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Cody Bellinger is carrying the Dodgers and breaking all the records

Mark Townsend
Yahoo Sports Contributor

Who has been the best hitter in Major League Baseball to begin the 2019 season?

There are a handful of acceptable answers, but one player who has clearly emerged from the pack is Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger.

The 2017 NL Rookie of the Year is off to an unprecedented start this season after taking a noted step back during his sophomore campaign. He came into the weekend not only leading the first-place Dodgers, but also MLB in several offensive categories. Those included hits, runs, RBI, batting average, slugging percentage, OPS and total bases.

Bellinger continued building on that strong start in Friday's 6-2 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates. In the process, he broke multiple offensive records.

Total-base king

With his first-inning two-run home run, Bellinger became baseball's total-base king for March and April. The home run gave him 88 total bases on the season, which set the modern-day MLB record for total bases before May 1.

Bellinger moved ahead of former teammate Chase Utley, who had 85 total bases in 2008. Fittingly, Utley was in the building to watch his mark fall.

Bellinger, who also singled in Friday's game, will enter Saturday with 89 total bases. With four games left in April, he could conceivably, and perhaps even comfortably, reach 100 total bases by May 1.

That would be incredible.

Worth noting here: These records have been kept since the 1900 season. Obviously, this season's March 28 opening day is earlier than most during that time frame. But given the four-day cushion we'd say Bellinger has definitely earned it.

Bellinger passes Matt Kemp

Bellinger's home run off Pittsburgh's Chris Archer was No. 13 this season. That ties him with Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers for the MLB lead.

It also set a Dodgers record, according to MLB.com.

Bellinger broke a tie with another former teammate, Matt Kemp, and he now has the most home runs in Dodgers history for March and April.

Bellinger already owns the franchise’s March and April RBI record. He’s just building on that now as he’s already up to 33. Next up, he'll aim to break the franchise hits record before May 1. He's one behind Rafael Furcal, who had 43 hits in 2008.

Home run helps Dodgers set record

It wasn't just a record-setting night for Bellinger individually. He also helped the team set an impressive home run record.

His first-inning blast extended the Dodgers streak to 33 straight home games with at least one homer. That broke a tie with the Colorado Rockies and is now the longest streak in MLB history.

The Dodgers have homered in 14 straight home games to begin the season, which is one off the MLB record.

Overall, the Dodgers have hit 48 home runs this season. That's third behind the Seattle Mariners (58) and Milwaukee Brewers (51).

Twelve different players have contributed to that number, but it's safe to say Bellinger is doing the heavy lifting and is poised to have an MVP season.

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