August 23rd, 2021 at 8:00 am 
by 0799291000348 There is no disputing the enormous athletic talent of 26-year-old Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger. Fans have marveled at his five-tool talent since his 2017 rookie season when he slashed .267/.352/.581 with 39 home runs and was named the 2017 National League Rookie of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
After a solid 2018 season, Bellinger blossomed into a legit superstar in 2019, slashing .305/.406/.629 with 47 home runs, 121 runs, and 115 RBI. He was an NL All-Star, Silver Slugger Award winner, Most Valuable Player, and Rawlings Gold Glove winner. He was being compared favorably to the Angels Mike Trout, by consensus the best active player in MLB.
But, there was an ominous red flag flying after the 2019 season. Bellinger’s right shoulder had popped out of its socket early in the season. Cody and the Dodgers considered surgery to stabilize his right shoulder, a recurring injury, but they agreed to forego the surgical procedure.
While the Dodgers marched through the abbreviated 2020 regular season on their way to the World Championship, Bellinger rode the express elevator from the performance penthouse to the lobby – from superstar to an ordinary MLB player in one season. Then, the right shoulder dislocated again. Bellinger and Kiké Hernandez aggressively bashed right forearms to celebrate Cody’s game-winning home run in game seven of the NLCS, and the shoulder once again popped out of its socket. Although he continued to play through the World Series, surgery was performed in November 2020.
(Photo credit – Robert Gauthier)
The 2021 season has been an offensive disaster for Bellinger, slashing an anemic .174/.258/.336. And his .594 OPS ranks 22nd on the team. Perhaps the shoulder surgery is the reason for his abysmal performance, but right now, Cody is an offensive albatross in the team’s batting order. A hitter who has become an easy out for Major League hurlers. Nonetheless, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has continued to insert Bellinger into the near-daily lineup, counting on his Gold-Glove-quality defense to make up for his offensive struggles.
But, in a few days, All-Star outfielder Mookie Betts will return to the team from the IL. It will be extremely difficult for Roberts to justify keeping Bellinger in the lineup with Betts joining fellow outfielders AJ Pollock and Chris Taylor as regulars. At this point, Cody is more likely the fourth outfielder who can come into games as a late-inning defensive replacement (perhaps to rest Betts) or start on occasion when Taylor moves to third base to rest Justin Turner. This will likely be an unpopular decision with Bellinger, but one that would be in the best interest of the team as they pursue another World Championship.
Hopefully, Bellinger will return to full health and stellar performance in 2022. But for now, he needs to put the team first and gracefully accept a reduced supporting role for the remainder of 2021.
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Spot on! It’s aggravating to watch him swing and his stance is detrimental to the healing of his shoulder. Just put the ball in play.
Cody Bellinger is now an easy out, either a strike out or a lazy pop up. He needs to be sat down or sent back to triple A to get his act together.
I think sending him to the alternate training site at Camelback Ranch is an option, allowing him to work on hitting without the pressure of playing in games. IMO, that should have been done long ago. It will not surprise me to learn after the season that his shoulder has been a problem all year. I remember when Adrian Gonzalez came to the Dodgers from Boston and he said that it took two full years before he regained 100% strength in his shoulder after surgery.
another good article Jesse.
now that he has just over 3 yrs, cant he refuse an assignment?
he should have been sent down as soon as he was off the IL. he had missed too much time to have his swing game ready and he hasn’t been a MVP since the middle of his MVP season. his head is all over the place (as evident by his helmet flying off) which has him swinging under the ball while he’s trying to hit a 5 run home run in every at bat, even when a productive out would put them ahead. every time they throw at his thighs, he swings right through it. he has to learn to recognize that pitch because every pitcher in the league has used it on him. furthermore, every at bat of his career is on film and it is easy to locate film from the 1st half of 19. athletic stance, bend in the knee, feet apart, bat at about 35-45 degrees. in the second half of 19, and mostly since, he has returned to the straight up, feet together and the bat at a negative 70 degree hold, almost right down his back. it’s been discussed ad nauseam but he doesn’t correct it.
Terrific summary of Bellinger’s awful hitting mechanics. Before his shoulder injuries, Bellinger’s exceptional athleticism allowed him to make hard contact even with those mechanics. Good question about remaining minor league options. According to Fangraphs, Bellinger still has 3 options remaining. After five years of ML service time players can no longer be optioned.
5 years, great! i would send him down and get him as many live at bats as possible (no matter where that might be) until his muscle memory is retrained. i don’t want to give up on him but he isn’t going to get it right sitting on the bench. also, although the shoulder of topic is not his throwing arm, hasn’t everyone else noticed that he is not making strong OR accurate throws since coming back?
when our outfield can be be AJ/CT3/Betts who should sit because we all feel romantic about a kid who, just a few short years ago, broke Piazza’s record, won ROY and MVP awards?
last year’s awards won’t win this year’s championship.
I agree 100%, with you Jesse..
Nursing a weak shoulder I don’t understand why he doesn’t cut down that long looping swing and quit trying to hit a home run every time up. Concentrate on making solid contact. All he does now is pop up weakly or strike out.
Excellent point!
Cody should definately sit against Lefties.
Bellinger may be a liability offensively going down the stretch. He may not be carrying his weigh offensively, but, He is a gold glove center fielder. A key position on the defense. This team has enough fire power to bat him 8th and reap the rewards of his defense. Think Big Red Machine. Cesar Geronimo. Outstanding center fielder. He didn’t hit a lot but he was a vacuum cleaner in center. Unlike Geronimo, Belli has more upside. Keep him in center field and batting 7th or 8th for now.. He may or may not break out this season, but, he just might. And when he does, look out. If he doesn’t , well, I think his defense is worth keeping him in the line up. Maybe sit him facing lefties.
As frustrating as Bellinger can be, I agree 100% that giving up on him would be a serious mistake.
Unfortunately, he picked a very bad time to be bad.