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By the All-Star break, Bellinger and Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers were the frontrunners for the NL MVP Award. Bellinger led with 72 runs, 73 RBIs, a .334 average, and a .431 on-base percentage, while his 31 home runs, .687 slugging percentage, and 1.118 on-base plus slugging were all slightly behind Yelich. Bellinger received both his second All-Star game nod and his first All-Star start in 2019, opening the game in the NL outfield with Yelich and with Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Atlanta Braves. He also received an invitation to that year's Home Run Derby, but turned it down in order to have a day off from baseball before the All-Star game. He began the 2017 season with Oklahoma City, batting .343 with five home runs and 15 RBIs in the first 18 games of the year before receiving a call-up to Los Angeles.
He was dealt to the Philadelphia Phillies at the trade deadline last season and will now return to Southern California. Minter was two days removed from a brilliant Game 5 performance, in which the Braves asked him for one inning and he gave them three. But the left-hander was noticeably less sharp from the outset in Game 7, missing above the strike zone with each of his first three pitches. The home runs culminated a series of scratching and clawing from the Dodgers in general -- and particularly from Hernández and Bellinger, who both went yard on the eighth pitches of their at-bats.
MLB Home Runs Hit by Clay Bellinger | Baseball Almanac
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. In the seventh inning, with Grisham on second base, Bellinger made a jumping catch to rob Fernando Tatis Jr. of a two-run home run. The 2020 NLCS started with the Dodgers down 3–1 in four games, but they were able to mount a comeback and push the series to seven games. Bellinger scored the go-ahead home run in that final game, clinching the Dodgers' place in the 2020 World Series.
In the Wild Card Game against the St. Louis Cardinals, he reached base three times and stole twice. In Game 2 of the NLDS match against division rivals the San Francisco Giants, Bellinger's two-RBI double provided the go-ahead runs for an ultimate 9–2 rout of San Francisco. In Game 3 of the NLCS, the Dodgers were down 5–2 against the Atlanta Braves when Bellinger hit a three-run home run in the eighth inning. After Bellinger tied the game and cleared the bases, a single and stolen base from Chris Taylor, followed by an RBI double from Mookie Betts, helped the Dodgers win the game 6–5.
Play & Win
Bellinger finished his rookie MLB season hitting .267 with 39 home runs, 97 RBIs, and 87 runs scored in 480 at bats and 132 games. After a strong spring training performance in which he batted .393 in 18 games, Bellinger opened the 2016 season with the Double-A Tulsa Drillers of the Texas League. He missed the first part of the Double-A season with a strained hip, and upon returning from the disabled list in May, Bellinger struggled to make contact, batting .150 through his first 50 at-bats. He spent the bulk of the season in Tulsa, batting .263 with 23 home runs and 65 RBIs in 114 games, but was promoted to the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers on September 3, in advance of the Pacific Coast League playoffs.
Injuries to Pollock and Taylor, however, forced the Dodgers to renege on that platoon system shortly after its introduction. Bellinger suffered his third major injury of the season in September, when a collision with teammate Gavin Lux resulted in a fractured rib. By the time of the collision, Bellinger had already missed 46 games that season with his fractured fibula, and an additional seven with hamstring tightness. Bellinger finished the regular season batting a career-low .165, with ten home runs and 36 RBIs in 315 at bats. Assigned to the Class A-Advanced Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, the 2015 season was Bellinger's first full year in the minor leagues.
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He had just hit a go-ahead home run in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series, becoming the ninth player in Major League history to accomplish that feat in the seventh inning or later of a Game 7. Tyler Anderson led the way Sunday with seven shutout innings, and San Diego mustered just four runs during the series. Freeman then collected his second RBI base hit of the game before García could get through the inning. The Cubs aren’t really expected to compete in 2023, but that doesn’t mean Bellinger can’t use next season to springboard to a big contract in 2024 with a good showing. FanDuel Sportsbook has Chicago in the bottom half of the league with long +7000 odds to win next season’s World Series. The two-time All-Star is still just 27 years old and could be an intriguing reclamation project bound for a big bounceback year with the new scenery in Chicago.
His prospect performance started to gain attention when, by June 11, he was fifth in the California League with 12 home runs, and was at least three years younger than every other top-five hitter. Although his .557 slugging percentage was comparatively low, this was due in part to the shape of the Rancho Cucamonga Epicenter, which limited home runs. After making an appearance at the midseason California League All-Star Game, Bellinger was also the selected designated hitter for the California League postseason All-Star team. Following the regular minor league season, he helped the Quakes to a Cal League championship title, registering three extra-base hits, including the game-winning home run, to complete their sweep of the San Jose Giants. For his performance, Bellinger was named the California League Championship Series MVP. He batted .264 for the Quakes, recording 30 home runs, 103 RBIs, and 97 runs in 478 at bats.
He played in only three games for Oklahoma City that season, recording three home runs and six RBIs in the process. Having missed a month of the season with his injured hip, Bellinger played for the Glendale Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League, earning All-Fall League team honors. In 20 games with Glendale, Bellinger hit .314 with three home runs, eight doubles, and 17 RBIs, and he was named a member of the AFL Top Prospects Team.
With his sixth two-home run game of the season on June 25, Bellinger passed Mike Piazza's team rookie record for most multi-home run games in one season, and led the NL with 24 total home runs. He capped off the first half of the season with his first appearances in both the Major League Baseball All-Star Game and in the Home Run Derby. At the latter, Bellinger hit 27 home runs across two rounds, defeating Charlie Blackmon before falling to Aaron Judge of the Yankees in the semifinals. Faced with a struggling and injured outfield, the Dodgers called Bellinger up on April 25, 2017, giving him the start in left field and eighth position in the batting order for that night's game against the San Francisco Giants. Bellinger scored his first major league hit that night, an infield ground ball towards third base.
His 13th home run of the season came on April 27, breaking Matt Kemp's record for the most single-season home runs of any Dodger through the end of April. The home run also lifted Bellinger to 88 total bases by the end of April, three more than Chase Utley's 2008 record and the most of any batter in the live-ball era. His 97 total bases, 37 RBIs, and 47 hits before May 1 were all MLB records, while his 32 runs scored and 14 home runs tied existing records. Batting .431 in 132 plate appearances, Bellinger received his first Player of the Month honors for April 2019. While facing the Miami Marlins on July 15, Bellinger became the first Dodgers rookie in history to hit for the cycle, going 4-for-5 with a home run, three RBIs, and two runs. With his 35th home run of the year on September 2, Bellinger tied Mike Piazza's Dodgers rookie record; he broke Piazza's record the following day with a ninth-inning shot off of Padres closer Brad Hand.
His ceiling is clearly sky-high after hitting .305 with 47 home runs and 115 RBI just three years ago. Bellinger’s offensive production dipped in the shortened 2020 season, and he dislocated his right (non-throwing) shoulder that postseason celebrating a home run. It's a fresh start for Bellinger, the 2019 NL MVP who was non-tendered by the Dodgers last month entering his final year of arbitration eligibility. The 27-year-old is coming off two underperforming seasons that were in part due to injuries.
There, the Dodgers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in six games for Bellinger's first World Series championship and the Dodgers' first since 1988. Despite injuring his shoulder during the NLCS, Bellinger continued to play in the World Series, and he celebrated his Game 1 home run by foot-tapping his teammates rather than high-fiving them. After the season, Bellinger signed a one-year, $16.1 million contract with the Dodgers for the 2021 season. In 2020, Bellinger hit .239 with 12 home runs in 56 games during the pandemic-shortened season. He homered three times in the NLCS, and the Dodgers beat the Braves to reach the World Series. They went on to defeat Tampa Bay in six games to win the franchise’s first title since 1988.
He revealed later that, while celebrating his NLCS-winning home run that October, he had dislocated his shoulder by connecting too strongly with teammate Enrique Hernández' arm. Bellinger's recovery from the arthroscopic glenoid labrum surgery progressed ahead of schedule, and he was able to join the Dodgers for spring training in 2021. He suffered another serious injury on April 6 after colliding with Oakland Athletics pitcher Reymin Guduan. Bellinger was initially placed on the 10-day injured list before medical scans revealed that he had suffered a hairline fracture in his left fibula. He returned on May 29, going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in an 11–6 loss to the Giants, but a sixth-inning walk allowed Bellinger to extend his on-base streak to 20 games. As he entered the 2018 MLB season, Bellinger was unfazed by the concept of a sophomore slump, in which an athlete's performance falters during their second professional season.
Bellinger also had a tying, three-run homer against Atlanta in Game 3 of the NL Championship Series. On December 23, Bellinger signed a $17 million contract with the Dodgers, avoiding salary arbitration. In 2022, Bellinger had the lowest on base percentage of all qualified hitters in the majors at .265, he also had a .210 batting average with 19 home runs and 68 RBIs and struck out 150 times in 504 at bats.
The pain was only temporary for Bellinger, who joined Hernández in hitting one of the most dramatic home runs in the Dodgers’ storied history. In the sixth inning at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Hernández led off by crushing a pinch-hit game-tying homer off A.J. In the seventh, Bellinger added his go-ahead blast against Chris Martin, leading the Dodgers to a 4-3 win over the Braves and to their third trip to the World Series in the past four years. A standout pitcher for Hamilton High School, Cole was selected by the San Diego Padres in the 15th round of the 2017 MLB Draft. Cole played for two seasons in the Padres farm system before retiring from baseball in 2021. Bellinger has one child with girlfriend Chase Carter, a daughter who was born November 2021.
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