Cody Bellinger has had an incredible season for the Dodgers in 2019. While he’s heard a lot of NL MVP chatter through the summer, he’s also heard about new records he’s setting often. Whether it be Dodger franchise records, or National League records, Belli has etched his name all over the place.
Now with his 45th home run of the season, he adds an all-time NL record.
The @Dodgers' Cody Bellinger hit his 45th HR of the year tonight.
At 24 yrs & 67 days, he's the youngest outfielder in NL history to hit 45 HR in a season (based on primary position that year), surpassing Willie Mays, who was 24 yrs & 131 days old when he hit his 45th in 1955.
— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) September 19, 2019
By age, Cody Ballgame became the youngest outfielder in history to hit 45 home runs in a season.
The Home Run
No. 45 for @Cody_Bellinger? YES SIR. pic.twitter.com/Z40YaLRIRc
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 19, 2019
Home run number 45 took a good bit of time with Cody waiting 12 games in between dingers. Funny enough, that isn’t quite a shocking note.
13 is @Cody_Bellinger's lucky number.
5 times he's gone 12 games without a HR this year. Every time, he homered in game #13. pic.twitter.com/Osy2ySPG4v
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) September 19, 2019
A couple of caveats to consider with this record, along with some added notes:
- The ball is notoriously juiced in 2019
- The season length was only 154 games in 1955, however, Cody has played in 148 of LA’s 153 games in 2019
- Cody has played 31 games at first base this season as where Mays played all 152 games in center field
Any way you slice it, Bellinger is still 64 days Mays’ junior and has another cool record to add to his MVP caliber season.
His season line now sits at .305/.408/.631 with 45 home runs and 110 runs batted in. His 45 homers are the most for a Dodger since Adrian Beltre hit 48 in 2004, and his 110 RBI are most since Adrian Gonzalez had 116 in 2014.
