The Chicago Cubs made a cheap move this offseason when they signed Cody Bellinger to a one-year, $17.5 million contract.
The North Siders were hoping to see Bellinger bounce back to his old form from his early days with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The slugger won the NL Rookie of the Year Award in 2017 and followed that up with an MVP season in 2019.
So far, Bellinger appears to be off to a pretty good start.
On Monday night, he collected five hits as the Cubs rolled over the Oakland Athletics and beat them by a final of 10-1.
On MLB Now, insiders Jon Heyman and Hannah Keyser broke down the success that Bellinger has been having lately.
Cody Bellinger is walking more, striking out less, and just went 5-5 at the plate yesterday 👀#MLBNow looks at how he’s been productive with the @Cubs this season so far.@JonHeyman | @HannahRKeyser | #NextStartsHere pic.twitter.com/4HcDdYtBzZ
—MLB Now (@MLBNow) April 18, 2023
Keyser pointed out that Bellinger had been swinging and missing a lot during his final days with the Dodgers and that now, he is doing a lot less of that.
She also pointed out that he has been able to handle breaking balls better, and while hitting fastballs is still a bit of a struggle, he has made some key offensive improvements.
Bellinger is hitting for a .310 average and his strikeout percentage is down to just 13.8 percent in comparison to his 27.1 percent mark over the 2021 and 2022 season.
Heyman jumped in and stressed the importance of the Cubs’ move to sign the slugger and former MVP.
He also mentioned that he had been around the Cubs clubhouse during spring training and he noticed that Bellinger seemed to have a little extra energy and was working incredibly hard to reinvent himself.
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