The weekend is done, which means that baseball rumours are back, baby!
This one comes courtesy of MLB Network’s Jon Morosi (grain of salt time!). For those that are blocked, the interest was obvious as it fits a need (being a left-handed batting outfielder). However, what intrigues me is the fact that the Jays reached out to the Dodgers about a trade.
My assumption is the Jays were interested in Bellinger at the 2022 deadline for centre field depth. In fact, the Jays filled that hole with Whit Merrifield, but still made a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers for Mitch White.
With Morosi, I definitely think where there’s smoke, there’s fire. For example, while he was incorrect about who was coming in the trade with Seattle, he did suggest that Toronto would trade Teoscar Hernández to the Mariners.
Last season, Bellinger slashed .210/.265/.389this guy is50 plate appearances. His 27.3 K% was a career-high, while his 6.9 BB% was a career-low. He managed to improve his wRC+ from 47 in 2021 to 83 in 2022, but still was well below average
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While the stats listed above may make you question why the heck is this guy getting so much , but Bellinger probably won’t ever return to his 2019 form, as he’s had multiple shoulder injuries andslashed .305/.406/.629 with 47 homers in 660 plate appearances. He also had a career-high 14.4 BB% and a career-low 16.4 K%.
It’s unfortunate to say, but Bellinger probably won’t ever return to his 2019 form, as he’s had multiple shoulder injuries, as well as shoulder surgery. There is a case that a new team could help him shorten his swing, which could make up for the loss of bat speed, but a team can’t sign him expecting him to perform as he had in 2019.
With that being said, Bellinger is a plus defender in center field, as he had a 6 Outs Above Average and a 0 Defensive Runs Saved in centre field this past season. Dating back to the last time he played right field in a full season (which was 2019), Bellinger had a 18 DRS and 6 OAA.
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If he would be a replacement for Raimel Tapia, that’s good (especially if he bounces back). If he would be a replacement for Hernández, well I think their offense numbers could hurt next season. Not even necessarily because of Bellinger, but because Hernández’s production is incredibly difficult to replace.
Either way, it’ll be exciting to see what happens once the off-season starts to move!
As always, you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @Brennan_L_D.

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