LOS ANGELES — There was a time when Cody Bellinger thought he’d be a Dodger forever.
“At one point, for sure,” the 27-year-old former MVP said Friday as he gazed out toward Dodger Stadium from the visiting dugout for the first time. “But life is not always planned.”
Bellinger said he tries to stay in the moment and appreciate what comes next. For now, that means cherishing a return to the place where he thought he’d never leave — the place where he became Rookie of the Year, where he pummeled 27 of his 47 home runs in 2019 en route to winning MVP, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards and where he blossomed into one of the most promising young players in the game.
It is now, after three substandard seasons, also the place that represents his past. But in his first trip back to Chavez Ravine since being non-tendered this offseason, the Cubs outfielder did not feel melancholy.
“I’m really excited,” Bellinger said. “Looking back, so many amazing memories here being on this field. Just a lot of amazing memories. No sadness. Maybe I get emotional, but those will be happy tears if they do come.”
Three years ago, his absence on the Dodgers’ roster would’ve seemed unfathomable.
Bellinger was a two-time All-Star by the age of 23. But coming off a season in which he mashed 47 homers with 115 RBIs, he could not repeat that success in the shortened 2020 season. He was still hitting the ball hard, it just wasn’t the type of season one would expect from a reigning MVP whose bat was so feared that he was intentionally walked 21 times in 2019.
In the 2020 playoffs, though, he began to look like a version of that player. He knocked in five runs in the National League Division Series versus the Padres and robbed Fernando Tatís Jr. of a home run. He knocked in another five runs in the NL Championship Series, the last of which came on his third home run of the postseason. With two outs and nobody on in the seventh inning of the deciding Game 7 against the Braves, Bellinger broke a tie with a 400-foot no-doubt blast that helped send the Dodgers to the World Series.
One of the biggest moments of Bellinger’s career also marked the beginning of his decline.
Before returning to the dugout, he celebrated with teammate Kiké Hernández with a forearm bang that left Bellinger in obvious pain. He persevered through the Dodgers’ championship run, but his dislocated shoulder required offseason surgery.
Bellinger, already searching to regain his swing and form, would not find either again. Further injuries prevented him from gaining any semblance of a rhythm. Four games into the 2021 season, he suffered a hairline fracture in his leg and missed the next two months. He later missed time with a hamstring strain and a non-displaced rib fracture.
He no longer looked like the same player. His hard-hit rate dropped. His strikeout rate soared.
“I think it was very difficult for him because he knows what kind of player he can be,” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said. “Everyone’s seen the type of player he can be, and he wanted to get back to that so bad.”
Bellinger finished the year with a 44 OPS+ and a 47 wRC+ that ranked behind all but two other major-leaguers with at least 300 plate appearances. Despite consistent defense in center field, Bellinger still graded out nearly two wins below replacement level.
In the midst of the struggles, Bellinger continued tinkering with his setup and swing. He tried to open up his stance to find better timing. He worked with the Dodgers’ hitting coaches seeking a straighter, simpler path to the ball. A shorter swing could enhance his contact skills. The power, ideally, would follow.
“You downshift, you lessen your expectation, you’ll be surprised on where you think you’re trying to hit it and sometimes where it goes,” then-hitting coach Brant Brown said.
The adjustments paid off. Bellinger’s RBI single in Game 5 of the 2021 NLDS sent the Dodgers past the division-winning Giants. And, after struggling to catch up to velocity all year — he hadn’t homered on a fastball above the zone all season — Bellinger put a compact stroke on a high 95.6 mph fastball in Game 3 of the NLCS against the Braves for a home run that erased a three-run deficit in an eventual victory.
“I think when you hit rock bottom, there’s a lot of opportunity for openness and change,” manager Dave Roberts said. “To his credit, he lowered his hands, understood that he needed to hit the ball more square, more flat, get the loop out of his swing.”
Bellinger’s teammates tried to pump him up after the performance: “Tell them, Belli,” Mookie Betts said. “They’re good, but you drive a Benz, too.”
But the Dodgers couldn’t complete another NLCS comeback against the Braves, and an offseason lockout meant more time away from the team. For Bellinger, that was time to build back his strength. It was also time to tinker as he tried to recapture his form, perhaps to his detriment.
“Sometimes, we all know hitters’ feels will deceive them,” Brown said in March 2022, shortly before the start of the season.
“If he comes up with a thought, he has the right to try that,” hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc added. “It’s his swing, his career, and we’ve got to be there to help and support him, even if we don’t necessarily think that’s the right thing at that moment.”
While the 2022 season represented a step forward — Bellinger was a 1.2 WAR player — he still didn’t resemble the talent he once was. He hit the ball slightly harder, but his strikeout rate continued to rise, his walk rate dipped, and the one-time superstar finished the year with a 79 OPS+.
“I don’t think it’s ever been done as far as the spectrum of going from National League MVP to the struggles that we’ve seen over the last couple of years,” Roberts said. “It’s one of those things that you kind of hoped he was going to be a Dodger for the entirety of his career, but it just wasn’t meant to be.”
In November, with Bellinger set to earn about $18 million in arbitration, the Dodgers non-tendered their former prodigy. They expressed bringing Bellinger back on a lesser deal, but the Cubs were willing to pay him that $18 million on a one-year flier.
“I don’t think it’s Cody’s fault, I don’t think it’s our coaches’ fault, but sometimes a change of scenery is good,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said.
On Dec. 14, the Dodgers posted a thank-you video to Bellinger on social media charting his growth from Little League World Series standout to major-league star. It was then that the reality of the situation finally sunk in for Bellinger, who got emotional watching the video.
The tribute featured Bellinger’s first hit, his first home run at Dodger Stadium and a sampling of the 152 home runs he hit over his six-year Dodgers career. There was his cycle, the unanimous Rookie of the Year announcement, athletic catches in center field and walk-off blasts. It was all a reminder of the types of performances that once made broadcaster Joe Davis ponder on air, “Is there anything Bellinger can’t do?”
Now, with Bellinger in the opposing dugout, all that’s left to wonder is exactly what happened.
“I think the injury had something to do with it,” Roberts said. “There’s no one answer. I think Cody’s got to take some responsibility for it. I think us, as coaches, have to take responsibility for it. And, sometimes, maybe a different voice might kind of unlock some things in him because you can’t debate the skill set or the talent.”
On Friday, memories of that skill and talent flashed on the DodgerVision boards as his tribute video replayed. Wearing a different uniform, sporting a different number, Bellinger stood in right field, absorbed the video again and took off his cap to the home crowd cheering his name.
In his first at-bat, he continued taking in the applause from tens of thousands of Dodger fans — and suffered a pitch violation in the process. Two innings later, he roped his 71st double at Dodger Stadium.
For the first time, it was not for the home team.
“Obviously, it didn’t end how anyone really expected it to end,” Bellinger said. “But that’s life. I think I’ve accepted that.”
Rowan Kavner covers the Dodgers and NL West for FOX Sports. He previously was the Dodgers’ editor of digital and print publications. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.
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