In the same division

In 2019, Cody Bellinger received 362 vote points in the NL MVP voting and Christian Yelich got 317 vote points. These 2 players each had a great season. Bellinger slashed .305/.406/.629 with 47 home runs, 115 RBI and 15 stolen bases. At the same time, Yelich hit .329/.429/.671 with 44 HRs, 97 RBI and 30 stolen bases. However, after the 2019 season, these 2 players have never finished a season with 20+ home runs. In December 2022, Cody Bellinger signed a one-year contract with the Chicago Cubs. So, Bellinger and Yelich are now in the same division.

In the NL Central, do these 2 former MVPs enjoy the 2023 season?

Player Comparison (~2023.06.17)
Cody Bellinger		Christian Yelich
40	H	66
7	HR	9
21	RBI	30
9	SB	16
.267	BA	.266
.335	OBP	.361
.822	OPS	.784

In the first season with the Cubs, Cody Bellinger played 39 games so far, hitting .267/.335/.487 with 7 home runs and 21 RBI. Additionally, Bellinger has 9 stolen bases. However, injury limits his contribution to the Cubs lineup this season. The Cubs placed Cody Bellinger on the IL on May 19 and he’s just back from the IL. In the meantime, Christian Yelich now hits .266/.361/.423 with 9 home runs, 30 RBI and 16 stolen across 67 games. As we can see, Cody Bellinger hasn’t played too many games for the Cubs. Nonetheless, to date, he has a higher OPS.

 

Player Comparison (2020 ~ 2022)
Cody Bellinger		Christian Yelich
209	H	285
41	HR	35
134	RBI	130
23	SB	32
.203	BA	.243
.272	OBP	.358
.648	OPS	.745

Now, let’s take a look at their performance over the last 3 seasons. From 2020 to 2022, Bellinger collected 209 hits in 295 games and Yelich had 285 hits over 329 games. Moreover, Bellinger crushed 41 home runs and Yelich had 35 homers. Well, we have to keep in mind that Bellinger blasted 47 home runs in 2019 and Yelich smashed 44 home runs. Over the last 3 seasons, it seems that their abilities to go deep just disappear. Additionally, they each collected just 130+ RBI over the last 3 seasons.

Player Comparison (On-base Plus Slugging, 2020-2023.06.17)
Player	2020	2021	2022	~2023.06.17
Cody Bellinger	.788	.542	.654	.822
Christian Yelich	.786	.735	.738	.784

Finally, let’s look at the changes in OPS. In the shortened 2020 season, Bellinger and Yelich each owned an OPS over .780. They didn’t have an OPS over 1.000 as they did in 2019, but an OPS over .780 wasn’t very bad. However, in 2021, Yelich’s OPS dropped to .735. For Cody Bellinger, things got even worse. His OPS decreased to below .600, which was awful according to Fangraphs standard. Last season, Bellinger’s OPS increased to .654, but it’s still below average. Meanwhile, Yelich’s OPS remained over .730. By far this season, Yelich has an OPS of .784. At the same time, Bellinger’s OPS is over .800 after playing 30+ games for the Cubs.

Cody Bellinger only played 39 games for the Cubs by far this season. But, it seems that he has a bounce-back season. Well, he’s probably not the same Bellinger as we saw in the 2019 season. He’s probably not the Bellinger that will crush 40+ home runs in a single season. However, if he can finish the season with an OPS over .800. It’s not a bad season for him. In the meantime, Yelich now has an OPS over .780. He's now hitting well in June with an OPS over .900 and it’s worth mentioning that his hard-hit rate is over 50% this season. It will be very interesting to see whether these former MVPs will both finish the 2023 season with an OPS over .800.