Table of Content
- Broncos’ Nathaniel Hackett: QB Russell Wilson “felt great” Monday after concussion, but no timetable for return
- WATCH: Cody Bellinger Hits 30th Home Run of 2017
- MLB Awards: Cody Bellinger unanimously named 2017 NL Rookie of the Year
- Cody Bellinger breaks NL record for home runs by a rookie
- National League MVP Cody Bellinger Signs With New Team
- Gallery: Aaron Judge hits the Bronx
- Phillies Sign Matt Strahm
As a fan, I want them to spend “stupid money” on player contracts as I come to see a winning team and have zero investment in the profits of Dodgers, Inc. If they fail to make the playoffs this season after allowing the team to go backwards most fans will not just shrug it off, nor should they. Maybe it will take empty seats to convince ownership that Dodger fans don’t want to show up for might be competitive. The Dodgers were the first team to clinch a playoff berth in the 2020 season, developing a commanding lead over the NL West by September 16. They finished at the top of their division and went on to sweep the Brewers at the 2020 National League Wild Card Series. From there, the Dodgers faced the Padres in the 2020 NLDS, where Bellinger's defensive play in Game 2 allowed Los Angeles to hang onto their 4–3 lead and take the game.
The Cubs have been rebuilding in recent years but could be aggressive this offseason in trying to return to contention in 2023. Whether they are successful or not, Bellinger could potentially be valuable to them. As mentioned, Bellinger can still be a useful ballplayer even if his bat doesn’t rebound to previous levels. If he and the team are both playing well, that’s a great outcome for all involved.
Broncos’ Nathaniel Hackett: QB Russell Wilson “felt great” Monday after concussion, but no timetable for return
Throw in a few trips to the IL, and he’s still yet to regain his MVP form since. Do I think it can happen on a 1-yr, $17.5MM deal? As a Jays fan, I understand the need for a CF and a LHH, but much like Heaney, it’s just too big of a gamble to roll the dice on. Like I said, it will be a competitive team after Friedman makes his moves. Also, contrary to common belief the Dodgers draw extremely well even in seasons when they don’t make the playoffs. The fans will still come out even if they don’t make the playoffs especially after making it the last 10 seasons.
Leading off the Los Angeles seventh, Bellinger was a triple shy of the cycle. Forsythe followed with a shot to right field that Stanton did catch, but it was deep enough for a sacrifice fly, bringing Bellinger home with run number seven. Even if that version of Bellinger is what the Cubs get in 2023, they will have improved significantly. It’s fair to be skeptical that a player who dropped off so significantly can ever find it again, and this one-year contract from the Cubs is Bellinger’s chance to show that he can.
WATCH: Cody Bellinger Hits 30th Home Run of 2017
Cubs have the kind of coin to sign him and they know what they are getting. Two abysmal seasons with a lot of sample size since then. Dodgers were not going to easily give up on a former NL MVP. The winds will be blowing out at Wrigley a lot next year. Mostly because of Bellingers swings and misses. Bellinger has only been trash for ~2-ish years and he’s way younger and maybe having an off season where he’s not rehabbing a serious injury.
This is the second successive season a Dodgers player has won the NL Rookie of the Year award unanimously. Bellinger is the 18th Dodger to win Rookie of the Year, far and away the most for any franchise. Among the previous winners are Jackie Robinson, Don Newcombe, Fernando Valenzuela, and Mike Piazza.
MLB Awards: Cody Bellinger unanimously named 2017 NL Rookie of the Year
The annual Ricketts response to stuffing their pockets with cash, and doing nothing in the off-season. The Cubs, Yankees & Red Sox are all operating like they’re the Rays, when ALL OF THEM could field a $300M payroll each season and flick pocket change at the luxury tax, while laughing like Ted DiBiase. If the option is declined, Bellinger becomes a free agent . So the Cubs could put a QO on Bellinger after declining his option. The real question is whether or not Bellinger can play well enough in 2023 to even warrant issuing a QO.
He admitted in August that his poor batting was due to lingering pain and weakness from both the shoulder and leg injuries, and Bellinger's batting grew stronger as he continued to exercise the affected areas. At the end of the month, Roberts made the decision to relegate Bellinger to a platoon role in the outfield, starting A. J. Pollock, Mookie Betts, or Chris Taylor against left-handed pitchers. Injuries to Pollock and Taylor, however, forced the Dodgers to renege on that platoon system shortly after its introduction.
Cody Bellinger breaks NL record for home runs by a rookie
Then he injured his shoulder celebrating during the 2020 postseason and we didn’t find out til the following spring that he messed up his shoulder pretty badly. The dude is so skinny, he doesn’t have the frame to sustain that violent swing . Plus now Harper does not swing nearly as violently. Landing in CHC makes sense for all involved, though. The Cubbies certainly have the money and probably aren’t going to compete next year anyway. If he returns to form, maybe he pushes the Cubs to WC contention.
In the bottom of the third, Wood needed only 11 pitches to retire the Marlins, and then the Dodgers pounced again in the top of the fourth. Drew Steckenrider was now on the hill for Miami, and he struck out Taylor and Seager, but Turner walked on five pitches, bringing Bellinger back to the plate. He drove a liner to the wall in right center for a double, bringing in Turner with LA’s sixth run of the game. Bellinger advanced to third base on the throw home. Forsythe struck out, but the Dodgers had increased their lead to 6-0.
It also seemed to rattle Urena, who walked the next batter, Forsythe, and then gave up a single to Joc Pederson. Yasmani Grandal took a pitch for a ball before depositing Urena’s next offering into the right-field seats. The Dodgers had scored five runs, all with two outs. Urena then walked Yasiel Puig, who moved to second on a wild pitch with Wood in the batter’s box. It was evident that Urena was struggling, as his mound opponent Wood had an eight-pitch at-bat, finally striking out looking.
He was also the third Dodger since 1913 to be intentionally walked in his MLB debut, following Chico Fernández in 1956 and Dick Nen in 1963. His first career grand slam came the following week on May 6, helping take the Dodgers to a 10–2 victory over the San Diego Padres and Bellinger to five home runs and 14 RBIs in his first 11 major league games. A series of multi-home run games in the month of June helped Bellinger to set several team and MLB records. On June 13, Bellinger became the fastest player in MLB history to record four multi-home run games, doing so in 45 contests; the previous record was set by Bob Horner with 63 games in 1978. He was also the first Dodger to have consecutive multi-home run games since Adrián Beltré in 2004, and was the third Dodgers rookie to record at least four multi-home run games in one season. In the first inning of an outing against the New York Mets on June 19, his 51st career MLB game, Bellinger tied Gary Sánchez and Wally Berger as the fastest players to reach 20 home runs.
His homers may not push against the laws of physics, but he has still hit plenty of them. And as a bonus, if Bellinger is invited, he will likely have his father – former major leaguer Clay Bellinger – pitch to him. That total is even more impressive when you consider that he was only called up to the big leagues on April 25. Put simply, his 18 home runs since April 25 are more than any player in baseball over that time span. But in an ideal world, Gallo could put on quite a show at Marlins Park. While is the fifth-hardest hitting batter in the majors with an average exit velocity of 94.6 mph, that isn’t even the fun part.
No comments:
Post a Comment