It’s impossible to ignore and extremely difficult not to talk (or write) about: 26-year-old Dodgers outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger is mired in a horrific slump since returning from the Injured List on June 23 for what was described as “left hamstring tightness.” In fact, in the 30 games in which he has appeared since his return, he is 21-for-109 (.193) with 32 strikeouts and two walks. He has, however, hit five home runs (including two against the Philadelphia Phillies on August 11 at Citizens Bank Park) since his return, so there’s that. The problem is, he hasn’t hit one since.

During Saturday night’s exciting 5-2 win over the NL West fourth-place Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium, the Scottsdale, AZ native and Dodgers fourth-round draft pick in 2013 out of Hamilton High School in nearby Chandler, AZ, went 0-for-4. However, even though Bellinger struck out in one of those four at-bats, he hit the ball very hard in the other three that included a sharp line-out to right field, a hard ground out to first base, and a well-hit flyout to center field. And even though the results weren’t there, it was hard not to notice that Bellinger’s at-bat quality seems to be getting better.

“The at-bats are much better,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters after his team’s win on Saturday night in front of a Dodger Stadium crowd of 42,479. “He’s been getting unlucky and when you’re where Cody’s at, you want results any way you can get them.

“But he’s working hard, really hard. He’s fighting, which I love. He’s competing, which I love, and the results, it’s gonna turn, it’s gonna turn,” Roberts added. “So, and when it does, I said it before, it’s going to be fun to watch.”

While it is certainly accurate and understandable to say ‘An 0-fer is an 0-fer,’ you’ve got to start somewhere, right? And judging by what we saw on Saturday night, it appears that the 2017 National League Rookie of the Year and 2019 National League MVP (and Silver Slugger) may be returning to the Cody Bellinger that we all know and love.

Play Ball!

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