On September 9, Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger was slashing a less-than-stellar .197/.259/.378/.638 with 17 home runs and 55 RBI.

After Sunday’s game, albeit a 4-1 loss to the NL West last place Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium, those numbers are now .206/.263/.383/.646 with 18 home runs and 66 RBI – not a monumental change, but definitely trending in the right direction with the first game of the 2022 National League Division Series a week away.

To what – or whom – does the extremely popular 27-year-old Scottsdale, AZ native and Dodgers fourth-round draft pick in 2013 out of Hamilton High School in Chandler, AZ owe his sudden offensive upswing (no pun intended)?

“Honestly, just staying within myself on an everyday basis; hitting the ball hard, seeing the ball well,” Bellinger told SportsNet LA’s Kirsten Watson. “Focusing on the little things and the ball will find some holes there eventually.”

In addition to what proved to be the game-winning home run in Friday night’s 10-1 pounding of the Rockies at Dodger Stadium, he also singled in the game. He then went 3-for-4 – all singles – in Saturday’s 6-4 win over those same Rockies, and 1-for-2 on Sunday, driving in the Dodgers only run with a single.

Although it remains to be seen if Bellinger’s sudden resurgence will continue up to – and through – the postseason, it’s impossible not to like what we’re seeing of him lately.

…just in the nick of time.

Play Ball!

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