Bellinger is finding his stroke

 

In his MVP season a year ago, LA's Cody Bellinger was a beast. He hit at a .305 clip, slugged 47 dingers and drove in 115 RBI. It was a phenomenal year.

In 2020, the year of a 60-game pandemic-shorted season, Bellinger has been a bust. Until recently he was hitting under .200 and seemed lost and overmatched at the plate.

What a difference a week can make.

In the last six games, Bellinger has gone 10-for-23, hit four homers, and knocked in four RBI. In that stretch, he is hitting at a .435 clip.

He brought his season average up to .225 with eight dingers and 17 RBI.

More importantly, Bellinger is hitting like Bellinger again.

Max Muncy, who also was slow out of the gate, has heated up as well. In the last six games, Muncy is 6-for-20 with three dingers and five RBI and hit for a .300 average. 

This bodes well for the Dodgers in their quest for a return to the World Series where they hope to finally, after 32 years, win it all.

With Bellinger and Muncy heating up the LA lineup is very hitterish. Mookie Betts is hitting .293 with 11 homers; Corey Seager is hitting .300 with eight dingers; Justin Turner is swinging a .294 bat with 19 RBI, and Chris Taylor is hitting a steady .256 with nine runs batted in. Austin Barnes may be the biggest surprise, hitting .273 with seven RBI. Toss in AJ Pollock at .263, five homers and 15 RBI and you have a lineup that is difficult for opposing pitchers to maneuver.

The starting rotation is a strength and the bullpen has been downright nasty. 

This may be the year.

Halfway point: Dodgers have all the tools to return to Series

 After sweeping the hapless Colorado Rockies over the weekend, the Dodgers sit atop the standings at 22-8, four games up on San Diego, and holding the best record in Major League Baseball.

At the abbreviated season's halfway point, the Dodgers have all the pieces in place to get back to the World Series and end the 32-year championship drought.

The signs are promising.

• Mookie Betts is everything Los Angeles hoped for when they signed him to a long-term contract. He's hitting .300 with 11 dingers, 24 RBI, five stolen bases, and clubhouse energy that is contagious.
• Cody Bellinger, after starting the year with a horrible case of MVP hangover, has broken out of the doldrums. Bellinger is back to raking and that's good news for LA. Corey Seager has recovered from the elbow surgery two years ago and looks like his old self. Seager is hitting .298 with seven homers and 20 RBI. 
• Justin Turner (.272, 18 RBI), AJ Pollock (.275, 21 RBI), and Chris Taylor (.258, 9 RBI) are having solid years and Austin Barnes (.273, 7 RBI) is producing from the catcher's spot. 
• Max Muncy, who also got off to a slow start, is heating up and has seven home runs and 13 RBI.

The Dodgers are deep. Will Smith is sharing the catcher's duties with Barnes and came off the IL last night and homered in an 11-2 slugfest. Kike Hernandez, who shows up all over the diamond, has gone yard three times and knocked in 11 runs. Joc Pederson, used mostly in a platoon role, has hit four homers and driven in eight runs. Edwin Rios, Keibert Ruiz, and Matt Beaty solidify what is arguably the strongest bench in baseball.

Starting pitching is above average with Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Julio Urias, Dustin May, and Ross Stripling all delivering steady performances. Over the weekend, Kershaw and Buehler delivered back-to-back 11 strikeout outings in shutting down the Rockies. Tony Gonsolin has started three games, pitched 14.2 innings, and has a 0.00 ERA - and he's still having a hard time breaking into the rotation.

But the biggest reason the Dodgers are primed to get back to the Series is the bullpen, where Los Angeles has assembled an imposing corps of hurlers who can swoop in and shut down a rally.

Joe Kelly (0.00 ERA), Adam Kolarek (0.00 ERA), Dylan Floro (0.69 ERA), Blake Treinen (0.75 ERA), Kenley Jansen (0.77 ERA), Caleb Ferguson (0.79 ERA), Jake McGee (0.90 ERA), Victor Gonzalez (1.80 ERA), Scott Alexander (2.00 ERA), Brusdar Graterol (3.38 ERA), Pedro Baez (3.97 ERA), and Dennis Santana (5.40 ERA) give the Dodgers the edge in an arms race.

Jansen is the closer, appearing in 13 games and going seven-for-seven in save opportunities. But Kelly, Treinen, McGee, and Graterol all have closer stuff. 

The Dodgers rolled out rookie reliever Gonzalez last night and all he did was pitch two innings, fan two, and limit the Rocks to one hit. 

October is on the horizon and the Dodgers have their eyes on the prize.

Pandemic baseball: Dodgers 60-game sprint

It's mid-August and Major League Baseball is one-third of the way through its compressed 60-game schedule.

Here are a few observations about the NL West-leading L.A. Dodgers and their main competition:

• Mookie Betts is everything he was hyped to be. He hits for average, he hits for power, he patrols right field like a guard dog and he runs the bases like Maury Wills. On top of that, he seems to be one of those clubhouse guys that lifts his teammates. Long live Mookie.
• Clayton Kershaw got his heater back. After several years of coping with a diminishing fastball, Kersh is hitting the gun at 94-95 again and now that he has a devastating slider to go with his nasty curve, he is showing flashes of his old self. Kershaw went seven innings and gave up only one hit the other night. It was a flashback to his dominating days. This is a pitcher.
• Cody Bellinger will be ok. Though his average is still well below the Mendoza line, Bellinger's bat woke up against the Angels this weekend. He had two dingers in one game and he's making hard contact. When Bellinger is right and Mookie is leading off, this team his serious firepower. Now let's talk about depth. Corey Seager is raking, Justin Turner just keeps on hitting, and Chris Taylor is off to a good start. AJ Pollock is looking like his glory days in Arizona. Max Muncy and Joc Pederson are struggling and Enrique Hernandez continues to be one of the most valuable utility players on the squad. Austin Barnes is hitting a respectable .250 while catcher of the future Will Smith sits with some neck discomfort.  
• The young bucks might be ready. When the Dodgers let Hyun Jin-Ryu and Kenta Maeda sign elsewhere it put the onus on L.A.'s next generation of starters, Walker Buehler, Julio Urias, Dustin May, and Tony Gonsolin. Buehler (0-0) has had a slow start, showing a 5.21 ERA through four starts. Urias is 2-0 with a 2.53 ERA. May is 1-1 with a 2.75 ERA and Gonsolin has yet to give up a run through 8.2 innings. Meanwhile, Kershaw is 2-1 with a 2.65 ERA and Ross Stripling is 3-1 with a 3.97 ERA. Starting pitching is solid.
• The bullpen could be the key to getting back to the World Series. Additions Jake McGee (0.00 ERA), Blake Treinen (0.96 ERA), and Brusdar Graterol (4.00 ERA) have solidified a pen that already had Kenley Jansen (0.96 ERA), Joe Kelly (0.00 ERA), Dylan Floro (0.00 ERA), Caleb Ferguson (1.13 ERA), Pedro Baez (2.89 ERA) and Scott Alexander (0.00 ERA) on staff. McGee, Treinen, Graterol, and Kelly all have closer stuff. Jansen appears to be back to full strength. He struck out Mike Trout on three pitches to secure last night's extra-inning win.
• Colorado and San Diego have both stepped it up and will contend for the NL West if the Dodgers falter. Charlie Blackmon (.438), Trevor Story (.321), Garrett Hampton (.313), and Daniel Murphy (.333) are lighting it up while Nolan Arenado is off to a slow start (.247). Colorado pitchers Antonio Senzatela (3-0), Jeff Hoffman (2-0), Kyle Freeland (2-0), and German Marquez (2-3) have pushed the Rockies to a strong start. Jon Gray (0-2), has yet to find his stride and has a 6.41 ERA.
• The Padres are 11-11 but have demonstrated that their player development is on track. Fernando Tatis Jr.(.310, 9 dingers, 21 RBI) is a budding superstar and Jake Cronenworth (.311), Wil Myers (.288), and Eric Hosmer (.286) are off to good starts. Manny Machado has yet to warm up (.217) but does have five homers and 13 RBI. San Diego starters Dinelson Lamet (2-1, 1.59 ERA) and Chris Paddack (2-2, 4.91 ERA) have showed splashes of brilliance and Zach Davies (2-2, 278 ERA) and Garrett Richards (1-1, .374 ERA) show promise.