MOOSIC, Pa. — Friday at Yankee Stadium was Cody Bellinger Bobblehead Night.
While that was taking place, the real thing was at PNC Field in northeastern Pennsylvania in the second game of a rehab assignment with the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
Both games went well for Bellinger to the point where he is expected to come off the injured list Sunday. He has been out since July 26th with a left hamstring strain.
In Friday night’s game against the Charlotte Knights, Triple-A affiliate of the White Sox, he played six innings in the RailRiders’ 5-3 victory. He went 0-for-3 against right-handed starter Jonathan Cannon, who made 38 starts for Chicago between 2024-25. Batting second, Bellinger struck out swinging in the bottom of the first on a 3-2 pitch. He grounded out to second on an 0-1 pitch in the bottom of the third and grounded out to third on a 2-2 pitch leading off the bottom of the sixth.
Bellinger also played left field and had some balls hit to him that tested the hamstring. He made consecutive putouts on fly balls in the top of the second inning. In the top of the sixth, Junior Perez lined a ball to left field. Bellinger went back and reached up, but had the ball just deflect off the top of his outstretched glove for a RBI double. When he threw the ball back in, it eluded shortstop Oswaldo Cabrera for a throwing error that allowed Perez to advance to third. Mario Camilletti followed with a RBI double into the left-field corner that Bellinger had to run down.
Playing the outfield is a better indicator than batting to see if the hamstring is healed. Bellinger had no issues.
“I think it’s moreso the up-and-down. Playing defense, going to sit down. Playing defense, going to sit down. Going to the bases,” Bellinger said.
On Thursday night, in the first game of his rehab assignment, Bellinger was penciled in the lineup in left field, but Mother Nature had other plans. An all-day rain delayed the start of the game two hours and caused RailRiders manager Shelley Duncan to switch Bellinger to DH.
“I walked the field before the game and the soft warning track, that’s tricky,” Duncan said. “Don’t want him to go back on a ball and have an injury. I want him to play the game the way he plays the game. Too much of a risk there.”
As the DH, Bellinger went 1-for-3 in the seven-inning game.
“It felt good. It was good to get in the batter’s box again off a pretty good arm over there,” Bellinger said. “Ran the bases once, felt good. It was a good day.
“First time (here). It’s a really nice ballpark, it’s got nice views. Obviously the weather kind of made it a little bit of a delay, but overall it was good day.”
Facing Charlotte’s 6-foot-10 lefty starter Noah Schultz (another recent White Sox starter), he grounded a 2-1 pitch past a sliding second baseman Rikuu Nishida and into rightfield for a single. He was erased on a double play by Jasson Domínguez.
“It was the first time seeing a live pitch in a while, so I wanted to keep it simple,” Bellinger said. “See the ball, hit the ball.
“I wanted to slide to see how it felt. I slid (on the double play), no issues.”
With one out in the bottom of the third and Kenedy Corona on second following a leadoff double, Bellinger hit a 1-2 pitch from Schultz to deep right-center field. However, right fielder Perez caught it in on the warning track in front of the fence 385 feet away for the second out.
Righthander Adisyn Coffey came on to pitch for the Knights in the bottom of the fifth. Bellinger popped up a 1-0 pitch to shortstop Andy Weber to end the inning. A two-run home run by Anthony Volpe preceded Bellinger’s at-bat and accounted for the only offense in a RailRiders’ 2-0 win.
“Second AB, I just really stayed with my plan,” Bellinger said. “Got the righty in there for my third at-bat and popped up. But overall I liked where I was at.”
Bellinger wasn’t sure if he got all of the ball he hit to the warning track in his second at-bat.
“I hit it decent,” he said. “Didn’t know if the ball flew here. But it was a good swing. I liked that swing a lot.”
Duncan agreed that Bellinger had some good at-bats.
“It looked like he was seeing it well. Gave it a charge his second at-bat,” Duncan said. “It was nice to see him comfortable up there at the plate. I know we’re here to get his legs ready, but at the plate he looked like there was no rust. He put together good swings.”
This season, in 102 games with the Yankees, Bellinger is batting .259 with 97 hits, including 21 doubles, three triples, 11 home runs and 53 RBIs. He was Most Valuable Player of the MLB All-Star Game in Philadelphia in July after driving in two runs with a single in the first inning to help the American League win, 4-0.
Watching the Yankees struggle offensively the past few weeks while he has been sidelined has been frustrating for Bellinger. But after two games with the RailRiders, he appears ready to return.
“It’s hard being on the IL. You want to get out and play and help the boys win,” he said. “Hopefully I’m pretty close and hope I can do what I can to help the team win.”
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