Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star Cody Bellinger went into the past season with plenty of motivation after a bit of a down year in 2018. He finished that season as a part of a platoon due to his inability to hit left-handed pitching, and wanted to get back to being an everyday player.
Not only was Bellinger able to get back on track in 2019, but he actually developed into one of the best players in baseball, exceeding all expectations en route to winning the National League MVP Award.
After bouncing around positions in his first two seasons, Bellinger figured to anchor right field in order to fill a void created when Yasiel Puig was traded. He still wound up playing first base and finished the season in center field, but going into 2020, Bellinger was ranked one of the best right fielders in all of baseball by ESPN’s Buster Olney. The list was put together with opinions from evaluators and others around baseball taken into account.
Some of the brightest young stars in the sport play right field, so even though Bellinger is coming off an MVP season in which he also won a Gold Glove, he still came in at No. 3 on the list. Mookie Betts and Christian Yelich, who both won MVPs in 2018, came in at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.
Aaron Judge, Ronald Acuña Jr., Bryce Harper, Austin Meadows, Jorge Soler, Michael Conforto and Max Kepler then rounded out the top 10, in that order.
Betts and Yelich both followed up their 2018 campaigns with All-Star seasons in 2019, so it is not surprising to see them at or near the top of the list. If Bellinger is able to repeat his success in 2020 then he will likely take the No. 1 spot a year from now.
In 156 games this past season, Bellinger hit .305/.406/.629 with 34 doubles, 47 home runs, 121 runs scored, 115 runs and 15 stolen bases. Couple that with elite defense, and that makes for a player with an extremely bright future.
The Dodgers have been linked to Betts in trade rumors this winter. If they are able to acquire him to pair with Bellinger in the outfield then that would make for perhaps the best duo in all of baseball.
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