It was more a matter of when rather than if, but with what we have been seeing from 25-year-old Dodgers outfielder / first baseman Cody Bellinger over the past week or so, it appears that his early-season slump is just about over.

On Friday night, the Scottsdale, AZ native and reigning National League MVP slugged not one, but two two-run home runs – both off of left-handers – en route to the Dodgers 7-4 win over the Angels of Anaheim.

As has been widely noted during recent radio and television broadcasts and interviews with fellow teammates and his manager, the struggling Bellinger, who entered Friday night’s interleague series opener against the Angels hitting an un-Bellinger-like .165 with only two home runs, has been hitting the ball very hard of late, suggesting that he is seeing and squaring the ball up better; which, of course, is bad news for opposing teams.

“Expectations are higher now that he won the MVP,” said Dodgers ace and Friday night’s starting – and winning – pitcher Clayton Kershaw of Bellinger’s early-season struggles. “But 20 games, it’s just the start of the season, and it’s magnified because it’s only a 60-game season. It’s difficult, but he’ll get going. We’re not worried about him. He’s been hitting the ball hard the last few games.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is also very well aware of Bellinger’s recent progress.

“He was just taking really good at-bats, hitting the ball hard, and obviously when you dig yourself a little bit of a hole, you want results, and that’s part of it,” Roberts told reporters after the game. “But proud of him for just continuing to grind.

“Today he just took some really good at-bats and hit a ball hard and didn’t get rewarded, and stayed in the big part of the field to hit a couple homers. So, really good to see ’em, we needed every bit of it,” Roberts added.

Roberts then said something that could prove paramount in getting Belli back to the Belli that we all know and love:

“I think sometimes that [hitting a] lefty gets a left-handed hitter back on track.”

Whoda thunk it.

As far as ‘trusting the process,’ Roberts was asked how he gets – and keeps – his guys doing so.

“It’s a conversation I have with somebody every single day, so that’s a part of it” Roberts answered directly. “But for those guys to continue to trust that process, then it’s easy to bet on our guys.”

Make no mistake about it, Cody Bellinger trusts the process.

“I felt like the last few days were good, it’s just trusting the process,” said Bellinger. “Easier said than done, but just trying not to care about the results and feeling good up there. When the results aren’t there, it’s frustrating. But I have felt really good lately. That’s positive.”

Positive indeed.

Play Ball!

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