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Dodgers top prospect Cody Bellinger has finally gotten the call, and will suit up for his new club Tuesday night against Ty Blach and the Giants.
Don Mattingly’s outfielders— Yasiel Puig, Joc Pederson, Andrew Toles, Scott Van Slyke, Kike Hernandez, Brett Eibner, Franklin Gutierrez and Trayce Thompson — are a combined 56-for-253 (.221) with 10 homers on the year, so an upgrade was needed.
Plus, with Pederson and Gutierrez currently on the disabled list, the Dodgers are lacking in both talent and manpower.
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Scouting Report
Cody Bellinger will be 22 mid-season, and has proven to the organization that he is ready to take the leap. He is a polished, four-tool player with an improved approach, plus power and the ability to use the whole field, and can make an impact in Los Angeles right off the bat.
Hitting Stats
The six-foot, four-inch lefty smashed 25 homers in 477 plate appearances between Double- and Triple-A last year, knocking in 71 runs and posting a .271/.365/.507 slash line— he even hit .273 with six long balls against lefties. Through 77 PA in 2017, he has totaled five homers, 15 runs scored, 15 RBI and a massive .343/.429/.627 line.
Playing Time
A naturally gifted first baseman by trade, Bellinger has spent time in all three outfield spots throughout his time in the minors, and will almost exclusively man the outfield as long as he is up this year— barring an injury to Adrian Gonzalez. With a plus fielding tool, Bellinger should find ways to squeeze into the Dodgers’ lineup even when the team regains full health.
The Strikeouts
There are concerns surrounding his high strikeout rates (28.6 percent so far this year), but he did show improvements in the area last season and should continue to make strides with more experience at the higher levels, much like Anthony Rizzo did early in his career.
Rizzo’s K rate consistently sat north of 20 percent in the minors, and he fanned an absurd 30.1 percent of the time in his first taste of the big leagues in 2011. He has, however, cut that number down a mere 12.1 percent in 2017 as he has developed into an MVP-caliber player.
Like Rizzo, Bellinger possesses a smooth, uppercut power stroke from the left side of the plate and a glove that could one day turn to gold. While he may struggle at times to adjust to big league pitching early on, his ceiling could actually match that of Rizzo.
Fantasy Outlook
With a relatively short porch just inside the right field foul pole and a lineup loaded with All-Star potential, the young slugger is diving head-first into a solid environment. Temper your expectations a bit, but Bellinger is the real deal.
He should be owned in all NL-only and 12-team mixed formats, and could be worth a flier in deeper 10-team leagues. It should also go without saying that he is one of the more appealing prospects for keeper and dynasty purposes.
