The 2026 All-Star Game wasn’t exactly an offensive showcase. The American League beat the National League 4-0, and the game was basically decided by the end of the first inning. That’s when the AL put up three runs and never looked back.
Cody Bellinger made sure of it. The Yankees outfielder ripped a two-run single in that opening frame, and it held up as the biggest hit of the night. The AL had just four runs to work with total. Bellinger drove in half of them. That’ll get you the Ted Williams All-Star Game MVP award, which is exactly what happened Tuesday night in the Bronx.
Bellinger finished 1-for-3 with two RBIs. Fellow Yankee Ben Rice drove in the AL’s other first-inning run. The AL manager, John Schneider, pulled Bellinger in the bottom of the sixth and replaced him with Tristan Peters. By then, Bellinger had already done enough.
The award is another chapter in a weird but real comeback story. Bellinger was the NL MVP in 2019 with the Dodgers. Two years later, he posted a negative fWAR and looked completely lost at the plate. A lot of people wrote him off. Then he landed with the Yankees, changed his environment, and started to look like a real player again.
He’s not having a monster year at the plate in 2026. In 94 games, he’s hitting 11 homers with 51 RBIs and a .766 OPS. Those are solid numbers but not MVP-level. What’s kept him valuable is the rest of his game. Bellinger’s played mostly left field this season, but he’s capable at multiple positions and plays above-average defense across the board. His 2.6 fWAR this season reflects that. The Yankees have needed every bit of it too, especially with Aaron Judge out hurt.
Bellinger’s 31 now. He’s not the guy who won MVP in his early 20s. But he’s found a way to be important in a different way. All-Star Game MVP isn’t a career-defining award, but it’s a nice nod for a player who had to rebuild himself after bottoming out. The Yankees will take it. The AL will take it. And Bellinger can add another piece of hardware to the shelf.
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