Dodgers: Bob Nightengale’s Cody Bellinger reverse jinx is impressive

We’re not sure what woke Dodgers slugger Cody Bellinger up.

Perhaps it was the strange overload of talent on the roster that briefly left him benched while at his lowest point.

Maybe his swing clicked just in time for the stretch run, quelling worries that the former MVP was stuck in one of those “nothing” phases of his “all or nothing” game.

Or maybe, just maybe, there was a little magic in the air this week. A plume of pixie dust that inhabited baseball writer Bob Nightengale’s fingers only briefly, allowing him to reverse the trends of history with a tiny chunk of words (all spelled correctly, no typos).

On Aug. 4, that fateful day, Nightengale did what he does best: succinctly pointed out Bellinger’s foibles, which (to that point) were an undeniable fact.

Even when Nightengale doesn’t ask a question of any kind, though, and instead simply lays out a list of statistics, his unique power still seems to work flawlessly. Since this tweet was sent, Bellinger has been on fire, laying waste to the Phillies this week yet again.

Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Cody Bellinger was woken up by Bob Nightengale.

This Dodgers team has needed someone to step up on offense and cash in their enormous number of runners left on base. Following Mookie Betts’ recent hip irritation, the man for the job seems to have been — you guessed it — Bob Nightengale.

Though, yes, Bellinger has played some role in the whole thing, too.

After triple-slashing an admittedly horrendous .118/.186/.215 in 25 supposedly-healthy games in July, Belli has picked up the pace significantly once the calendar turned to August, socking .320 with a monstrous 1.250 OPS and four homers after getting some much-needed rest.

We’re not positive what breathed more life into the slugger: Dave Roberts giving him some headspace, or Bob Nightengale rattling off his ghastly stats, then crossing his arms proudly, knowing exactly what he’d done.

Down the stretch, the Dodgers are going to need this energized version of Bellinger daily to provide middle-of-the-order thump.

They just have to hope Nightengale doesn’t notice his turnaround and tweet about it.

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