Dodgers News: Cody Bellinger Re-tooling His Swing
Andrew Friedman held court at the Winter Meetings and talked on a bevy of subjects. Furthermore, he gave mention to Cody Bellinger working with Dodgers hitting coaches to ‘refurbish’ his offensive approach for 2019.
Andy McCullough and Ken Gurnick provide the details:
Cody Bellinger is meeting with the Dodgers hitting gurus this week to work on refurbishing his approach for 2019, Andrew Friedman said.
— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) December 11, 2018
Friedman said Cody Bellinger is working on his swing at Dodger Stadium this week.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) December 11, 2018
Now, this is an interesting note to say the least. While no one would say that Bellinger’s 2018 was a step forward – adjustments were made. Within his 2018 player review, I noted that it was a season of peaks and valleys for Bellinger. Still, it’s always a careful measure when a coaching staff begins tinkering with a young hitter’s approach.
Equally important may be if the Dodgers coaching staff is trying to get Bellinger back to his rookie-season form that saw him post a .933 OPS. Moreover, this news is an admission that the organization saw Bellinger’s sophomore season as a below-ceiling body of work for the youngster. It’s nice to get Bellinger acquainted with the new hitting coach in any event.
Bellinger is capable of superstardom if the right things are unlocked. The risk you run when you start tinkering with a player’s swing and approach is messing him up more. It’s still rare that a player goes through his entire career without being forced to make adjustments.
Time holds all the answers, and 2019 will show whether or not the work Bellinger is putting in now was worthwhile. Until then, we wait to see if 2017 Cody Bellinger comes walking through that door. Undeniably if it happens – the Dodgers will be all the more dangerous to their NL foes when the season gets underway.
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It’s good to see that Bellinger is taking steps to improve upomn his 2018 performance. But they must be careful not to mess things up with him as well. OH, and I will more than riot if they trade him, I already said what I would like to have happen to Freidman and Roberts and it would not be so nice!
Thank you for joining the movement! #UntouchaBelli
I look forward to seeing Bellinger in ST (Camelback trip planned for mid March) and see how his swing and approach look compared to last season. Like to know if anyone has suggested to Cody that he read Ted Williams book “The Science of Hitting?” Willams and Bellinger body types are very similar (Williams known as the “Splendid Splinter”) Willams’ hitting mechanics called for a slight upper cut to keep the bat on the same plane as the ball as long as possible, studying pitchers, knowing the strike zone and the best pitch locations for hitting, and educated guesses about pitch types and locations.