To the surprise of many (or even most) Dodger fans, last year’s National League home run leader and reigning NL MVP Cody Bellinger went 10 games before finally hitting his first home run of the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, causing many (or even most) to believe that whatever changes he had made to his Ted Williams-esque swing was the cause of his early-season slump; and make no mistake about it, it was definitely a slump.

Prior to Sunday’s 3-0 shutout of the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field behind a stellar season debut of Dodgers ace and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw, Bellinger was a dismal 5-for-36 (.139), with only one extra-base hit; a double which he hit on Opening Day against the Giants. Other than that, the guy who many predicted would hit the most home runs this season and make a run at another NL MVP title had basically done squat.

“The contact rate is still good; the angle trajectory is not where we want it to be, he’s not punching (striking out),” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters during his pregame Zoom media scrum on Saturday afternoon. “I don’t think he looks comfortable; he’s still trying to figure some things out. There are some calls that could go either way that could flip counts; he’s on the wrong side of those. This is the way it goes sometimes. It’s one of those things that’s just more magnified now. He’ll work through it. Hopefully, today he eases his mind, but also get some work in.”

As a result, Roberts gave Bellinger Saturday night off.

It worked.

In his first at-bat in the top of the first inning in Sunday’s series finale against Arizona, the 25-year-old Scottsdale, AZ native and Dodgers fourth-round draft pick in 2013 out of Hamilton High School in Chandler, AZ hit an 89.3-MPH Merrill Kelly change-up 378 feet into the Dodgers bullpen for a two-run home run, his first of the season.

In his second at-bat in the fourth inning on Sunday, Bellinger smoked a line drive to right field that D-backs right fielder Kole Calhoun caught on the warning track; further evidence that Ted Williams-esque Bellinger is back.

“It felt great, but I know it’s still going to be a grind, it’s not going to come easy just because I clicked those two balls,” Bellinger said, after the game. “I actually felt really good [working out on Saturday], and today felt really good as well. Nice to see results in a game. Sometimes, it doesn’t always translate. But overall, I’ve felt really good the past few days.”

Bellinger also told reporters that he had dropped any attempts to change his MVP swing “quite a while ago.”

As expected, Roberts was asked about his young center fielder / first baseman after the game.

“I’m certain [the home run] was a weight off his shoulders after the mental day yesterday, and his next at-bat he found another barrel,” Roberts said. “I think we’re heading in the right direction. Even after the second at-bat, you could tell on the takes that he was seeing the ball better. Not only because of the homer, today was a good step in the right direction for Cody.”

A good step indeed.

Play Ball!

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