Alexander Wilson
The New York Yankees are 26-12 and have won eight of their last 10 games. The Tampa Bay Rays are right on their heels, winning nine of their last 10 and sitting just half a game back in the American League East, which means every series from here through June matters. The Yankees know that, and so does Cody Bellinger, who has decided this is the stretch where he reminds everyone exactly why the organization gave him $162.5 million.
Over his current nine-game hitting streak, Bellinger is hitting .471 with two homers, 14 RBIs, 16 hits, and a 1.496 OPS. That is not a hot week. That is one of the best sustained stretches of offense any Yankee has produced this season, and it’s coming at exactly the right moment when the division race is tightening and the team needs every run it can manufacture.
What He’s Become This Season
On the year, Bellinger is slashing .299/.394/.530 with five homers, 28 RBIs, a 155 wRC+, a 12.5% strikeout rate, and a 14.4% walk rate. He’s been 55% better than the average MLB hitter across the full season, which is a number that justifies his contract before you factor in anything that’s happened during the past nine games. A 155 wRC+ from a corner outfielder on a long-term deal is exactly what the Yankees were buying when they sat across the table from Scott Boras and eventually landed on five years with opt-outs after year two and three.
The plate discipline numbers stand out as much as the power. A 12.5% strikeout rate is elite for any hitter, let alone one with the pull-side power that Bellinger brings to Yankee Stadium’s short right porch. He’s not selling out for home runs at the expense of contact. He’s hitting for average, driving in runs, walking at a 14.4% clip, and hitting the ball hard to all fields. That combination is what makes him genuinely difficult to game-plan against rather than just a pull-happy lefty who can be neutralized with pitches on the outer half.
The Defense Nobody Talks About
Eight defensive runs saved and one out above average across 322.2 innings in left field. Those numbers don’t generate headlines the way the 1.496 OPS does, but they matter just as much to the overall value Bellinger provides this roster. The Yankees built their offense to score runs and their pitching to suppress them. Having a left fielder who also actively saves runs on defense makes that pitching investment go further than it would with a defensive liability out there.
For a player who spent most of his career in center field with the Cubs and Dodgers, the transition to a corner spot in New York has been seamless. The instincts don’t change position to position for someone with his level of defensive IQ, and the arm has always been a weapon.
Why This Stretch Matters
The Yankees needed Bellinger to be a frontline contributor on a team with championship ambitions, not just a solid middle-of-the-order piece who provides competent production. What the past nine games have shown is that when he’s locked in, he can be one of the more dominant hitters in the American League. A 1.496 OPS during a nine-game stretch puts him in elite company regardless of the sample size attached to it.
The Rays aren’t going anywhere. That half-game gap in the AL East is going to require the Yankees to maintain exactly this level of intensity through the summer. Bellinger carrying a nine-game hitting streak into that race is the best possible version of what the Yankees signed him to do.
The $162.5 million is looking very, very smart right now.
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