Cody Bellinger called up to make major league debut with Dodgers

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers top prospect will make his major league debut against the club’s fiercest rival. Cody Bellinger will be called up on Tuesday, per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com and confirmed by Andy McCullough of the LA Times, joining the Dodgers in San Francisco before their second of four games against the Giants at AT&T Park.

The Dodgers confirmed the call up.

The move comes one day after center fielder Joc Pederson was reevaluated in San Francisco and placed on the 10-day disabled list with a right groin strain.

The Dodgers will need to make a corresponding roster move for Bellinger on the active roster. Brett Eibner got the call up on Monday when Pederson was placed on the DL.

Bellinger will also need to be placed on the 40-man roster, which will require another move.

Bellinger is off to a hot start this season, hitting .343/.429/.627 with five home runs, leading Oklahoma City in runs scored (15), RBI (14), walks (nine), and even stolen bases (seven for seven). He has reached base in 17 of his 18 games, including the last 12 straight.

After starting each of the first 18 games of the season, Bellinger didn’t play on Tuesday morning in OKC’s 6-0 win over Memphis. Afterward, Oklahoma City manager Bill Haselman played the role of good organizational soldier.

At 21, Bellinger was one of the youngest players in the Pacific Coast League.

Primarily a first baseman, Bellinger has also started two games in center field this season, and made his first start in left field this year on Monday. With Double-A Tulsa in 2016, Bellinger played 13 games in left field, 13 games in center field, and nine games in right field.

Whether the left-handed Bellinger plays left or center field with the Dodgers, but the Dodgers are set to face a string of right-handed pitchers in the next two weeks or so. Left-hander Ty Blach starts Tuesday, and the Dodgers will face southpaw Matt Moore this week and next, but those are the only three lefties tentatively scheduled for the next nine games, and if we stretch out to the next 15 games, Clayton Richard of the Padres is the only other likely lefty to face the Dodgers.

UPDATE: Some pregame words from manager Dave Roberts.