Editorials

Cody Bellinger Bombs: Chronicling Dodgers Home Run 71

Dodgers Nation will be writing about ‘Bellinger Bombs’. The Dodgers have one of the best young power hitters in the game under contract for the foreseeable future. Writers like Sam Miller have asked the question ‘What if Cody Bellinger is going to break the all-time home run record’. As the career home runs continue to pile up, we will examine each one in greater detail. We will allow you; the fan, to savor each one as they should be. Because what’s more fun than a home run? (You can look back at the collection here). 

How much fun are the Los Angeles Dodgers right now? Fresh off a sweep of the Colorado Rockies on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, your Dodgers are average over eight runs per ballgame. Furthermore, Cody Bellinger is in the middle of the order and leading the charge. All the while, he’s making a national name for himself.



“That’s the prettiest swing in baseball right there” – Alex Rodriguez, Sunday Night Baseball telecast April 8th

Surely, Bellinger homered again on Sunday night. However it wasn’t just the home run that was impressive – although that’s what this column is all about. It was hearing a Hall of Famer sing his praises. Bellinger added an opposite field double, an infield single, an outfield assist, and ran the bases with reckless abandon. Indeed, he showcased all five of his tools nicely as the Dodgers dismantled the Rockies.

He’s on another planet right now. My fingertips hurt from writing about his bombs. Keep bringing the pain Cody, and I’ll writing these up. Truly, I have never seen a guy on a heater like this.

The Home Run

The first point we have to make on this bomb: it came in the 8th inning. Yes, Mr. 8th inning himself homered in his favorite frame. Furthermore, it was the 19th time he’s done that in his career. The home run was his 36th in a road park, and fourth at Coors field. His 33rd career to straight away right field was his 51st off right-handed pitching. To my knowledge, it was his second on Sunday Night Baseball. Only I would know that, sadly.

Equally important – Bellinger’s 71st career home run tied him for 44th place on the all-time franchise list. His next long one will allow him to pass James Loney and Greg Brock.

How Bellinger’s Home Run Impacted The Game


Los Angeles has been bludgeoning opponents. Lately, it’s been tough just to get a close game. And so the Dodgers were a 99 percent expectancy to win the game when Bellinger was hitting with two outs in the 8th, up 11-5. Once again, his home run served as the exclamation point on the 12-6 victory. He did not improve their chances of winning with this event. However, he did several things that helped them build that 99 percent certainty before the home run. Cody simply let viewers know who was boss before the credits rolled on the evening.

The Victim

Bryan Shaw, welcome aboard the SS-Bellinger. The 31-year old right-handed reliever had a nice career going with Cleveland and Arizona before heading to the thin air of Colorado. Lifetime, Shaw is 27-34 with a 3.41 ERA and 11 saves. Within his 507.1 innings pitched, he’s allowed just 47 homers. He is now part of an illustrious club.

Exit Velocity, Distance, Pitch Data, and Angle

Shaw made the fatal mistake of trying to sneak a 91.2 mile per hour cutter past cyborg Bellinger. That’s when he hit it 428 feet into the seats, to the tune of 107 miles per hour off the bat. The ball reached an apex of 27 degrees at it’s highest point, which seems hard to believe. This was a long home run.

Overall Bellinger-Bomb Prominence Score

Surely, it’s great to hit a home run on a national telecast and against a division rival. While it came once again when the Dodgers had scored too many runs – Bellinger was partially responsible for that. He’s playing winning baseball right now to put it lightly. For the first ten games of the 2019 MLB season, he’s as fun to watch as any player in the game.

Dodgers Nation Overall Prominence Score: 6.5

Cody Bellinger Named NL Player of the Week

Staff Writer

Staff Writer features content written by our site editors along with our staff of contributing writers. Thank you for your readership.

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