Dodgers: Comparing Cody Bellinger to the best Dodger rookies ever

With Cody Bellinger likely to become the Dodgers 18th Rookie of the Year award winner, the question needs to be asked – is Cody Bellinger the best Dodger rookie ever?

The organization has accumulated 17 Rookie of the Year awards since 1947. From Jackie Robinson to Steve Sax, from Fernando Valenzuela to Hideo Nomo, the names are landmarks for their glorious tradition. The Dodgers have twice had four consecutive Rookie of the Year winners, and have had at least one Rookie of the Year at every position on the field.

With Corey Seager’s dominating performance in 2016 in the history books ending a 20-year drought of not winning the award – the longest in the Dodgers’ history – it marked a resurgence of the farm system, which spent more than a decade languishing under Fox ownership and the beginning of the McCourt regime.

However, under the guidance of General Manager Ned Colletti and Farm Director Logan White, the Dodgers returned to their roots, literally, scouring the globe for international talent and drafting with a shrewd, focused strategy. This led to the development of prospects such as Clayton Kershaw, Joc Pederson and Corey Seager – and now, Cody Bellinger.

Bellinger just hit his 28th home run in his first 80 games, marking a National League record and is a shoo-in to be crowned as the 2017 National League Rookie of the Year award winner. He is on pace for one of the best rookie seasons of all time as far as home runs are concerned, but where does he rank amongst Dodger ROY winners?