NEWSLETTER
We were all bummed when Cody Bellinger crashed into that wall and fractured two of his ribs for all the obvious reason. No team wants to play without their star center fielder and top-2 hitter. But the injury was especially frustrating because Cody Bellinger had JUST begun to take off offensively.
Through his first 14 games of the season, Bellinger has slashed only .167/.270/.296 (53 wRC+). And although there were some positive signs (good walk/strikeout numbers, some hard contact), the results just weren’t there. But starting with his 15th game, Bellinger began to take off, slashing .333/.412/.700 during his eight-game hitting streak, with a triple, THREE home runs, and matching 11.8% walk and strikeout rates.
The question for his triumphant return last night, then, was could he pick right back up where he left off? The answer, a resounding YUP.
Cody Bellinger is BACK
Cody Bellinger went 3-4 last night, with a homer and two singles, extending his hitting streak to nine games. He’s also now homered in back-to-back contests, as well as three of his last four games and four of his last six games.
And the only out Bellinger produced last night? That came after a 12-pitch at-bat his first time up, in which he fouled off 8 pitches.
PA1: 12-pitches, flyout
PA2: 6-pitches, homer (106.6 MPH)
PA3: 6 pitches, single
PA4: 1 pitch, single
That’s a total of 25-pitches seen on the night (~19% of the pitches the Padres threw last night were to Cody Bellinger, alone), which would be a success even if he didn’t have three hits.
And the crazy thing is he’s not even playing at 100%.
“I wouldn’t say I’m fully pain-free,” Cody Bellinger said. “But with something like this, it takes quite a bit of time to get fully pain-free. Where it’s at, it’s a matter of pain tolerance. And I feel like I’m in a pretty good spot with it.”
That makes me a little nervous to hear, but Bellinger has some experience with this exact thing, as detailed by Jordan Bastian (Cubs.com):
The nature of the injury can create a complicated comeback, but Bellinger said it helped that he actually went through something similar in 2021 with the Dodgers. In that situation, he sustained a left rib fracture late in the year and was out from Sept. 18-27. He then played six games down the stretch and a dozen more in the postseason.
“I kind of knew what to expect. It felt the exact same,” Bellinger said. “I don’t remember the whole process I went through a few years ago, but it’s kind of one of those things where you just go until you think you can’t.”
So now for the season, even despite his slow start, Bellinger’s slash line is looking good: .250/.337/.489 (125 wRC+). He also has six homers and a strikeout rate under 15%. Just an incredible hitter right now.
And his presence in the lineup helps the batting order so much. With Bellinger in the lineup, Craig Counsell can move Ian Happ out of the three-hole, where he just isn’t ever succeeding, and it takes pressure off Michael Busch to be THE big left-handed bat. This is just a total different group with Bellinger in the middle, and I am so happy he is back.
(Now I can’t wait for Seiya to get back.)
