Cody Bellinger’s left-handed swing was practically built for Yankee Stadium, and his early-season numbers in the Bronx back that up. But when the Yankees hit the road, the left fielder has struggled to find his rhythm.
Entering Friday night’s Subway Series opener at Citi Field, Bellinger was hitting just .188 with two extra-base hits and a .516 OPS away from home. Compare that to his .377 average, 16 extra-base hits, and a staggering 1.259 OPS at Yankee Stadium, and it’s clear the splits are stark.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone, however, isn’t worried. “Do I pay attention to it? He’s gonna be in the lineup every day,” Boone said before the game. “Look, part of it is he is cut out for our ballpark. One of the reasons we went and got him was we feel like he’s set up for Yankee Stadium. But that said, I would expect these things to balance itself out a little bit with how good of a player Belli is.”
Bellinger took a step toward proving his manager right on Friday, delivering a tie-breaking RBI double that sparked the Yankees to a 5-2 win over the Mets. With the game scoreless and two outs in the third inning, he lined a 1-2 curveball from Mets starter Clay Holmes into right field, scoring Ben Rice from second base. That hit kicked off a three-run rally, capped by Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s two-run single against Holmes, who entered the game with a sparkling 1.86 ERA.
The go-ahead double snapped an 0-for-10 skid for Bellinger, who had gone just 2-for-20 with five walks over the first six games of the Yankees’ nine-game road trip. “Even on this trip, I feel like he looks very similar,” Boone added. “I feel like he’s having a lot of good at-bats still. He just hasn’t really gotten rewarded.”
Bellinger finished 1-for-5 on the night, but his impact wasn’t limited to the batter’s box. In the bottom of the third, he made a running, jumping catch on a 353-foot fly ball off the bat of rookie Carson Benge to end the inning. According to MLB’s Statcast, Benge’s drive had an expected batting average of .400, making the grab all the more impressive.
Now in his second season with the Yankees after being acquired in a 2024 trade, Bellinger is showing flashes of the form that made him the 2017 National League MVP. If he can carry that production on the road, he’ll be a key piece in the Yankees’ lineup all season long.