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Dodgers: Why Cody Bellinger should win the NL MVP award
On Thursday the Dodgers will find out if Cody Bellinger will take home the National League MVP award and end a position player MVP drought.
By now, everyone associated with the Dodgers, fans, and players alike know all about the Dodgers’ World Series drought. What they may not know is that the Dodgers have another drought that has been going on since 1988. Although Clayton Kershaw won the NL MVP award in 2014, a position player has not won the award for the Dodgers since 1988.
Kirk Gibson won the NL MVP award that season by hitting 25 home runs and stealing 31 bases. Prior to Kirk Gibson, Steve Garvey won the NL MVP award in 1974 but since 1988 the Dodgers are looking for a position player to end that MVP drought. Cody Bellinger has a very good chance to end that drought on Thursday, and here is why Belli should take home the MVP award for the National League.
Bellinger’s defense and versatility are unmeasurable
Cody Bellinger mainly played right field during the 2019 season and he played it extraordinarily well. Bellinger won his first gold glove this season but he could have won it for centerfield or first base as well. While Anthony Rendon is also an excellent fielder, he only plays third base while Belli can fill in wherever he is needed and play centerfield which outside of shortstop and catcher, is the most important position to shore up a defense.
Christian Yelich rated negatively in right field with a -3 DRS rating and he only plays the corner outfield spots. Bellinger’s versatility allows the Dodgers to rest other players with Cody able to fill in and he is a defensive asset wherever he fills in at. When it comes to the defensive side of things, Bellinger is the best and most valuable defender over Anthony Rendon and Christian Yelich.
Bellinger’s second half was still productive
One of the biggest knocks on Cody Bellinger’s MVP candidacy is that his second half was awful and a struggle. After the All-Star break, Cody posted a slash line of .263/.371/.546. That is good for an OPS of .917. During the 2019 season, only eleven other players posted an OPS higher than that for the entire season. Trevor Story had a .917 OPS for his 2019 season and he is one of the best slugging shortstops in baseball.
Cody also slugged 17 home runs after the All-Star break which is four more than Yelich hit in the second half, although Yelich did have his season end a few weeks early. Anthony Rendon played the entire second half of the season and hit 14 home runs after the midsummer classic. Did Bellinger see his numbers decline in the second half? Absolutely, but he was still a productive hitter for the Dodgers.
Bellinger was most valuable to his club
The award is called the “Most Valuable Player” after all, and Cody Bellinger was more valuable to his club than Christian Yelich and Anthony Rendon. The Brewers went on a run after Christian Yelich went down and showed that even without Yelich they were able to get “hot” and make a run at the Wild Card game. Quietly, the Brewers’ offense was very good and had 4 hitters besides Yelich cross the 20 home run mark.
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While the Dodgers would likely make the postseason without Cody Bellinger, they would not have led the National League in wins without him. Given the extended absence of A.J. Pollock during the first half of the season and the struggles of Corey Seager, Cody Bellinger’s hot start was exactly what the Dodgers needed to pace them towards the best record in the National League.
Anthony Rendon was excellent in 2019 but he may not even be the best hitter on his team. Juan Soto is arguably the best young player in baseball and he filled the void left by Bryce Harper. Max Muncy or Justin Turner are in the debate as to who is the second-best Dodger hitter after Bellinger, but in terms of ability, they trail far behind Cody.
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So all together when taking a look at defense, versatility, and offense, the obvious pick for MVP should be Cody Bellinger. The MVP race will be close due to Bellinger’s second-half regression but he was still good enough to put together one of the finest seasons in LA Dodger history. Hopefully, voters felt the same way and Bellinger ends one of the Dodgers’ droughts since 1988 this year.