Dodgers Blue Heaven: Welcome to the Dodgers, Cody Bellinger!

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Welcome to the Dodgers, Cody Bellinger!

He is coming! No, he's already there.

This will be an interesting week for Dodger prospects. Not only should we be expecting to see Julio Urias in Dodger blue this week, but according to Ken Gurnick on twitter prized slugger Cody Bellinger has tagged along, as well.

Source: Cody Bellinger is being called up by Dodgers.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) April 25, 2017

Saw Cody earlier today. All smiles. Welcome to the show, @Cody_Bellinger. https://t.co/UlEMTdxTcR
— Alanna Rizzo (@alannarizzo) April 25, 2017

It's hard to say whether this will be just a brief cup-of-coffee or a long-term assignment for the 21-year old. Nevertheless, it'll be fun to see how he handles major league pitching for the first time. Per Jeff Todd at MLB Trade Rumors:

Bellinger flew up top prospect charts with a strong 2016 season, in which he slashed .271/.365/.507 over 477 plate appearances, the vast bulk of them coming at Double-A. After an excellent stint in the Arizona Fall League, Bellinger sat at seventh among all prospects leaguewide in the ranking of Baseball America.

Since that time, Bellinger has taken Triple-A by storm. Through 77 trips to the plate, he owns a .343/.429/.627 batting line with five home runs and seven steals. Adding him to the active MLB roster, though, will require the creation of a 40-man space.

Let's hope he makes it impossible to send him back down to Oklahoma City.

In celebration of his impending arrival I made the above two fantasy Baseball card of him. On the left I used a pic originally taken by Jon SooHoo on a 1989 Upper Deck Baseball card design. On the right is the 1991 Topps Baseball card design with a pic taken by Rob Tringali/Getty Images.

Per a Dodgers press release:

The Los Angeles Dodgers today selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Cody Bellinger (#35) from Triple-A Oklahoma City, with the 21-year-old set to make his Major League debut.

Bellinger will be making his debut in his fifth professional season after being selected by the Dodgers in the fourth round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft. Bellinger, who entered the 2017 season rated by MLB.com as the Dodgers’ No. 1 prospect and rated by Baseball America as the seventh-best overall prospect in baseball, has posted a .343 (23-for-67)/.429/.627 slashline with 15 runs, four doubles, five home runs, 15 RBI and seven stolen bases in 18 games with the Oklahoma City Dodgers this year.

Prior to his promotion, Bellinger ranked among the Pacific Coast League leaders in runs (T-4th), home runs (T-4th), RBI (T-8th), total bases (42, T-6th), stolen bases (T-2nd), on-base percentage (11th), slugging percentage (9th) and OPS (1.055, 7th). In the field, he appeared in 16 games (15 starts) at first base, two starts at center field and one start at left field for Oklahoma City this season. The Chandler, Arizona, native has a .271 career batting average with 65 homers and 253 RBI in 361 games.

To make room on the active roster, the Dodgers optioned outfielder Brett Eibner, who went 1-for-5 (.200) in three game in two stints with Los Angeles, to Triple-A Oklahoma City and to create room on the 40-man roster, Los Angeles designated right-handed pitcher Joe Gunkel for assignment.

UPDATE: He'll be wearing #35, via a tweet from the Dodgers:

Confirmed. #LetsGoDodgers pic.twitter.com/NWzfgFUZfG
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 25, 2017

And all his friends are singing his praises on twitter:

This dude is a stud, point blank period. Congrats to my guy @Cody_Bellinger on the call up 💯
— June Calhoun (@11WillieCalhoun) April 25, 2017

Hey World, if ya don't know about him... you're gonna find out reeeaaalll soon. Congrats on the call @Cody_Bellinger!! 💪🏻💣
— Brock Stewart (@Brock_A_Stewart) April 25, 2017