Fast Cody Bellinger, Dodgers try to get back on track

The Dodgers try to start a new winning streak on Tuesday night, finish off their homestand with one more game against the Angels at Dodger Stadium.

Cody Bellinger has been a huge part of the Dodgers’ winning ways pretty much ever since he was called up in April. On Tuesday, Bellinger was profiled in the New York Times by Tyler Kepner.

It is a wide-ranging profile, but this passage from Alex Wood seemed especially relevant:

He hits so many home runs that guys don’t get to see him run much, but he’s the fastest guy on the team," Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood said. "It’s beautiful to watch him run. I mean, I’d literally rather see him hit a double so I could watch him run.

Wood was right, it turns out. Statcast has been tracking baserunners, and on Tuesday introduced a speed metric, which measures a player’s fastest feet per second.

Just looking at Dodgers, Bellinger does in fact rank first, with a sprint speed of 28.7 feet per second, narrowly ahead of Chris Taylor (28.5) and Andrew Toles (28.4).

The MLB average is 27 feet per second, and the fastest runner in baseball is Billy Hamilton at 30.1.

The Dodgers were unable to homer — or score — on Monday against Ricky Nolasco, who was tied for most home runs allowed (23) in baseball. Jesse Chavez, starting Tuesday night for the Angels, isn’t far behind with 19 homers allowed, and has allowed at least one home run in each of his last 13 outings.

Kenta Maeda has fared better at home this season, with a 3.93 ERA compared to 5.46 on the road, and he has 33 strikeouts against only six walks at Dodger Stadium. Opposing batters have hit .236/.274/.386 against Maeda at home, versus .245/.328/.453 on the road.

Game info

Time: 7:10 p.m. PT

TV: SportsNet LA, Fox Sports West