Outfielder Cody Bellinger inked a five-year, $162.5 million contract with the New York Yankees ahead of the 2026 MLB season. The signing was divisive at first, but halfway through year one fans seem to be on the same page.
Bellinger has played in 82 of the team’s 83 games, slashing .262/.361/.446 for an .807 OPS. He has 11 home runs and 49 RBIs.
While on a cold streak at the plate lately, there is no denying the defensive ability of the left fielder. His four outs above average rank in the 89th percentile for MLB fielders (h/t Baseball Savant). Bellinger has four outfield assists as well.
© Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
He has provided stability in a position where the Yankees have been fairly weak the last few years. Along with Trent Grisham and Aaron Judge, Bellinger is part of one of the best outfields in the sport when it is healthy.
Through Phase 1 of All-Star voting, the 30-year-old finished fourth among outfielders with 1,614,585 votes. He is now in Phase 2, which determines who will start the All-Star Game for the respective leagues.
Before their game versus the Detroit Tigers on Monday, the Yankees official X account posted about Bellinger’s candidacy.
The post lists Judge and Ben Rice as well. With all the star power that New York has, the club has been underperforming as of late. They are coming off a sweep at the hands of the lowly Boston Red Sox.
The team is 48-35 this season, one game back of the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East. Those two teams have been in competition with each other for most of the season. They will play a four-game series at Tropicana Field next week.
Bellinger has statistically been one of the best left fielders in MLB this year. If he is to get the starting nod, it would be his second time (2019).
It would be remarkable if Bellinger does pull it off, considering the kind of career path that he was on following that 2019 MVP season.
