Cody Bellinger batted second on opening day — in Oklahoma City, that is. He got three hits in his first game, 10 in his first five games.
He was 21 and in triple-A. The Dodgers had five-time All-Star Adrian Gonzalez at first base. Bellinger envisioned making it to Los Angeles this season, but pretty late in the year.
“Honestly, I thought I was going to be a September call-up,” he said last month.
He turned out to be an April call-up, and he emerged as perhaps the Dodgers’ most dominant position player this season.