The RISE And FALL Of Cody Bellinger 

Will we ever see him again?

A combination of not mentally adjusting to how he was pitched, and that injury affecting him more than he/the Dodgers are willing to publicly admit is why his performance dropped

Hes still one of the best defensive outfielders in the game so he'll always have a spot somewhere, even if its just as a late inning defensive replacement

as a dodgers fan he shouldnt have changed his swing. i wish LA would admit more about his injury and struggles because with the injuries to mookie and others we need him to be at least better than replaceable. still rooting for him and i would give him another year and some competition in center to get this figured out

Now do one on Christian Yelich

All I want is for Cody to succeed been rooting for him since 2017 and these years it’s been rough

It’s not some Jose altuve stuff where his confidence dropped and he bounces back, and remains one of the top 20 players in the game but bellinger went from being a top 5 player to not even being on the charts. as a giants fan I still really hope this guy can bounce back.

I actually feel sorry for Cody. I heard and once read that it was the Dodgers who messed with his natural swing, altered it in a terrible way and now Cody just can't find his way back to how it was.

I sure hope so. But man I’ll tell ya at least once a game he has an atbat in which he looks completely foolish. Strikes out on a ball that is either in the dirt or a foot off the plate. If he can get even halfway back to where he was at in ‘17-‘19….. look out

He hit my favorite homerun ever in 2020 against atl

His defense is still amazing. He covers so much ground with a great glove.

It’s so sad he had such an aspiring career and should have had a hall of fame career now he’s barely being mediocre

"There is nothing worse than an idiot with initiative"; which seems to be Bellinger's case. He tried to fix something that wasn't broken and ever since he hasn't figured out how to go back to his 2018 shape. His defense has gone down too, he's not that bold in the outfield anymore, I guess because he had a couple of injuries and now is more careful. Dodgers ain't trading him before his FA, but they're not gonna extend him either

This year, I'm growing tiredsome with Cody. Changing his stance every game and being reckless in the outfield with his lack of communication. Nearly killing CT3 twice and cracking Mookie ribs. I still believe he can bounce back being the player that he once was. MVP? maybe not.

0:47 I remember that like it was yesterday! Man I LOVED that throw! The way the ball goes into the stands...magnificant!!

Glad you made this video. Dodgers are my team and this has been so so painful to watch. Defensively, sure...he's amazing but he just seems lost at the plate. He's a different player and I don't see it coming back....maybe a change of scenery might do him good.

its like he is seeing the ball late and has developed aswing hitch like barkley did for his golf swing.

I’m a giants fan but I hate to see any young player fall off this bad. I hope the best for him

On the plus side he'll be only 27 in a few weeks and he's still a plus defender. Also the team is good enough to carry his bat. Still I wonder if the Dodgers will non-tender him next offseason and let him become a free-agent a year early. It's not like they are going to give him a long-term deal and they may feel they can do better with someone else.

Now it's time for a Yelich video

"Regression" is understandable, if ya have a broken leg, ribs & dislocated shoulder. If he has a chance to, he may "get back", still young. He sure clocked one last night....Great piece, so well edited & done, was fascinating. Thank You.

I have a theory - it’s his new girlfriend. She sucked the talent out of him.

He tries to hit every ball in the parking lot. Just make contact! You would think having Freeman on the team would help with his approach.

He'll be alright. Even when he struggles, he still comes up with big plays, especially in the playoffs. Without his catches or his big hits the last few postseasons, Dodgers exit early. His defense is still ELITE. He's easily one of, if not the best defensive CFs in baseball. He may never hit much higher than. 260 again, but he'll still deliver 25 HRs per season and can still get it done with his legs when needed. Expecting him to be MVP again is probably out of the question, but because of his pop and what he can do defensively, he'll always have value.

Bellinger's quick decline has to be one of the BIGGEST mysteries in baseball. How does a guy go from being an MVP a few years back to being unplayable now??? What happened? Was it an injury? PEDs ???

I remember watching his first AB of 2022 spring training and groaning out loud at his swing. It just looked so fat and exaggerated. I have him in fantasy and even though his average and OPS suck, he still has more RBI+Runs than hits, not to mention his incredible defense. I think his 'fall' is overrated a bit. He is still fairly clutch and stays healthy. Many Dodgers are having horrible offensive years like JT and especially Muncy. I'm long on Cody. He'll be an allstar again soon.

It never a good thing to change your batting stance that much, it amazing how some players in baseball are really good then lose confidence and can never get it back.

If you watch Cody throughout the years it is amazing how often the guy has fiddled with his swing. Guys make adjustments yes but I feel like Belli changes every couple weeks.

Did you know his dad was a major leaguer? That might explain his taking to baseball at such a young age. The dude is 26…he’s got time.

My opinion on Bellinger is, he was motivated and into it at first and had big stats ..however over the years it just seems like he has become the stereotype of the stoner who doesn't care about anything...and it really shows in his lack of production

It will be interesting to see if the shift will change his approach. I could see him leveling his swing out and being a 270 AVG 17 HR 20 SB gold glove player

I never expect hitters who take that long swooping swing to last in the majors. Watch all the great hitters and they don't do it" Mantle, Mays, Griffey and on and on.

Jerry Harriston had a good take on this, his bat mechanics have flattened out too much. Look from his MVP season until now. It’s hard to hit if your hands aren’t ready and I think that’s his biggest problem. Luckily bat mechanics can be fixed he just has to be willing to change them up

Smoking too much of the reefer

Ever since he hurt himself in the 2020 playoffs he has not been the same but he is starting to recover plus he’s a great defensive player.

I think it his thinking. You see him swinging at pitches way out of the zone, looking like he is not even trying. He also changes his swing way to much

If Cody continues to under perform offensively....not even his great defense will save him.

Love the content

As someone who has had 2 major shoulder surgeries I am of the opinion his shoulder may not have been fully healed even though he has played. After my surgeries it took me about 3 years for my shoulder to be what I would call normal. Just my opinion but I think he bounces back in 23 with a shoulder back to full strength.

He looks like his timing is off: he’s starting his swing too late compared to the first three years of his career especially. With a long swing starting from a really vertical stance, he’s not getting around on the ball quickly enough anymore, and when he does, he’s still too upright, so there’s not enough power compared to when he could act quicker, shift his body, and get more recoil and power in his swing. I’m not sure in his sixth year he can make his reaction time quicker again-more likely, he’ll need to make his stance and/or swing more compact to compensate for the change in timing….

It’s all mental. It always is.

He is way to young and it's way to early even this year to say he has fallen. Even if this is a throw away year he is still young enough to have a great career. We shall see.

Dude went from Mike trout to Kevin kiermaier.

His drop-off is the stuff of legends. First 3 seasons he was a .280 hitter who had a 162 game avg of 40 HRs and an .928 OPS, Last 3 seasons he js a .201 hitter with a 40% drop off in HRs and an OPS of .642 His overall slugging for seasons 1 thru 3 was .560 which is less than .1 away from his TOTAL OPS of .642.

Great journalism! Now..let’s dig into the Biomechanics (Swing) vs. the Neuroscience of Hitting. The motor that drives hitting isn’t the biomechanics. The motor that drives hitting is the brain. When an athlete is dealing with a rapid moving object like a baseball, that athlete needs to get his eyes into the correct position “on time”.. If the eyes aren’t in the correct position and not on time, the hitter doesn’t get the information about the ball, to the brain, accurately. He did at one point. But, that pattern, that technique.., can fade away!

But what he does with the glove is incredible. He wins games with his defense. Also, Belli always comes in clutch in big moments.

Honestly I think he needs to go to a new place, St Louis looks pretty good for him to reignite his career

This happens to everyone I choose to draft in fantasy baseball. They are a superstar until the year I draft them.

He went 2 for 3 against the braves last night and missed a home run by inches against one of the best left handers in the game

Why’d you say the dodgers lost in heartbreaking fashion instead of the astros cheated. Say it how it is

This is why I can’t stand crazy celebrations like that. Stop tackling eachother. Just do a crazy handshake and move on. As a Yankee fan, every time I see Judge jumping and elbow smashing, I wince.

Idk. I think that the baseball community is overreacting on this one. You can't really judge based on a shortened season followed by a season with a couple of injuries. In both of those seasons, Cody was still clutch and came through when it mattered the most. As a Dodgers' fan I'm watching every games and yeah, sure there are some really frustrating ABs from him, but he's still solid. Played good against the Braves. Some of the Dodgers' line up has more serious slumps/is falling off more than Belli, and no one talks about it. You also forget the mental side and the fact that he's under a lot of pressure. Combine both of that with injuries, and you got yourself a great recipe for "falling off". We only had one full season since his MVP, which had some injuries in it. Don't get me wrong, he did play bad for most of that season. But still, we can't judge yet, we need a couple of more seasons

Pitching coaches don't take the winter off and sleep their days away. They study film and look for holes in a hitter's swing. I was hoping a Dodgers hitting coach could help Belli get back on track. Then again sometimes struggling hitters listen to too many people and get caught up in "paralysis of analysis"

I hope you mention when his shoulder popped and everything changed since then

You should do one on Justin Turner too...

My my my how the tables have turned……..Grand Salami against the hated ones

This dude did a Wile E. Coyote fall off the cliff. Never seen such a sudden fall-off for such a talented player. Went from M.V.P. to L.V.P. in a year.

Man, sad to see this guy regress so hard, watched him play rookie league baseball in Utah and he was an absolute joy to watch when he hit. Hope he does well in Chicago

It’s crazy in 2019 yelich and beli were hitter no opposing pitcher even wanted to see. Now they love it when they are in the box because they can be exploited so easily. Pretty sad. Even as a giants fan.

Always enjoy seeing how high Cody looks.

Idk if I'm right or wrong, but for me any championship won in 2020 simply doesn't carry any weight for me. Not the Lakers ring or the Dodgers. Sorry, but that's just how I feel. A world series ring off a SIXTY GAME SEASON, nope, sorry, doesn't count in my mind. Plus, no fans in the stands changes everything - no home court or home field advantage at all. They may as well have been pick up games.

I've heard this so many times I lost count a great player or any player really getting hurt and then their career basically over, nothing new here, it happens over and over again, because how dangerous baseball actually is.

Those back to back home runs last night were a good sign

dudes haircut in the homerun derby was still coldest of all time

He’s only 27 so he still has a lot of time to turn his career around

Can you do one for Yelich

It’s kinda sad

Now that i think about it, a whole bunch of players who were good in 2018 and 2019 had massive dropoffs. Belli, Yeli, Rendon, Eugenio Suarez, Bregman, etc, and im kinda wondering why?

Man I still have hope for him I just want to see him back to that 2019 form again. It’s definitely possible

Reminds me a lot of Grady Sizemore

Hopefully he comes back to his MVP form, the only good thing about him is Playoffs Belli where he goes crazy

Buy or sell: The Dodgers don’t re-sign Bellinger after this year

I’m sorry but I am a huge Dodgers fan and he just didn’t look so stoned all the time those first three years when it was killing it

Sheeeesh hatingggg hard

It’s the Astros curse. Any player who has been vocally loud on the cheating scandal has been going on a downward spiral…Trevor Bauer, Cody Bellinger ….etc

It’s been all downhill since that playoff celebration

i think dropping Cody to the minors will help him improve

I’d be interested to hear about organizations and stuff like that. Can you shit on the pirates ownership I’d love to hear that

My favorite player as long as he's on a team I'm happy

i think its gotta be hard for anyone coming back from a year plagued with injuries, maybe im just a huge bellinger fan but i think he cant get back to at least his 2017 version

If the Dodgers wind up non-tendering him after this year it would be fun to see him sign in St. Louis. If the Cardinals manage to pull out 2019 Bellinger out of him that will be the final piece of evidence we need. The Cardinals have a voodoo lady running the show and she has cast a curse on the rest of the league.

Honestly bellinger really needs to hit that outside pitch and use all fields. He’s so pull heavy that anything off speed is catching him way out front and he can’t get on time. Tough seeing him regress but it really seems like pitchers know how to attack him now. A good off season and maybe taking advantage of the shift rule change and we could definitely see him back to or even better than his old self

Do one of these for the other side of those 2018-2919 MVP race, yelich Btw yelich despite his injury still shoulda won the 2019 MVP, I don’t care that he broke his knee cap there was less than a month left and the fact that he was penalized for missing like 20 games was dumb when he was better

Like many players, he suddenly couldn't hit after the Astros report came out. Look at Yelich or anyone not named Judge in the Yankees line up.

There were a lot of swings where he was just throwing arms at the pitch, no hips no shoulders. Just flat footed

First 3 seasons 111 HR x2 All star Rookie of the year x1 MVP x1 silver slugger x1 Gold Glove

The lo-fi Mandalorian music was definitely a choice lol

The good postseasons definitely point to pain being a huge part of it. Adrenaline numbs pain, and there's lots of adrenaline in those at bats. There's barely any in a random june blowout

I saw this video I think during the day it was released. But I was busy with other things. I was just looking at his stats for the first time in a few years. HFS, that is just a TOTAL IMPLOSION. I don't know if I've seen an implosion that severe in baseball in my lifetime. Andruw Jones got obese and horrible quickly, but he was never quite as great offensively (maybe defensively) as Cody.

beginning to tune out of ur videos because so many of them are sooo negative with these titles and thumbnails just begging for clicks... i love the style of ur content but i wish it went in a more positive direction

He’ll catch fire at some point (I hope). Maybe he just needs a change of scenery or a couple of luck breaks to get his confidence back. Either way he’ll be back!

Crazy I was watching the game and this video popped up when he was on the plate 😭😭

You are the only person who could do such a good job on these kind of videos. I may not comment every video but I do watch them and I am a huge fan. All the hard work you put into these is amazing and 50 thousand people agree. We all enjoy a good itslk video thank yku

He's still young. I think he will find his way back

He will have a year where he progresses back to his MVP status, that kind of talent isn’t a fluke for 162 games. I remember Harper really underperforming after his MVP season for a few years.

He struck out, I forget the number, but he broke a record for strikeouts in the 2017 world series. Looks like the writing was on the wall.

This isn't uncommon good players lose it all the time he got time to fix but idk

He always shows up in the playoffs!

I’ll always root for bellinger no matter what team he’s on, he’s done a lot for the dodger organization and the fans

Ayo that catch at 2:28 was TUFFF