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Cody Bellinger named NL Player of the Week

MLB: Los Angeles Dodgers at San Diego Padres Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

LOS ANGELES — In just his second week in the majors, and his first full week, Dodgers first baseman Cody Bellinger was named the National League Player of the Month on Monday.

Bellinger was 9-for-21 (.429) with three home runs, a double, and a triple in five games last week for the Dodgers, including four multi-hit games. He scored eight runs, drove in a league-high 12, walked once, and even stole a base. His 1.000 slugging percentage tied for the NL lead last week.

Dodgers rookie POTW

Player Pos Week
Player Pos Week
Ron Cey 3B May 14-20, 1973
Fernando Valenzuela SP Apr 6-12, 1981
Fernando Valenzuela SP Aug 31-Sep 6, 1981
Candy Maldonado OF Apr 16-22, 1984
Eric Karros 1B Jul 27-Aug 2, 1992
Mike Piazza C Apr 26-May 2, 1993
Mike Piazza C Jun 14-20, 1993
Mike Piazza C Sep -Oct 3, 1993
Hideo Nomo SP Jun 19-25, 1995
Andre Ethier OF Jul 3-9, 2006
Yasiel Puig OF Jun 3-9, 2013
Cody Bellinger 1B/OF May 1-7, 2017

He hit two home runs on Friday night against the Padres, then followed that up with a grand slam on Saturday, driving in a career-high five runs. Bellinger is the first Dodger with five home runs in his first 11 career games, and is off to one of the strongest starts of any Dodgers rookie ever.

Per Elias, Bellinger is the second player since 1920 — when RBI became an official statistic — with at least five home runs and 14 RBI in his first 11 career games. That the other was Royals first baseman Mark Quinn — five home runs, 16 RBI in 1999 — is a reminder that baseball will forever continue to amaze us all.

Bellinger is the first Dodger to win NL Player of the Week since Zack Greinke for the week of July 13-19, 2015. He is the first Dodgers position player to win the award since Adrian Gonzalez, for the week of April 6-12, 2015.

Bellinger is the first Dodgers rookie to do so since Yasiel Puig for the week of June 3-9, 2013, in Puig’s first week in the majors.

In all, there have been nine Dodgers rookies to capture player of the week honors, dating back to Ron Cey in 1973. Mike Piazza (three times, in 1993) and Fernando Valenzuela (twice, in 1981) are the only rookies in franchise history to win multiple player of the week awards.