The Bronx was buzzing Sunday night, and not just because the Yankees swept aside their crosstown rivals in dominant fashion.
It was something deeper, like a long-dormant force suddenly erupting.
That force? Cody Bellinger.
The Yankees knew they were rolling the dice when they traded for Bellinger this offseason, hoping he’d recapture his MVP form.
It took a while, but now he’s awake—and his timing couldn’t be more perfect.
A grand slam that changed the energy in the Bronx
For most of the spring, Bellinger looked like a shadow of himself, swinging through hittable pitches and chasing out of the zone.
But on Sunday, he didn’t just show up—he took over.
Bellinger went 3-for-3 with six RBIs, two walks, and a towering grand slam that sailed over Juan Soto’s head and landed like a punctuation mark.
The four-run shot felt symbolic, a player reclaiming his confidence and reminding the league what he’s capable of doing when locked in.
Offense trending upward with Bellinger leading the charge
After a sluggish start to 2025, Bellinger has pushed his season line to .258/.331/.458 with a .789 OPS and seven home runs.
His slugging percentage has risen sharply, and his plate discipline metrics have started to creep into above-average territory.
He’s not hitting like an MVP—yet—but he’s far removed from the below-average player he was to open the year.
His current wRC+ now sits over 110, showing he’s at least 10% better than league average offensively.
The Yankees, already leading baseball in home runs and wRC+, just got even scarier.
Defensive value remains a major bonus
While his bat takes center stage, Bellinger’s glove has been just as valuable.
He’s logged 347 innings in the outfield, committing just one error and posting a .990 fielding percentage.
With two defensive runs saved and three outs above average, he’s been a stabilizing presence in the field—a rare combination of power and precision.
This kind of versatility gives Aaron Boone flexibility with matchups, and lets the Yankees rotate players like Aaron Judge or Paul Goldschmidt into the DH slot when needed.
Timing couldn’t be better for the Yankees’ red-hot offense
The Yankees didn’t need Bellinger to be perfect this year, but they did need him to be dangerous.
And now, he is.
Their offense is already leading the majors in most key categories, and adding a hot Bellinger into the mix only widens the gap.
They’re rolling into June as one of the most complete teams in baseball—and that includes a former MVP who finally found his swing.
The sleeping dragon has stirred—and judging by Sunday night’s fireworks, he’s hungry.
Popular Reading
Yankees 8, Mets 2: Good news and bad news from the Belli Masterblast
!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“has-featured-video”,”true”)})}();var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({“div”:”Brid_2124226″,”obj”:{“id”:”30505″,”width”:”1280″,”height”:”720″,”stickyDirection”:”below”,”video”:”2124226″,”poster”:”https://empiresportsmedia.com/wp-content/plugins/tpd-addons/blocks/featured-video/src/img/1×1-white.png”}});https://player.target-video.com/player/build/targetvideo.min.js