Dodgers: Seager/Bellinger vs. Sanchez/Judge

Though the Dodgers and Yankees have not played this season, there is still a competition going on between which dynamic duo is better. Is it Cody Bellinger and Corey Seager or Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge?

We are moving back towards an era dominated by the two big boys. The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees have the deepest pockets in the bigs. But they also have two of the deepest farm systems. From those systems, players have slowly been making their appearances and not disappointing at all. Now, these teams have four of the brightest young stars in the game.

The first of all four to be called up was Corey Seager. He came in during September of 2015 and promptly stole the starting job from veteran Jimmy Rollins. But he was just getting started. Last season was his rookie year, and along with winning the NL Rookie of the Year, he was also a finalist for the NL MVP.

The 23-year-old hit .308 last season with 26 home runs, 72 RBI and a .877 OPS. Many feared a sophomore slump but he’s not human, so of course, he got better this season. He is hitting .311 with 19 home runs, 64 RBI, a .900 OPS and already has more walks than he did all of last season with a month still to go. A mainstay in the middle of the lineup, Seager has made all the adjustments needed to maintain this incredible start to his career.

Gary Sanchez was the second to be called up. Had he been up to begin the 2016 season he would’ve been the no doubt selection for AL Rookies of the Year. He played in just 53 games last season but hit 20 homers while hitting .299. He took the league by storm upon his arrival, much like Judge this season, and you couldn’t get away from the daily updates from the main stream media.

This season he has hit more home runs (27), but it has been in more games (93). He isn’t hitting bombs at the same rate he was last season, but then again nobody can maintain that for an entire season. He still has a deadly bat and could jump the yard anywhere because of his raw strength. He is 24-years-old and could become an elite power-hitter when he hits his full stride.

All Rise! The Judge was the third to be called up. He was first called up during September of 2016. He struggled mightily in his first taste of the MLB and struck out half the time he came up to bat. But luckily for him and all Yankee fans, he was motivated by his failure all offseason and worked his behind off making adjustments to his swing.

Well, that work paid off. He started the season scorching hot and had all of baseball raving. He played so great that he made fans overreact as many called him the new face of baseball. He was hitting .329 with 30 home runs before the break. He has since hit a brick wall., hitting .188 with seven home runs. He’s reverted to his old habits and is striking out about 45 percent of the time since the break.

Last, but definitely not least, to be called up was 22-year-old, Cody Bellinger. People had heard about him for years. But after seeing Corey Seager come up and shine, fans expected nothing less from Belli. Expectations were sky high from the start. Cody has lived up and surpassed those lofty expectations that the Los Angeles faithful had for him.

When he was called up, Roberts did not expect him to stay on the roster long. But Bellinger forced his hand, and the skipper had no choice but to keep the versatile lefty with the club. He hit 25 bombs en route to an All-Star game appearance. And since the break, he has gone the opposite route of Judge and has improved, hitting .309 with nine home runs. Bellinger also plays multiple positions which makes him even more valuable.

More from Dodgers Way

• Kevin Kiermaier being ‘top target’ to replace Cody Bellinger is bad sign for Dodgers
• Are the Dodgers really prepared to hand Shohei Ohtani a blank check?
• Dodgers fans shouldn’t dismiss interest in Dansby Swanson for this reason
• Giants laughably sign pitcher that Dodgers absolutely own
• Dave Roberts’ quote about Padres in NLDS should motivate Dodgers

Bellinger and Judge are locks for the Rookie of the Year awards in their respective leagues. Both will also receive some votes in the MVP race but Judge’s fall off will hurt him very badly, and the competition in the NL is just too steep for Bellinger to overcome for now. Judge is three years Bellinger’s elder; this just shows how young Belli is.

Seager and Sanchez would both be ROY winners if New York would’ve called Sanchez up a bit sooner. Seager is something special, not to say Sanchez isn’t, but Sanchez just is not on the same level as the 23-year-old shortstop. Both players are fun to watch, but Corey just has a better all-around game, hitting not just for power like Sanchez, but he also hits for average and is the much better defender at his respective position.

All four of these players are fun to watch and will continue to be that way for many many years. But the Seager/Bellinger duo is a tier ahead of the Sanchez/Judge duo.

The LA duo just has the consistency that the NY duo lacks and are arguably the biggest reason the Dodgers have the best record in baseball by 13.5 games and are on pace for 116 wins. The NY duo cannot say that.

Seager is going to be an MVP candidate for years, and usually, when it comes to pairs, the team with the best player has the edge, and Seager is the best among the four and gives LA the edge. Not mention that Seager (23) and Bellinger (22) are younger than Sanchez (24) and Judge (25).

Next: Little Things to Fix

The Dodgers and Yankees will have an opportunity to meet in the World Series this season; it’s because of these studs. If they do meet up, seeing the future of this league clash will be super exciting to watch.