Cody Bellinger’s father played for the Yankees in a dynastic era when the franchise won three consecutive World Series titles. Bellinger was drafted and developed by the Dodgers, one of this generation’s best-run organizations in professional sports. Nature and nurture once helped make Bellinger one of the sport’s brightest stars.
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The Cubs certainly aren’t taking a victory lap here, not with a former National League MVP, not when it’s one month into a 162-game season. But getting good results in April matters for a hitter on a one-year pillow contract and a team that needs several players to have breakthrough or bounce-back seasons. Bellinger is creating even more trust with the coaching staff and building some equity with his teammates and the fans at Wrigley Field, where it feels like the bleacher bums are right on top of you when you’re standing alone in center field.
“There’s been a lot of hard work put in throughout the whole offseason,” Bellinger said. “I’m pretty confident. The body’s feeling good. I’m glad to be in this locker room and have the opportunity to go out and help this team win every day. That’s about all you can ask for.”
That process started with an offseason video conference after the Dodgers released Bellinger rather than offering him a contract through the arbitration system. Bellinger’s agent, Scott Boras, recommended a one-year deal for a client who can re-enter the free-agent market next offseason at the age of 28. The Cubs offered Bellinger $17.5 million, a change of scenery, the runway to play every day and an Arizona training complex near his offseason/childhood homes. The Cubs also employ two hitting coaches who previously worked for the Dodgers in their minor-league system, Dustin Kelly and Johnny Washington, and reconnected with at least a baseline level of familiarity with Bellinger.
“A lot of it with Cody was just understanding and letting him talk about and explain what he’s felt over the past couple of years,” Kelly said. “We knew that he’d gone through a couple different swing changes and tried a number of different things. You don’t really know what that is until you actually talk to him and get in the cage and figure out some of the drills he’s done, some of the moves and feels. We didn’t want to backtrack and try a bunch of different things he’d already tried once or twice before.”
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Getting healthy is a huge factor for Bellinger, who dealt with a series of injuries over the years that knocked him from the top of the game — World Series champ, NLCS MVP, Silver Slugger — to the bench as the Padres ended the Dodgers’ season last October. The Cubs identified smaller things with Bellinger’s lower half, trying to get him more into his back hip and adjusting where he places his hands without overloading him with suggestions.
There are always peaks and valleys throughout a season. It’s always on the individual hitter to continue making adjustments. But the early signs are encouraging with Bellinger posting a 157 wRC+ with April nearly wrapped. It would be the best month he’s delivered since April 2019. That season ended in an MVP award for Bellinger. That’s obviously a best-case scenario for Bellinger and the Cubs, who would be thrilled with anything close to an All-Star season.
“The core values of what we identified as being athletic, creating a little bit more of a hip hinge and setting a really good hand placement, has remained the same,” Kelly said. “These guys always go through minor little tweaks. In the cage every day, their bodies feel different, there’s a different pitcher up on the mound, so we do little things here and there, but his core values have really stayed the same.”
In particular, Bellinger appears to be reacting well to the elevated fastball. So far, when he connects with pitches in the upper third of the zone, he has a .405 wOBA. That would be a career-best, but it also ranks as his sixth-best month (and best since the final month of 2019).
“Some of what we’ve talked about has been his bat path and creating a little longer plane in the zone and staying behind the ball and on top of the ball,” Kelly said. “That’s helped. There’s a threshold for everybody with how high they can go with that four-seam fastball. He’s done a really good job of setting his sights at the top of where he knows he can get to and not really not chasing up above that.”
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The Cubs can live with those ups and downs offensively because Bellinger consistently brings value in other areas. The Cubs now have a Gold Glove center fielder in a spot where they ranked last in baseball across the past two seasons in terms of ultimate zone rating (minus-19.9) and outs above average (minus-10). It can be making a leaping catch at the wall, taking a good route to make a difficult catch look routine or cutting off a ball in the gap to prevent the big inning.
“All those little things contribute to frustration from the other side,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “It’s a big momentum shift for us. His defense has really stood out to me, especially with what we’ve gone through in my time here in center. It’s such a luxury to have a guy with his ability out there running balls down. He’s also a smart baseball player. He doesn’t try to do too much. He knows how to be aggressive to the right base. He knows the game context for the catches where he’s going to put himself in a risky situation. He knows when to just pick it up and toss it in.”
Bellinger returned from paternity leave Friday evening in Miami — where the Cubs have dropped the first two games of the series by one run each — and has continued to look strong at the plate while providing a steadying presence on defense. For a team in need of a superstar in its lineup, Bellinger is one of a few who have looked the part in April. But he knows he can’t get ahead of things here. After being at the top of the league, he’s experienced the lowest lows. Nothing is guaranteed.
“Every day is a grind just because the game is so hard,” Bellinger said. “Just wake up and prepare the best I can and get my body in position to help this team win.”
(Top photo of Cody Bellinger: Sam Navarro / USA Today)