5 former players the Dodgers missed most during latest failed championship run

If only LA was still clutch ... ah, well.
San Francisco Giants v Los Angeles Dodgers
San Francisco Giants v Los Angeles Dodgers / Harry How/GettyImages
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Cody Bellinger

After 2022, the Dodgers' relationship with Cody Bellinger officially hit a breaking point after two years of substandard production. Another poor year from Belli wouldn't have helped get the Dodgers back on track, but a return to his pre-shoulder injury form would've helped a great deal. Too bad that player was forever gone, and the magic couldn't be recaptured with any twea -- you're kidding. Who unlocked him? The Cubs? Oh, boy. Thought the Dodgers were the best at doing that. Oof.

The good news? Bellinger added 100 points to his OPS between 2021 and 2022 in LA. The bad news? His 2021 OPS was .542.

The Dodgers had every reason in the world to move on from Belli at his exorbitant one-year salary this past offseason, but you can't deny that they were at their best when he was mashing in October, helping the team claw out of a 3-1 deficit in a now-legendary 2020 NLCS performance and drilling an extra two homers in the World Series (with a beefed-up shoulder).

Even in 2021, he managed to regroup and line a clutch single in the NLDS against the Giants, then hit .412 with a dinger in the NLCS and briefly flipped the series. If only the Dodgers had discovered the Cubs' secrets first...