Dodgers Rumors: Cody Bellinger is 2013’s Yasiel Puig, should not be called down
By Jason Reed
Cody Bellinger made his MLB debut following a Joc Pederson injury. Despite great success, many Dodgers rumors signal his departure to AAA.
There are many things the Los Angeles Dodgers need. They need one more impact arm to add rotation depth, they need a bat that can solve their left-handed pitching woes, and most importantly – this team needed a spark. Cody Bellinger is that spark, and yet, the popular Dodgers rumors are that he will be sent back to Oklahoma City as soon as Friday.
However, instead of accepting the Dodgers rumors that Bellinger will be sent down, us fans must fight back to keep him in the MLB.
Bellinger’s call-up was the result of Joc Pederson suffering a right groin strain against the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 23rd. Pederson has not been very good this year, despite a strong Opening Day and huge leaps last season.
The left-handed slugger was batting .220 with only one home run and seven runs batted in at the time of his injury. Take away Opening Day and Pederson would have been batting .213 with no home runs and two runs batted in. It should be noted that these numbers are just about exclusively against right-handed pitching, Pederson’s bread and butter.
In fact, Pederson actually has hit left-handed pitching better than right-handed pitching. Batting .286 against left-handers compared to 1.94 against right-handers is a bit strange, but just shows Pederson’s true struggles. Sure, he bats .286 against left-handed pitching, but that is also only in 14 at-bats.
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Pederson does have a great glove and likely will turn his performance around as the year goes on. His outstanding fielding along with his potential to absolutely smash baseballs should keep him afloat in the big leagues, but it should not keep Cody Bellinger down.
Cody Bellinger is expendable, he can play both corner outfield spots and can also play first base. While he may not be a starter anytime soon, we may see Bellinger play the majority of games, covering specific players off-days. If Pederson is off Bellinger is in left and Toles in center. If either Toles, Puig, or Gonzalez need the night off, Bellinger plays there.
In fact, Bellinger’s role is the exact same as Scott Van Slyke’s would be if he was still on the roster. Van Slyke recently was sent to AAA after Franklin Gutierrez made his return, and if the Dodgers wanted that out of Van Slyke, why not get it out of Bellinger?
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I understand the outfield is very crowded. With Bellinger and Pederson in the mix, the Dodgers would have six outfielders; if Andre Either ever returns it would be seven. But Bellinger is special, much like Yasiel Puig did in 2013, he has made his case to stay in the majors.
Bellinger did struggle in San Francisco, so let’s look at his numbers during this Dodgers home stand. In five games Bellinger is batting a godly .474 with one double, one triple, two home runs, and five runs batted in.
What did Yasiel Puig do in his first five games at Dodger Stadium? The wild horse batted .421 with one double, four home runs, and ten runs batted in. Puig had eight hits in his first five Dodger Stadium games, Bellinger had nine.
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Bellinger is already showing he has the skill set, and the mind, to be successful at the MLB level. What other rookie do you see with enough confidence to bunt for a base hit twice against a shift? I know the Dodgers don’t want to rush Bellinger, hence the Dodgers rumors, but Bellinger is exactly the spark that the Los Angeles Dodgers needed.