How 2019 MVP Cody Bellinger revived his career with Cubs - ESPN

IT WAS AN early Saturday morning at Wrigley Field. Most of the Chicago Cubs' roster wouldn't arrive for their game against the Kansas City Royals for hours. But at 8:30 a.m., about six hours before first pitch, Cubs center fielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger and hitting coach Dustin Kelly took the field.

Bellinger had been unhappy with his approach at the plate in the previous game, a 4-3 defeat. He went 0-for-5 with a strikeout, uncharacteristically swinging at pitches outside the strike zone. And so he and Kelly went through an extended batting practice, working on reading pitches and keeping his hip from flying open.

The work paid off. Later that day, Bellinger had his 17^th career multihomer game and surpassed the 20 home run mark in a season for the first time since 2019 — the year he won the National League Most Valuable Player Award for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Back then, Bellinger's career arc had him on track to be one of the great players of his era. A Rookie of the Year Award in 2017 was followed by the MVP in 2019 — which came with a Gold Glove, as well. In between, he played in 162 games in 2018. Durable and productive, at one of the game's premier positions, the 6-foot-4 lefty swinger was also working his way toward a massive payday.

And then he dislocated his right shoulder celebrating a home run in the 2020 National League Championship Series while leaping into the air to meet teammate Enrique Hernandez for a forearm bash. And everything changed.

«I came back as soon as possible from it, not knowing anything,» Bellinger told ESPN. «I never dealt with an injury. I never thought how surgery would really affect me. Didn't even know that it did until later on in that year (2021) when I did some one-hand