Fansided

It might hurt now, but the Dodgers should still be World Series favorites in 2020

By Joshua Sadlock

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 06: Max Muncy #13 of the Los Angeles Dodgers is greeted by teammate Cody Bellinger #35 after hitting a solo home run in the fifth inning during Game 3 of the NLDS between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on Sunday, October 6, 2019 in Washington, District of Columbia. (Photo by Alex Trautwig/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 06: Max Muncy #13 of the Los Angeles Dodgers is greeted by teammate Cody Bellinger #35 after hitting a solo home run in the fifth inning during Game 3 of the NLDS between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on Sunday, October 6, 2019 in Washington, District of Columbia. (Photo by Alex Trautwig/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /
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WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 07: Cody Bellinger #35 of the Los Angeles Dodgers makes the catch on a sacrifice fly hit by Anthony Rendon #6 of the Washington Nationals to drive in a run in the sixth inning of game four of the National League Division Series at Nationals Park on October 07, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 07: Cody Bellinger #35 of the Los Angeles Dodgers makes the catch on a sacrifice fly hit by Anthony Rendon #6 of the Washington Nationals to drive in a run in the sixth inning of game four of the National League Division Series at Nationals Park on October 07, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

4. Bellinger’s star continues to rise

If you had asked me to describe Dodgers outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger before the season, I would have called him a borderline All-Star with potential to develop into a consistent 35-40 homer threat if he could improve his contact skills. Bellinger’s first two seasons in the big leagues were excellent. He hit .263/.347/.522 with 64 home runs and 173 RBI in 294 games in 2017 and 2018, but predicting that the 24-year-old would make a run at the NL MVP would have definitely been a stretch.

Bellinger completely flipped a switch at the plate this season thanks to a dramatic improvement in his plate discipline. He was hitting close to .400 at the end of May and rolled to a final line of .305/.406/.629 with 34 doubles, 47 home runs, 115 RBI and 15 stolen bases. Bellinger also walked 95 times against only 108 strikeouts and played borderline Gold Glove defense in the outfield. The Dodgers have finally settled on using him as an outfielder, after using him in over 200 games at first base his first two years in the league.

There are still things for Bellinger to work on as he continues to improve his game, but it’s getting harder and harder to find holes in him as an overall player. Given more freedom to run, he could probably approach 30 steals. His defense is elite and his strikeouts were way down. The next step will be holding MVP levels for an entire year and stepping up in the playoffs. After hitting close to .400 for two months, Bellinger hit only .264/.373/.565 over his final 106 games, but calling those non-elite numbers is a stretch.

If Bellinger runs his stat line from 2019 back next season, there will be little opponents can do to slow down the Dodgers. He is surrounded by a deep lineup that offers very little relief for opposing pitchers. Through all their playoff seasons, the one thing that seemed to be missing on the Dodgers was a bona fide superstar hitter. It appears they’ve found that in Cody Bellinger.

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