The earthquake wasn’t the only thing shaking things up in LA this past week. Dodgers outfielder / first baseman Cody Bellinger did his own shaking things up, going 10-for-24 over his last seven games for an MVP-caliber .417 / .533 / .792 / 1.325 slash line that included three doubles, two home runs, and seven RBI.
Last Friday night, just hours before a 4.5 magnitude earthquake would shake South El Monte, CA, the Dodgers were at Coors Field in Colorado, reminding the Rockies why they were leading the MLB in wins and home runs with their commanding 15-6 win in Game-2 of the four-game series. Thanks to Denver’s mile-high altitude, the Dodgers’ bats lit up, with Belli smashing a two-run home run – his first extra-base hit in September – while driving in three runs and improving his un-Bellinger-like .218 pre-game batting average.
“The whole team kind of went crazy,” Bellinger said after the game. “Can’t take the foot off the gas.”
As Dodger fans know, Bellinger has been tinkering with his swing since Summer Camp, and it looks as though things are finally starting to fall into place for him. He continues to play well defensively in center field and at first base but was struggling to find his Ted-Williams-like swing during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 regular season. Judging by recent results, it appears that the reigning NL MVP is once again hitting on all cylinders, and at the best possible time.
After clinching the NL West division for the eighth year in a row on Tuesday night, and with only four games remaining in the short 60-game 2020 regular season, Bellinger is in a perfect position to keep his momentum going heading into the rapidly-approaching postseason.
Come on, Cody!