Dodgers: Cody Bellinger’s Historic Start – By the Numbers
It is no secret by now that Cody Bellinger is absolutely the hottest hitter on the planet. When he arrived as a rookie just a couple of seasons ago, he amassed a bunch of rookie records, but now he is shattering all-time Major League Baseball records. He is not just shattering them, he is making them pale in comparison to what he has done to start this season off for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Cody Bellinger continued his assault on the March/April record books today:
– His 14 HRs tied him for most in MLB history before May 1
– He extended his total base record to 94
– His 36 RBI are 1 behind Ron Cey's 1977 record
– His 2 hits established a new LAD record for hits (44) pic.twitter.com/yRrYwUlpcn
— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) April 28, 2019
Bellinger Now
Let’s take a look at his base numbers and let me give you a hint. Cody James Bellinger leads the entire league in all of the stats listed except DRS and I have included his current pace (given 650 plate appearances) with the current total:
AVG: .427 | R: 30 (163) | HR: 14 (76) | RBI: 36 (190) | OBP: .500 | SLG: .913
Advanced stats
OPS: 1.413 | ISO: .470 | wOBA: .551 | wRC+: 253 | WAR: 2.7 (14.6) | DRS: 6 (33)
As Joe Davis once exclaimed: Cody Bellinger, you are ridiculous!
Some of those numbers that he has already put up are gaudy. Now let us see how he stacks among the all-time ranks for the start of the month. Here are his ranks all-time for a singular March/April start to the season (minimum: 75 plate appearances):
AVG: .427 (2nd)
HR: 14 (tied-1st all time with Albert Pujols and Christian Yelich)
RBI: 36 (1st)
OPS: 1.413 (4th)
wRC+: 253 (4th)
That is pretty historic. Wow.
All Dodgers Ever
Now let us take a look at how powerful this month has been among all months for all Dodgers ever:
AVG: 5th
R: 1st
HR: 1st
RBI: 1st
H: t-1st
OBP: 3rd
SLG: 1st
OPS: 1st
wRC+: 2nd
All of MLB, All-Time
How about a glance at Cody Bellinger’s start versus all months of all players ever along with who he is tied for (some Hall-of-Fame type players):
AVG: 38th (Ichiro Suzuki)
R: 11th (Alex Rodriguez)
HR: 8th (Jeff Kent)
RBI: 6th (Nolan Arenado)
H: 58th (Ichiro Suzuki)
OBP: 78th (Jim Edmonds)
SLG: 10th (Albert Pujols)
OPS: 9th (Lance Berkman)
wRC+: 14th (David Ortiz)
Lastly, let us see what Bellinger needs to do for the rest of the season (assumed 650 plate appearances) to accomplish the .300/.400/.500 triple-slash as well as the gaudy 1.000 OPS:
.300/.400/.500
AVG: .270 (easy)
OBP: .376 (difficult, but possible)
SLG: .403 (extremely easy)
1.000 OPS
OPS: .903 (very possible)
https://twitter.com/DanJPreciado/status/1122642572747341824
Final Thoughts
We are looking at a future MVP for our own team in Cody Bellinger and that is apparent through the numbers.
Now, let’s go along for the ride and see how Cody performs for the rest of the season.
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