For most hitters, left-on-left is tough. Bellinger just shrugs

This story was excerpted from Bryan Hoch’s Yankees Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

NEW YORK -- The book says Cody Bellinger shouldn’t be able to hit lefties like this. The results prove he can.

Bellinger was one of the league’s most consistent performers against left-handed pitchers last season, when he posted a .353 batting average, .601 slugging percentage and .427 wOBA.

After a few quiet showings early this year, Bellinger busted out in Saturday’s 13-4 rout of the Royals, including a two-run homer and a run-scoring single against Kansas City lefty Noah Cameron. He added a walk and a bloop double against the next lefty Royals starter he saw, Cole Ragans.

So what is the key to winning those left-on-left matchups? Bellinger shrugs -- to him, it’s never seemed all that complicated.

“I really do feel like, even going through the Minor Leagues -- I don’t want to age myself, but no one talked about lefty-lefty matchups,” Bellinger said. “I never heard of it. It’s just another pitcher. You’ve got to have your plan, and you’ve got to continue putting your swing on the ball.

“I don’t think there’s a magic trick to it. I really don’t.”

Yankees manager Aaron Boone admits he can be “obsessive” about lefty-righty balance, which plays into his decision-making for each game.

That has created opportunities for Paul Goldschmidt, Randal Grichuk and Amed Rosario to contribute, and potentially more -- Rosario, for one, has earned additional playing time because of Ryan McMahon’s early struggles.

But Bellinger is one piece that Boone never needs to worry about, even if he can’t specifically pinpoint why.

“I don’t know,” Boone said, with a laugh. “He’s flat through the zone. He obviously had a great year against them last year. I think it’s the flatness of his swing. It stays through the hitting zone a long time. It lends itself to being strong against them.”

Yankees hitting coach James Rowson said he believes the key resides within Bellinger’s approach, even more than his mechanics.

“He doesn’t give in,” Rowson said. “Lefties are tough on other lefties, but Cody stays in longer than most lefties. He’s not getting out of the box early. He stays in to finish his swing a lot of times left-on-left. It’s tough because of that angle, but he does a really good job of taking the angle away and staying in there longer.”

This is not a new development for Bellinger, a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner (2019, ’23) who owned an .803 career OPS against lefties entering Sunday. That’s only a tick below his .823 career mark against right-handers.

Even in 2024, the season before he was traded to the Yankees by the Cubs, Bellinger’s .298 (48-for-161) batting average against lefties was the Majors’ fifth highest among left-handed batters.

Rowson said Bellinger’s plate approach focuses on hitting low line drives (which, as an aside, could be a good lesson for the young hitters reading this at home). It’s also why Rowson believes Bellinger’s 2025 success is “absolutely repeatable” -- not just now, but for years to come.

“Belli is so good at contact,” Rowson said. “You watch him, and it’s the mentality of, he’s willing to take his hit. He’s not always looking to hit a homer off those guys. He’s looking to put a good at-bat together. To me, Belli is a line-drive guy with power. He’s not a guy that’s just trying to hit for power.”

Whatever the formula is, it works -- and Bellinger isn’t about to make changes.

“When I’m doing what I want to do at the plate, I’m able to have really good mechanics,” Bellinger said. “I just like doing that. I like hitting lefties.”