If there’s one thing that isn’t going to go away this season, it’s folks speculating when Cody Bellinger will be called up to take over either left field or, far less likely, first base.
That’s understandable, seeing as Bellinger is slashing .360/.439/.740 with a 212 wRC+ and a 10.5 percent walk rate with the Oklahoma City Dodgers. He’s already a double-plus defender at first base and should be getting more time in the outfield as the season progresses. If he came up as an outfielder right now, he’d be an average defender in a corner and — at worst — fringe-average in center field.