How red-hot Cody Bellinger shook off the slow start to his Yankees career

Cody Bellinger s 2025 season breaks down neatly into two segments.

From Opening Day through May 2, Bellinger had 118 plate appearances.

The Yankees slugger got off to a slow start, hitting .196 with three home runs and 16 RBI in those 29 games.

His .614 OPS ranked last among qualifying Yankee hitters.

But Bellinger has been on a tear ever since.

In another 118 plate appearances from May 3 through Thursday, Bellinger batted .317 with six home runs.

His 19 RBI during that stretch led the Yankees even ahead of Aaron Judges 18.

Bellingers 1.5 wins above replacement (WAR) over that span ranked 13th among MLB position players, according to FanGraphs, while his .957 OPS ranked 14th.

At first, [I] was obviously trying to do too much, Bellinger said after Thursdays 4-0 win over the Cleveland Guardians , a game in which he struck a two-run home run and an RBI single.

I had so much excitement, he continued.

I made the adjustments [and] had good conversations with the hitting coaches.

Those adjustments, Bellinger said, included a tweak to his mechanics and a change to his approach.

And theyre paying off.

Through May 2, Bellinger had chased 28.6% of pitches out of the strike zone.

His strikeout rate sat at 21.2%.

In the 118 plate appearances that followed, Bellinger swung at 26.9% pitches out of the zone.

His strikeout rate dropped to 11.9% during that stretch.

I really think its as simple as getting in good hitting position and making good swing decisions.

He was leaving the zone a lot, manager Aaron Boone said.

Hes got that bat-to-ball thing, so he can put balls in play [when] expanding the strike zone, but I think he was expanding a little too much.

And I just think his balance was better, has been better, and [hes] swinging at pitches that he can do something with.

The Yankees acquired Bellinger a two-time All-Star and the 2019 National League MVP in an offseason trade with the Chicago Cubs, hoping the lefty-hitting outfielder could help replace some of the production lost by Juan Sotos departure.

It was a wish fulfilled for Bellinger , whose father, Clay, played three seasons for the Yankees from 1999-2001 and won a pair of World Series with them.

The 29-year-old Bellinger has delivered his typically strong defense this season, primarily in center field, while mostly batting No.

3 or No.

4, often as the immediate protection for Judge.

Bellinger faced some bad luck to start the year.

In early April, his lower back tightened up an issue hes dealt with in the past and cost him two games.

A few days later, Bellinger missed another game after room-service chicken wings in Detroit left him with food poisoning.

At the time, Boone described Bellingers start to the season as disjointed.

But Bellinger has gotten going since, including on May 18 when he went 3-for-3 with a grand slam and six RBI in an 8-2 win over the Mets to cap the Subway Series in the Bronx.

Entering Fridays series opener against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium, Bellinger boasted overall numbers of a .257 average, nine home runs, 35 RBI and a .787 OPS.

You always want to get off to the hot start, so it was just, like, excitement energy, Bellinger said Thursday.

Focus[ing] on the task at hand is what I really needed to do..

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