Los Angeles Dodgers Minor League first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger was rated the No. 6 prospect in all of baseball by ESPN’s Keith Law. Bellinger was ranked No. 92 by Law prior to the 2016 season.
In total, the Dodgers had four players named to Law’s ranking of the top 100 prospects for the 2017 season. After Bellinger, Los Angeles was represented by outfielder Alex Verdugo (No. 31) and right-handed pitchers Walker Buehler (No. 40) and Yadier Alvarez (No. 46). The quartet was ranked among the Dodgers’ top 10 prospects by Baseball Prospectus, while Baseball America named Bellinger, Alvarez and Verdugo to their list.
The Dodgers selected Bellinger out of Hamilton High School (Chandler, Ariz.) in the fourth round of the 2013 Draft. He burst onto the scene with in 2015 behind a strong campaign with High-A Rancho Cucamonga, and rode that success into last season.
Bellinger hit .263/.359/.484 with 17 doubles, 23 home runs and 65 RBI over 117 games with Double-A Tulsa. He played first base (81 games), left field (13), center field (13) and right field (nine) for the Drillers.
Bellinger was promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City last September, and went 6-for-11 with three home runs and five RBI in three regular-season games.
The 21-year-old then batted .250/.364/.361 with one double, one home run, six runs scored, five RBI and seven walks in nine games during Oklahoma City’s playoff run that concluded with a defeat in the Pacific Coast League championship.
Bellinger finished last year in the Arizona Fall League, where he hit .314/.424/.557 with eight doubles and three home runs in 20 games for the Glendale Desert Dogs.
In addition to receiving national recognition from Baseball America, Baseball Prospects and ESPN, Bellinger was rated the top first base prospect by MLB Pipeline.
