Yankees' Cody Bellinger's Gold Glove Doesn't Cover for All Sins

New York Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger has captured his first Gold Glove award since his MVP campaign in 2019, and it was well deserved.

Bellinger posted 20 defensive runs saved and six outs above average in the outfield this past year, numbers nearly identical to what he registered during his initial Gold Glove-winning season.

That's all well and good. Bellinger brings tremendous value defensively, and it's a big reason why the Yankees re-signed him to a five-year, $162.5 million contract last winter.

But New York is also expecting him to hit.

Bellinger had a decent regular season at the plate in 2026, slashing .264/.338/.429 with 17 home runs and 73 RBI over 562 plate appearances. But he also had three straight months between June and August in which he recorded a sub-.700 OPS.

Perhaps not so incidentally, that just so happened to coincide with the stretch that Aaron Judge was absent. After all, Bellinger logged a .993 OPS in May.

But it's not just Bellinger's midseason slump that should raise some eyebrows. It was his disappearance in the playoffs yet again.

Bellinger did hit a three-run home run in the Yankees' series-clinching Game 2 against the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card Series, but that homer came when New York was already ahead 5-1. Not an incredibly high-leverage moment.

Overall, the 31-year-old batted .190 with a .524 OPS over 21 postseason plate appearances this past year, and while you might just chalk that up to a small sample size, how about taking a look at his career numbers?

Bellinger has been in the playoffs regularly throughout his career. In fact, he's played in 81 postseason contests. And throughout that time, he has slashed .210/.276/.375. Now, compare that with his lifetime .261/.334/.478 regular-season slash line, and one can easily come to the conclusion that he is a playoff choker.

The former first-round pick batted .353 with the Los Angeles Dodgers during the 2021 postseason. His best mark in seven other trips to October? .219.

It's fantastic that Bellinger is so incredible defensively. That alone makes him very valuable. But he also needs to deliver at the plate when it counts.

He has not done that consistently at any points of his career, and his opportunities to do so are getting slimmer and slimmer.

For Bellinger to truly live up his contract, he needs to be better in the playoffs. It's that simple.