Entering the final day of April, Cody Bellinger has had one of the best starts in baseball history. With his 14th home run on Sunday off of Pittsburgh's Trevor Williams (LAD 7, PIT 6), Bellinger tied Albert Pujols (2006) and Alex Rodriguez (2007) for the most home runs hit before May 1. Christian Yelich of the Brewers also tied the record with his 14th homer, a solo shot off Mets' Noah Syndergaard on Saturday.
MLB history prior to 2019:
2 players with 14 HR before May 1 -- 2006 Albert Pujols and 2007 Alex Rodriguez
2019 MLB season:
2 players with 14 HR before May 1 -- Christian Yelich and Cody Bellinger
Baseball!!
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) April 28, 2019
On Monday (SF 3, LAD 2), Bellinger became the first player in MLB history to have 37 RBI before May 1, with his RBI single off of San Francisco's Tony Watson. He also now is the sole record holder for two more early season records: most hits (44) and most total bases (96) before May 1.
Cody Bellinger is batting .434 with 14 HRs and 37 RBIs over 30 games this year. No other @MLB player ever reached all three of those triple-crown levels through his first 30 games of a season.
— Elias Sports Bureau (@EliasSports) April 30, 2019
Bellinger is slashing .434/.508/.906 (1.414 OPS) with a 267 OPS+, all of which rank first in MLB.
Bellinger's overall offensive production dropped a bit in 2018 after his 2017 National League Rookie of the Year season, when he hit 39 home runs with 97 RBI in 132 games. Bellinger, 23, spent this offseason working with the Dodgers new hitting coach and prized hitting guru Robert Van Scoyoc, working to make some adjustments to make sure Bellinger's approach felt more natural. The offseason adjustments appear to be working as Bellinger's plate discipline has dramatically improved.
Hitting coaches Van Scoyoc and Brant Brown helped Bellinger straighten his posture and keep his upper body square while in the batter's box, to help better steady and sync up his swing, manager Dave Roberts told LA Times' Andy McCullough.
In speaking with the media after Sunday's win, Bellinger sang his hitting coaches praises:
"I would just say it's understanding how to use your swing, just trying to stay within myself in the cage every day and repeat what I'm doing," said Bellinger. "Just not trying to do too much. Rob and Brownie have done a good job of keeping me where I'm at. They've done a great job for me."
As of Tuesday, Bellinger's current strikeout rate for 2019 is 11.7 percent, cut down more than half from his 26.6 percent he had in 2017 and 23.9 percent last season. He's been able to improve his walk rate as well, posting a 14.1 percent for this season so far, better than both his 2017 (11.7 percent) and 2018 (10.9 percent) marks. His 18 walks so far this season surpasses his 15 total strikeouts through 30 games.
In Tuesday's game when the Dodgers play again in San Francisco (GameTracker), Bellinger still has a chance to rack up a few more records before May 1. He's one away from the most home runs, two from tying the most runs record and two from tying the most hits record. The Dodgers (19-12) enter Tuesday atop the NL West, leading the NL in runs (164) and RBI (159).
