Cody Bellinger staying positive during a challenging season

Los Angeles Dodger outfielder Cody Bellinger is finally getting to enjoy a divisional race in his fifth season.

2021 is new territory for Cody Bellinger. Normally at this time of year the Dodgers have a comfortable division lead and Bellinger is coming off an All-Star game appearance, perhaps in the MVP conversation.

Instead, the Dodgers trail San Francisco by 3.5 games and Bellinger is battling his way through his most challenging season. The slash line is ugly: .168/.267/.291.

Give Bellinger credit for staying positive despite the numbers.

“There is more to the game than just hitting and this is a fact,” Bellinger said. “Whether I am hitting or not, I am always going to be able to play defense, run the bases the right way, be a good teammate. The stick will come.”

Los Angeles Dodgers: Cody Bellinger staying positive

Bellinger has been spending time in the weight room building his strength back up. He is optimistic a break through is on the way sooner than later.

“My body is feeling good,” Bellinger said. “I’m getting some strength back for sure, I can feel it. It’s been a process. It’s not fun, but it is fun looking back, and oh, this is good for me.”

When you struggle, even in busy Los Angeles, fans and media are going to notice. The social media world has been blasting away at Bellinger and his struggles. Getting away from the ballpark and the grind of the season is difficult for many players, but Bellinger has a strategy.

“To take care of your mental, you get rid of social media and you just focus on yourself and what you need to do that day to get better,” Bellinger said. “Then you focus on your teammates and how you can help them in anyway you can.”

Bellinger is helping out his teammates playing right field again as Mookie Betts takes some strain off his body at second base. Bellinger played right in 2019 so it’s not unfamiliar and has an added bonus at Dodger Stadium.

“I like right field, it’s fun it’s different,” Bellinger said. “It is just a different perspective of the game. It’s close to the fans at home.”

The divisional race with San Francisco appears like it will go down to the wire. There are only three games left between the two on labor day weekend.

“Even in the years past they always played us well,” Bellinger said. “We saw this year the additions they made, they are legit there is no way around it. They just play baseball, got a lot of baseball players. It’s an exciting time.”

Dodger Stadium was lively in the recently completed Houston Astros series. Expect more of the same down the stretch and expect Bellinger to have fun no matter what occurs in the batters box.

Cody Bellinger spoke to FanSided on behalf of all-star allergy relief  product, Flonase Sensimist to educate fellow allergy-sufferers on how he goes to bat against lingering symptoms.