DENVER — Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland challenged Cody Bellinger up and in with a sinker. But Bellinger’s smooth swing met it out in front to drive a solo home run just over the right-field wall.
Add Freeland to the list of left-handed pitchers who have been victimized by Bellinger this year.
“We kind of have an inside joke, me and the hitting coaches, with lefties,” Bellinger told the Sun-Times last month. “It’s just funny where I just feel comfortable against them.”
In the Cubs’ 6-5 walk-off loss to the Rockies on Saturday, Bellinger’s fourth-inning solo homer widened the Cubs’ lead to two runs. But a stingy start from right-hander Jameson Taillon and a persistent offensive trickle in the late innings weren’t enough as the Cubs fell in 10 innings and remained six games back of the last wild-card spot.
“We’ve lost plenty of heartbreakers this year, and it’s never easier,” said Taillon, who held the Rockies to two runs in six innings. “But we are where we are. And being emotional about it doesn’t really change anything.”
Left-handed pitchers generally have the advantage over left-handed batters. But Bellinger entered the game hitting .290 against lefties, a better average than he has against righties.
His on-base and power numbers are better against right-handers. But, including that fourth-inning homer, he has hit four home runs off left-handed pitchers. Most notably, Bellinger was the first left-handed hitter to homer off White Sox ace Garrett Crochet in his major-league career.
“I actually had no idea until after the game that I was the first one,” Bellinger said. “I mean, it makes sense because it’s a tough angle, electric stuff. And, for me, it was sticking with my plan and just trying to see the ball and put my swing on it — as generic as it is.”
Bellinger would be an every-day player even if his splits weren’t quite so impressive. But his success against lefties brings consistency to the lineup. He hit in the cleanup spot all three games against the Dodgers when they put right-handed starters on the mound every day. And he remained in the No. 4 spot in Colorado as the Rockies started lefties in back-to-back games.
“Everybody expects it to just go away,” Cubs hitting coach Dustin Kelly told the Sun-Times. “Even we thought that last year. It was like, ‘Oh, he had a great year against lefties.’ But he just continues to put together really good at-bats against left-handed pitching.”
Bellinger’s opt-out decision looms as the Cubs creep toward elimination.
His performance against left-handed pitching has been particularly notable the last two seasons, but some precedent existed earlier in his career.
When Bellinger was the National League Rookie of the Year in 2017, he had relatively even platoon splits. In his 2019 MVP season, he hit .280 against lefties — but he had a dominant .318 batting average against right-handed pitchers.
“It’s always hard, right?” Bellinger said. “But I never really felt uncomfortable against [lefties], even in my minor-league career. And then, obviously, there were a few years there where I wasn’t hitting anybody, so it didn’t matter who was on the mound.”
The way the ball comes out of a left-hander’s hand, with pitches largely moving away from the left-handed batter’s box, almost forces Bellinger into the best version of his swing.
“That left-handed angle is just really a spot that over-exaggerates him staying in and staying closed for a little bit longer,” Kelly said, “to be able to stay behind that baseball and not pull off of it and foul it off or miss it.”
Bellinger, who went 2-for-5, did just that on a hanging slider from Freeland in the sixth inning. But Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle reached up to catch the long fly ball just shy of the 415-foot center-field wall.
“I thought he had a second one there,” Taillon said. “Just the name on the back of the jersey, people are aware of who he is, and I feel like they step on it a little more to him, which makes what he does even more impressive.”