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MLB awards watch: National League MVP race

By William Schneiderhan

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 14: Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon (6) hits a single during the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Washington Nationals on April 14, 2019, at Nationals Park, in Washington D.C. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 14: Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon (6) hits a single during the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Washington Nationals on April 14, 2019, at Nationals Park, in Washington D.C. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – APRIL 24: Cody Bellinger #35 of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits a two run home run against the Chicago Cubs during the sixth inning of a game at Wrigley Field on April 24, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – APRIL 24: Cody Bellinger #35 of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits a two run home run against the Chicago Cubs during the sixth inning of a game at Wrigley Field on April 24, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images) /

1. Cody Bellinger, 1B/OF, Los Angeles Dodgers

.424 BA, 12 HR (2nd), 30 RBI (2nd), 1.391 OPS (1st) and 2.5 WAR (1st).

Cody Bellinger burst onto the scene in 2017 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He took the baseball world by storm and became one of the most feared hitters in baseball. That year, he hit 39 homers and drove in 97 on his way to being named the NL Rookie of the Year.

Last year, Bellinger took a step back and struggled. He only hit 25 homers and knocked in 76 while playing in 162 games.

This year, Bellinger has buried any talk of him being a one-season wonder, as he has been the best player in the NL, and perhaps all of baseball so far. He leads the league in OBP (.500) and slugging percentage (.891), to go with the numbers listed above.

Looking deeper, Bellinger has transformed himself into a line drive, hard-contact beast. He is third in the NL with a line-drive percentage of 33.8, and top-10 with a hard-contact percentage of 52.5. His current average-exit velocity of 93.2 is a career-best.

Bellinger has cut down on his strikeouts, increased his walks and has been able to drastically raise his line drives and hard contact while seeing his fly-ball numbers drop. Simply put, he is seeing the ball, squaring it up and driving it all over the diamond.

The best part about Bellinger’s start is he really hasn’t tailed off. He has hit around .400 for most of the season and his home-road numbers are similar.

Next. Is Domingo German turning into a star for the Yankees?. dark

It’s fair to think that Bellinger may have gotten homer-happy last season, which left holes in his swing. Now, he has transformed himself into a far more complete hitter, and he has been unreal to start the season.

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