over to June, he is 6-for-33 (.182). But the real tell that something may be amiss is that after slugging four home runs in March, an amazing 10 in April, and six in May (all of them after May 3), he has yet to hit even one in the nine games in which he has played thus far in June.
It’s those six home runs in May after his shoulder popped out, and then zero home runs since May 28 against the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium that raises a red flag that Bellinger may be ‘dealing with a little something,’ as Roberts would probably say.
If I had to guess, and it is absolutely nothing more than that, my gut tells me that the current 2019 All-Star Game leading vote-getter and current front-runner for the 2019 NL MVP is dealing with some type of back issue; but again, this is 100 percent pure speculation on my part. That being said, the once two-horse race for MLB’s home run lead between Milwaukee Brewers slugger Christian Yelich and Bellinger is growing apart (25 to 20), with three others now between the two (Mets Pete Alonso (22), Mariners Edwin Encarnacion, and Brewers Mike Moustakas (21), with the Yankees Gary Sanchez tied with Bellinger at 20. There are also currently four others tied at 19.
Broken or not, the extremely popular Dodgers outfielder who leads all of baseball with his eight outfield assists from right field needs to snap out of his current funk to have even a remote chance at baseball immortality this season.
Play Ball!
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UPDATED: June 14, 2019 6:15 am PT
Although Bellinger matched his season-high drought of going 12 games between home runs heading into Thursday night’s four-game series opener with the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium, he did exceed it.
Bellinger hit not one, but two home runs in the Dodgers come-from-behind 7-3 win over the north siders; the first a two-run shot off of Cubs left-hander Jon Lester in the bottom fourth inning, and the second off of left-hander Tim Collins in the bottom of the seventh. He now has 22 on the season, which ties him with Alonso for second in the MLB, three behind Yelich.
Welcome back Belly!
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Really good column, and yes, I’ve been saying this for a while. Something is wrong, whether physical… https://t.co/lagVi8iXos
Well, he definitely hasn’t been the same since separating his shoulder on a diving play at 1B last month. Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s been playing through a nagging injury this entire time. Body language NEVER lies, folks! Cody can do his best to keep mum about it, but eventually the truth is gonna come out and he’ll have to own up to it. Already gonna lose Seager for the rest of this month and at least half of the next due to his left hamstring strain, but at least they have contingencies already in place to address that issue. There’s NONE in place in case Bellinger suffers a similar fate this season…
I almost hope that there is a minor injury to blame for Cody’s recent offensive decline. But there have been some discouraging warning signs that he has fallen back into old habits. Off balance swings, going down to his left knee after an overly aggressive swing, attempting to pull almost all pitches — as if he got caught-up in the home run leadership.
I have been kind of thinking the same way, like he’s simply in a slump for some reason or other. Like hitters just go into a slump. I never expected him to hit .400 for the season. I never thought for any reason that he’s suffering an injury, but if this is the case, I hope he speaks up.
Could it be he is falling into bad habits because of a shoulder or back injury.? Noticed he is striking out a little more and swinging at those low inside or outside pitches. Also, noticed his speed has been less running to first base. Hope if it is an injury that he lets the staff know. We really need him.
On some other pages, I mentioned that part of Bellinger’s issues could very well be that he has nobody hitting 5th to protect him in his cleanup spot. Freese would be OK as was Seager before his injury. But currently Freese is dealing with knee inflammation and I am not looking forward to seeing CT 3 or Kike or Beaty batting 5ht trying to offer protection for Bellinger. If ya noticed he is, despite his recent slump still being pitched around because the opposing pitchers don’t fear those above mentioned names one bit.
Up until his injury Seager has been in the fifth spot and was on a terror so Bellinger has had good back up. I think Muncy should be moved to %th spot. It’s really the only way to protect Belli.
i guessing most of you heard him tell Alanna last night “i feel good”
I did and this is GREAT news.
It appears that his two 12-game HR droughts this season are/were more a result of him simply not getting good pitches to hit than anything else. His 10 IBBs thus far this season are tied with Mike Trout for third-most in MLB. Only Maikel Franco (13) and Yelich (12) have more.
Ron, although Franky here was saying we really didn’t expect Cody to stay at .375+ in BA there is IMHO truth to the fact that until recently, when Seager was batting 5th, there just is not enough coming from the 5th spot to offer Bellinger protection in the lineup. I mean especially if Taylor or Hernandez are batting behind him. If Freese is over for the most part with that knee issue, then he would be a good 5th place hitter.
It’s baseball!! There are ups and downs. The .350 he hit right after the injury tells you everything. We don’t actually think he is going to hit .375 all year do we?? What separates great hitters from the good ones(in this era) is knowing how to break down your swing so you can find what isn’t working for you. Orel spoke about it last night, Cody, VanSco… (nvm won’t try and spell it) and the other assistant hitting coach worked on something in the batting cages before the game and guess what? He went yard twice. If there ever is a time when we need to worry, it’s if we see him not able to adjust during the at bat based on the count. Right now this kid is taking in and processing so much information. It will all help him in August, sep, oct, and hopefully November.