Cody Bellinger is in the spotlight as Opening Day gets nearer and nearer. With only 99 days left until then, it's a good time to look at players who could be important for their team's success in 2025.
Until Opening Day, Sportskeeda is going to count down with featured players, highlighting what they've done in the past as well as offering some expectations for how they'll do in 2025. Bellinger comes in as the second, or 99th, player on the list.
Bellinger was traded from the Chicago Cubs to the New York Yankees yesterday. It's another big move for the Bronx Bombers after being outbid for Juan Soto.
The player is reportedly set to be their everyday center fielder. However, they still need a first baseman, Bellinger's other position, so don't be surprised if he plays there. The Yankees now need either a center fielder or a first baseman, and Bellinger will provide exceptional defense at the other spot.
He is coming off a slightly down year. After a Rookie of the Year and eventual MVP with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Bellinger played very poorly. He reset his value in 2023 with the Cubs but regressed a little to the mean in 2024.
He had a 109 wRC+ and 18 home runs. He hit .266 with 72 RBI in 130 games. He recorded 2.2 fWAR, which was exactly half of his 2023 total.
Predicting Cody Bellinger's first season with the Yankees
Cody Bellinger goes from a lineup where he had to be arguably the best hitter to a lineup where he's probably the third-best. Assuming he remains in the three hole of the lineup, but with the Yankees, he will have Aaron Judge on base a lot to drive in runs.
If the Yankees keep Judge at three and have Bellinger ahead of him, then the new Yankee will get better pitches to hit so that opposing teams don't walk someone ahead of Judge.
That should lead to a little bit of an uptick in production. Combine that with the fact that Bellinger's lefty bat should play well with Yankee Stadium's short porch and it's easy to predict a better year at the plate.
Had he played in Yankee Stadium last year, he would've hit 24 home runs. Fangraphs projects 2.5 fWAR with a 112 wRC+. They also project a .254 batting average and 23 home runs.
Our prediction: Bellinger hits .269 with a .381 OBP. He adds 26 home runs, 83 RBI and has 13 DRS combined between first base and center field for a 3.1 fWAR.