Forward of Friday evening’s sequence opener in opposition to the Chicago Cubs, Yankees supervisor Aaron Boone listed the various methods Cody Bellinger impacts his membership earlier than deciding on an all-encompassing descriptor.
“Winning player.”
It was becoming, then, that Bellinger was the driving pressure within the Yankees’ 11-0 victory over the Cubs within the Bronx.
Dealing with the Cubs for the primary time since they traded him to the Yankees final offseason, Bellinger delivered the primary three-homer recreation of his profession.
All three dwelling runs have been two-run blasts, giving Bellinger six RBI in a 3-for-5 efficiency to help a gem by starter Carlos Rodón.
Bellinger’s third-inning homer in opposition to right-hander Chris Flexen gave the Yankees a 3-0 lead, whereas his fifth-inning blast off of left-hander Caleb Thielbar made it a 5-0 recreation.
After his eighth-inning shot in opposition to lefty Jordan Wicks made it a 10-0 recreation, Bellinger earned a curtain name from a crowd of 46,327.
Bellinger practically completed with 4 dwelling runs, however proper fielder Kyle Tucker made a leaping catch on a 353-foot drive within the seventh that may have in any other case cleared the wall.
Nonetheless, the red-hot Bellinger secured the 18th multi-homer recreation of his profession and his first as a Yankee. He prolonged his hitting streak to 16 video games, which set a brand new profession excessive.
The Yankees acquired Bellinger, 29, from the Cubs in December, hoping the outfielder/first baseman would enhance their protection and decide up a number of the offensive manufacturing vacated by Juan Soto’s departure to the Mets.
The Cubs, in the meantime, sought payroll reduction and had a glut of outfielders following their offseason acquisition of Tucker.
“I get business,” Bellinger mentioned in December throughout an introductory Zoom name. “I’m very good at separating the business and the baseball. I’m the baseball player and there’s business people in this game, so I just want to prepare and play the best baseball I can.”
The Yankees took on many of the $52.5 million remaining on Bellinger’s contract and despatched spot starter Cody Poteet to the Cubs in return.
That’s confirmed to be a fruitful funding for the Yankees, who’ve primarily rotated Bellinger within the three outfield spots however use him intermittently at first base, too.
“To be able to go play four positions the way he does, really at a high level, really is impressive,” Boone mentioned earlier than Friday’s recreation. “The quality of at-bats. The speed. He really runs well. He just does a lot of really good things on a baseball field that help you win.”
Bellinger gained Nationwide League Rookie of the 12 months in 2017 and NL MVP in 2019 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, however he underwent proper shoulder surgical procedure after the 2020 season and struggled offensively the following two years.
The Dodgers non-tendered him earlier than the 2023 season, leaving Bellinger to signal a one-year prove-it cope with the Cubs. Bellinger returned to his All-Star kind in 2023, then re-signed with Chicago earlier than the 2024 season on a three-year, $80 million contract that includes opt-outs after yearly.
“Cody’s got very, very good instincts,” Cubs supervisor Craig Counsell mentioned Friday. “He’s a smart, smart baseball player. You kind of knew that playing across from him, that’s he’s just kind of good at everything, but that’s what he does for me. He’s just a good baseball player.”
When the Cubs sought to commerce him final offseason, Bellinger — the son of former Yankees outfielder/infielder Clay Bellinger — put the Yankees atop his want listing.
Bellinger is now hitting .341 with eight homers and 22 RBI in 34 video games for the reason that begin of June.
His massive recreation backed Rodón, who struck out eight in opposition to 4 hits and a stroll over eight shutout innings.
Boone visited the mound after Rodón allowed a two-out single to Nico Hoerner within the eighth, placing runners on the corners, however the supervisor let the left-hander face another batter, incomes rapturous applause from the near-capacity crowd.
On his 109th pitch, Rodón acquired Tucker to line out to a diving Aaron Decide, who additionally robbed Pete Crow-Armstrong of a house run and Dansby Swanson of a single within the fourth inning.
Rodón shut down a Cubs offense that entered Friday averaging an MLB-best 5.41 runs per recreation.
That efficiency got here hours after he was named to the All-Star Sport, changing teammate Max Fried, who is ready to start out for the Yankees on Saturday and thus opted in opposition to pitching in subsequent week’s exhibition in Atlanta.
Friday’s win was the Yankees’ fifth in a row, with that streak instantly following a six-game dropping skid.
