Yahoo Finance World Series Game 4: Cody Bellinger moved to DH due to back tightness from sleeping wrong
Game 4 of the World Series came with a last-minute lineup change for the Los Angeles Dodgers. It involved Cody Bellinger, for a very Cody Bellinger reason.
The former MVP was moved to DH in the Dodgers lineup, replaced at center field by A.J. Pollock. The given reason for the change was back tightness for Bellinger, but then we found out what caused that back tightness.
Bellinger had slept wrong, according to AM 570 LA’s David Vassegh.
Bellinger slept wrong overnight that caused the back tightness.
— David Vassegh (@THEREAL_DV) October 24, 2020
The good news for the Dodgers is that Bellinger reportedly had no trouble swinging a bat, just fielding during batting practice.
However, the swap for Pollock in center field is still a loss on defense for the Dodgers. Bellinger graded out as the fourth-best defensive center fielder in MLB by OAA this season, per Baseball Savant. Pollock was average at the position in 134 innings this year, and a significant negative last year. It is also Pollock’s first start at the position this postseason.
Somehow, this isn’t even Bellinger’s oddest injury this postseason.
Bellinger dislocated shoulder celebrating in NLCS
Rewind back to Game 7 of the NLCS, and Bellinger was hitting the game-winning home run against the Atlanta Braves. It’s safe to say he was excited.
Excited enough to dislocate his shoulder celebrating as he approached his dugout.
Did Cody Bellinger dislocate his shoulder? pic.twitter.com/3lH08W7Onq
— Pitcher List (@PitcherList) October 19, 2020
“I’m good. I’m good. I hit Kiké’s shoulder a little too hard and my shoulder popped out, so I had to go back in the training room,” Bellinger said on MLB Network. “They popped it back in and I was ready to play some defense. It kind of hurt.”
Bellinger followed that up by doing only foot taps to celebrate his next home run.
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