{"id":4509,"date":"2026-07-15T05:06:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T05:06:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4509"},"modified":"2026-07-15T05:06:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T05:06:56","slug":"cody-bellinger-gets-mvp-as-yankees-shine-bright-in-american-leagues-all-star-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=4509","title":{"rendered":"Cody Bellinger gets MVP as Yankees shine bright in American League’s All-Star win"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PHILADELPHIA \u2014 A 2019 NL MVP whose stock had more plunged than dropped in the years afterward, nontendered by the Dodgers and salary-dumped by the Cubs, returned to the All-Star Game for the first time in seven years transformed. No longer is he the 47-homer monster he was with the Dodgers. And no longer is he the .165-hitting shell of himself that he was in 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Cody Bellinger is a different player, which was reflected in his first-inning at-bat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Cody Bellinger is a different person, which was reflected by his companions to the podium after the game: Caiden and Cy, his two young daughters and a significant reason Tuesday meant so much to him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The reinvention of Bellinger already had been complete, but it was on display during the American League\u2019s 4-0 victory at a sold-out, rocking, booing and Red, White and Blue\u2019ing Citizens Bank Park, where a player who does just about everything well joined a club of Giancarlo Stanton, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter as Yankees All-Star Game MVPs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPretty special,\u201d Bellinger said after driving in half the game\u2019s runs with one easy swing. \u201cMy first few years in the big leagues \u2014 I was here I think two of my first three years, and I was like, \u2018I\u2019ll be here every year.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took a long time to get back.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He got back, getting past nose-diving years with the Dodgers and merely solid seasons with the Cubs, by relying upon his athleticism and smarts more than his power. With the Yankees, he excels with two strikes, knows when to shorten up and knows when to unleash.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Tuesday\u2019s first inning, the AL had loaded the bases with two outs against Phillies southpaw Cristopher S\u00e1nchez, against whom lefties had hit .137 with a .328 OPS this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bellinger went down, 0-2. He laid off a sinker and a changeup. And he got a sinker in the middle of the plate and shot it up the middle for a two-run single.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI just tried to keep it simple,\u201d said Bellinger, who could not have known at that moment that the AL wouldn\u2019t need another run.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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And yet they scored again one batter later, Ben Rice following it up with another left-on-left single against S\u00e1nchez.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBen\u2019s really just been doing it all year,\u201d Bellinger said of Rice. \u201cHe\u2019s such a good player. He\u2019s really smart. He\u2019s fun to talk hitting with.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so fired up for him,\u201d Rice said of Bellinger, who dislocated his shoulder in the 2020 World Series, statistically was one of the worst players in the league in \u201921 and not offered a contract by the Dodgers after \u201922.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He landed with the Cubs and rebuilt his value but only partially, leading to the trade ahead of last season in which Chicago was on the hook for some of Bellinger\u2019s salary.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With the Yankees, and particularly in a Yankee Stadium that suits him, a new Bellinger has emerged.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a competitive league. It\u2019s hard to be an All-Star,\u201d Bellinger said. \u201cThe performance, it all has to come together.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, this one, I just really enjoyed it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Two swings from Bellinger and Rice \u2014 \u201cA couple knocks from the Yankee boys,\u201d in the words of AL and Blue Jays manager John Schneider \u2014 represented the only scoring outside an eighth-inning homer from the White Sox\u2019s Miguel Vargas. Eleven pitchers on the AL pitching staff combined for a three-hitter while walking two and striking out 15.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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