2022 Dynasty Baseball Player of The Week: Cody Bellinger

Welcome back, everyone! We got hit with a significant snowstorm in Boston to start 2022, so that has been fun! But what is even more fun is diving into Dynasty Baseball and this week features Cody Bellinger as our Dynasty Baseball Player of the Week!

Each year I come in with a plan, and usually, that plan involves one huge deal. For this iteration of the 2022 Dynasty Baseball Player of the Week, we are diving into one major deal that leads to a flurry of deals that led me to acquire Bellinger.

Before we get started, don't forget to check out my guy Dave's Dynasty Baseball Rankings! Also, be sure to tune into the On Deck Circle Podcast.

Let's get this out of the way; I traded Mookie Betts! Not only did I trade Mookie, I traded him to my Fantasy Baseball mentor, if you will, Jake Deveraux. I won't bore you with the negotiations, but ultimately we decided on Mookie for Brennen Davis, Eury Perez, Francisco Alvarez and Oswaldo Cabrera.

This then leads to another deal with my friend, Mr. Bryan Joiner. I traded pick 1.10 in the FYPD and newly acquired Fransico Alvarez for Giants prospect Marco Luciano. You guessed it, I then flipped Luciano to another owner for our 2022 Dynasty Baseball Player of the Week himself, Cody Bellinger.

So sit back, relax and figure out why I dealt for the slumping superstar.

2022 Dynasty Baseball Player of The Week: Cody Bellinger

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Bellinger's 2020 - Bad

Well, that's it. The last two years do not count for Cody Bellinger. First, he battled a shoulder injury for most of 2020 that led to shoulder surgery in the offseason. Then, in early April, Cody had an apparent calf contusion. Turns out he had a hairline fracture in his leg.

Although we would love to say these two seasons did not count, they do matter. Unfortunately for Bellinger, he was awful (compared to expectations) for the past two seasons.

So let's take a look at where Cody stacked up in the last two years:

By the looks of this, Bellinger had a decent season in a shortened season. However, this is a case where the metrics don't really translate to his actual production.

Compared to his 2019 MVP season, his numbers were less than expected. He slashed .239/.333/.455 leading to an OPS of .789 - he lost .246 points from his 2019 OPS. He appeared in 56 games with only 12 homers and drove in 30 runs.

On the bright side, Bellinger boasted a BB rate of 12.4% and a K rate of 17.3.

At a glance, the season is by far not awful. Yet with the fantastic season that preceded it, it was considered a down year.

Bellinger's 2021  - Worse

Yuck, that is all I can say. Unfortunately, unlike 2020, Bellinger's 2021 percentile rankings tell the story for his 2021 season.

His season started late after recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. You can encapsulate Bellinger in one video.

Cody Bellinger hit a home run with Justin Turner on base, but Turner thought it was caught for an out and ran back to first base.

Bellinger passed Turner on the bases and was ruled out.

The home run counted for one run instead of two. pic.twitter.com/ErecD0td3d

— ESPN (@espn) April 1, 2021

If that was not a sign of things to come, I don't know what is.

Bellinger's isolated power (ISO - slugging percentage minus batting average) was .137 in 2021, down from his .274 career mark through 2020. His previous low ISO was .210.

Cody Bellinger is a masher at heart, and as a Fantasy manager, you are counting on him to contribute to those counting stats. He hit a mere ten homers and slashed .166/.240/.302.

Numbers like this are replacement-level Fantasy players; however, in many Dynasty Baseball leagues, Bellinger was drafted in the top 24 picks in a draft.

Mr. Brightside

On a completely separate note, Mr.Brightside is my new favorite song to be played at weddings. There is something about a group of 20-30 somethings screaming/singing/dancing to this song. If you do not know or remember this fantastic Killers song make sure you check it out!

Anyway, back to baseball! What I am about to show and tell you is why I am all in on my 2022 Dynasty Baseball Player of The Week: Cody Bellinger, this year. Bellinger had a Bellinger playoff run that showed us that MVP is still in that body. Bellinger improved his walk rate by 12.8% and slashed a mean .353/.436/,471 in his 12 post-season games. I understand that it is just 12 games, but I believe we see a player closer to this than the replacement platoon player we saw in the regular season,

The best ability is availability, and more importantly, when you're available, you need to be healthy. Unfortunately, we have not seen the former MVP be fully healthy since his MVP 2019 season. For that reason, I am buying into Cody Bellinger this season, and I think he will regain his once high Dynasty value. Tune in next week for our next 2022 Dynasty Baseball Player of The Week!

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