Throughout the course of Spring Training, a number of Los Angeles Dodgers players have dealt with minor, nagging injuries, with Cody Bellinger among the most recent to deal with an issue.
The 2019 National League MVP is coming off a career season in which he batted .305/.406/.629 with 47 home runs, 121 runs scored and 115 RBI. He got off to a hot start to this spring as well, hitting .308/.357/.462 in his first five games before being scratched from Monday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds due to side discomfort.
A video surfaced of Bellinger taking a violent swing at Top Golf during Albert Pujols’ charity event the night before, but he assured everyone that the injury was not serious and did not occur due to the golf swing.
Despite not being in the lineup once again on Wednesday after the team had a day off on Tuesday, Bellinger confirmed once again that the injury is not serious and he is actually now feeling 100% healthy, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
Cody Bellinger said he did not hurt himself golfing. He said he had a knot in his back and he’s okay to have a full workout today.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) March 4, 2020
Bellinger on his health: “You guys can write the ”
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) March 4, 2020
Bellinger dealt with a similar back issue last spring and ended up being fine after a few days of rest, so this is nothing for Dodger fans to be worried about.
The 24-year-old takes care of his body as well as any player in the league, playing in 156 games last year and 162 in 2018. It makes sense to be cautious during the spring though to ensure that the issue does not become serious enough to the point where he is missing Opening Day and regular-season games.
After playing mostly right field in 2019, Bellinger will shift over to center in 2020 after the addition of Mookie Betts. Both players won Gold Gloves in 2019, so L.A. should have one of the best defensive outfields in all of baseball to go along with their potent lineup.
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