Editorials

Cody Bellinger Bombs: Chronicling The NLCS Game 7 Home Run

Dodgers Nation will be writing about ‘Bellinger Bombs’. The Dodgers have one of the best young power hitters in the game under contract for the foreseeable future. Writers like Sam Miller have asked the question ‘What if Cody Bellinger is going to break the all-time home run record’. As the career home runs continue to pile up, we will examine each one in greater detail. We will allow you; the fan, to savor each one as they should be. Because what’s more fun than a home run? (You can look back at the collection here). 

Oh, you thought we were done? Well we aren’t done tallying up Cody Bellinger dingers until he stops hitting them. Just because the home run came in a game seven of the NLCS and allowed him to become the youngest position-player NLCS series MVP of all-time doesn’t mean it doesn’t count. In fact, this one counts more than any he’s hit as a Dodger. This could be the Bellinger home run that people my age tell their kids about – especially if the Dodgers finish this thing off with a World Series title.



Let’s take a look at Bellinger’s fourth career postseason home run in more detail.

The Home Run

This was Bellinger’s fourth career postseason home run, and first of 2018. Last season, he hit one in each series.

How Bellinger’s Home Run Impacted The Game


When Bellinger took his place in the batters box at Miller Park – the Dodgers trailed 1-0 and were a 43 percent win expectancy. After he hit the Chacin pitch in the upper tank, the Dodgers jumped to a 61 percent win expectancy for a swing of 17 percent. If you are like me, you felt pretty good about their chances in the game after the home run; despite some tepid moments to come. Of course, Bellinger went on to have this be a signature moment and be crowned MVP of the series following the Dodgers 5-1 victory.

The Victim

Mr. Jhoulys Chacin, we have been here before. Unofficially, this was Bellinger’s third career home run off Chacin – a guy he sees the ball well from. Chacin had a great scoreless outing earlier in game three of the series, and finished as a 15-8 pitcher during the regular season. This was no small order from Bellinger, it came off an accomplished big league starter in a huge spot. Chacin will likely never give up a more costly home run in his career – if you want to think about it in another way.

Exit Velocity, Distance, Pitch Data, and Angle

Bellinger jumped on a 90 mile per hour two-seam fastball from Chacin, and it went. Boy, did it go; to the tune of 425 feet. The ball landed in the upper deck of Miller Park in right-center field, at an exit velocity of 107 MPH. It’s surprising to see the launch-angle trajectory of the home run was only 27 degrees at it’s highest point. As you watch the replay of the home run and hear the groan of the home crowd, it appeared to be higher than that. This was a tape-measure blast, textbook Cody Bellinger.

Overall Bellinger-Bomb Prominence Score

It can be argued that this was Bellinger’s biggest home run of his professional career. Nevertheless, it helped send the Dodgers back to a second straight World Series and continued to make him a household name on baseball’s national stage. That said, we don’t give it a perfect ten only because it didn’t come at home. That would have made it perfect in our book. Still, this is one you never forget as long as you live.

Dodgers’ Nation HR Prominence Score: 9.5

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Staff Writer

Staff Writer features content written by our site editors along with our staff of contributing writers. Thank you for your readership.

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