Ryan Garcia
Cody Bellinger’s two-run home run last night tied the game in dramatic fashion, helping the Yankees eventually claim a crucial 7-6 victory over the Blue Jays.
After a mini-skid over the road trip where his bat went silent, Bellinger’s big night against Toronto propelled him up to a 141 wRC+ and .854 OPS on the season.
One of the top-performing players in baseball through the first quarter of the 2026 season, Bellinger has made some eye-popping changes to his profile that is far more reminiscint of his MVP days than his 2025 season.
A well-rounded hitter with elite defensive abilities and solid speed, Cody Bellinger is making good on his five-year $162.5 million contract.
READ MORE: Yankees might be setting up Gerrit Cole return with latest roster shuffle
How Cody Bellinger is Giving the Yankees MVP-like Production
When the Yankees signed Cody Bellinger to a five-year $162.5 million contract, there was a general feeling that the club had paid a premium to keep a very good but not elite baseball player.
It’s the kind of thing you have to do in a contention window and Bellinger’s offensive profile was perfect for the Bronx, which justified the expense of some long-term financial flexibility.
Based on what we’ve seen so far, the Yankees are paying star-level prices for a star-level player who has been just as good as anybody around the league.
He’s one of the 15 most valuable position players by FanGraphs’ WAR (2.0) and is inside the top 10 by Baseball Reference WAR (2.4).
A big reason for this is his plate discipline, going from a free-swinging hitter who didn’t like taking walks to someone who ranks near the top of the league in walk rate.
His SEAGER score has improved from the 79th Percentile to the 84th Percentile as a result of consolidating some in-zone aggression for more walks, but there are some ripple effects from these changes.
By offering at fewer pitches out of zone, Cody Bellinger is putting less of those pitches in play which is benefitting his overall slashline.
Last season nearly 10% of his batted balls came from pitches in the Chase or Waste regions of the zone, areas where pitchers want hitters to swing since it often results in whiffs or weak contact.
This season he’s cut that number in half to around 5%, and as a result we’re seeing better exit velocities and damage rates since there aren’t as many cue shots or pop-ups that are easy for defenses to field.
Cody Bellinger isn’t swinging harder; he’s swinging smarter and as a result, increased both his Average Exit Velocity and 90th Percentile Exit Velocity as a result.
Given that he had to fill Juan Soto-sized shoes, you can’t complain about what the Yankees have gotten from Cody Bellinger in his time with the organization.
Since being traded to the Yankees, Bellinger has been the ninth-best position player by FanGraphs’ WAR (6.9), just barely ahead of Juan Soto (6.7) in that timespan.
This isn’t to say that Bellinger is better than Soto or even that the Yankees were better off without the 27-year-old megastar, but rather a credit to someone who has stepped up big time for this team.
Still an excellent defender in the outfield, Cody Bellinger’s improving offense might just guide him to a top-10 MVP finish with teammates Ben Rice and Aaron Judge squarely in the mix for the AL MVP race as well.
More about:New York Yankees
