It’s been a year of firsts since Cody Bellinger joined the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 25 for his MLB debut. Bellinger’s stint with the club was expected to be brief. Less than three months later, the Dodgers shudder to think where they’d be without the 22-year-old wunderkind.
Bellinger became the fastest player in MLB history to 21 home runs and five multi-homer games; broke Mike Piazza’s Dodgers rookie record with a sixth multi-home run game, and did so in 57 career games which shattered Mark McGwire’s MLB record (97 games) for fastest to accomplish the feat.
Bellinger’s 25 home runs during the first half of the season were most by a National League rookie since 1933, which was the first year the MLB All-Star Game was played.