Scott Boras Accuses Dodgers Of Mishandling Cody Bellinger's Injury

Scott Boras has made some wild accusations against the Los Angeles Dodgers with regards to their handling of former MVP Cody Bellinger.

Earlier this week, Boras went after the Dodgers in a USA Today article, specifically criticizing their approach to injury recovery. And how it allegedly affected Bellinger's performance.

During the 2020 postseason, Bellinger infamously injured his shoulder during a home run celebration with Kiké Hernandez. He underwent surgery that offseason to address the issue, but returned in 2021, still recovering but with a relatively clean bill of health.

That season with the Dodgers though, was an unmitigated disaster. On top of the shoulder recovery, Bellinger had a hairline fracture in his ankle that kept him out for nearly two months. And it showed.

Bellinger hit just .165 with 10 home runs in 95 games. Some months were even worse. July, for example, saw Bellinger hit .118. He was nearly as bad in September and October, hitting .130 with just one home run.

And Boras recently pinned the blame for those poor results on the Dodgers asking him to play hurt.

“He was hurt, plain and simple," said Boras to USA TODAY. “He has surgery, and the Dodgers asked him to play with a 35% strength deficiency, and then with COVID, he was deprived of the expert medical treatment. He didn’t have the shoulder strength. You don’t just go from a .900 OPS to a .500 OPS without understanding the impact of an injury."

That's quite the accusation!

ARLINGTON, TEXAS: Cody Bellinger #35 of the Los Angeles Dodgers is congratulated by Enrique Hernandez #14 after hitting a solo home run against the Atlanta Braves in Game Seven of the National League Championship Series at Globe Life Field on October 18, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Dodgers Respond To Boras' Criticism Over Bellinger Injury

Boras also told USA Today that he was instructed to target teams that "understand" Bellinger the best.

“So, when he became a free agent, Cody told me, 'I want to go to teams that know me the best, and I want go go where people understand me.'"

Unsurprisingly after essentially being accused of mistreating one of the organization's most important players, the Dodgers were not happy.

President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman responded Wednesday, saying Boras is creating an inaccurate "narrative."

“I don’t want to stoop down to that level,” Friedman said to The Los Angeles Times. “But I find it to be a very convenient narrative. We weren’t surprised by it at all.”

Friedman also added that there were other possible factors with Bellinger's recovery. Specifically Scott Boras' own Performance Institute that's ostensibly set up to help players with their health and recovery.

“What I found really interesting was that there was no mention of the Boras Institute and its role in any of this,” Friedman said. “But I’ll just leave it at that.”

After being told of the Dodgers' response, Boras then walked back some of his criticism.

“The Dodgers were not forcing Cody to play,” Boras said. “But Cody is a good teammate. And he wanted to play and go out there, knowing he just had surgery. That was the extent of that. And he had a clear strength deficit because of the surgery. There was no wrongdoing on the Dodgers’ part, because it was mutual that Cody wanted to play and the Dodgers wanted him to play.”

Does Boras Criticism Hold Up To Scrutiny?

It's an extremely unusual tactic to take for one of the game's most powerful agents to call out one of baseball's richest teams. Especially with Juan Soto set to become a free agent after the 2024 season and a limited pool of wealthy bidders.

But beyond the odd choice to go public with pointed accusations, Boras implies that Bellinger's resurgence this season is due mostly to improved health. And while that might help, it doesn't stand up to closer examination.

On the surface, Bellinger's been one of baseball's best hitters this season. He's hitting .316/.362/.535, a line 39% better than league average. But one look at his underlying data shows much of the improvement comes down to improved luck.

You'd expect a fully healthy Bellinger would be hitting the ball harder, with a healed shoulder and ankle finally back to normal. But according to Baseball Savant, Bellinger's average exit velocity is just 87.4 this season, the lowest number of his career and well below the big league average.

In fact, that number ranks in just the 18th percentile among hitters, with his hard hit percentage in the 9th percentile, even more concerning.

And sure enough, based on his quality of contact, Bellinger's been getting lucky. His expected batting average is just .266 compared to his actual .316 mark. His expected slugging is just .435, 100 points lower than his .535 actual.

Using a more comprehensive offensive statistic, weighted On Base Average is even more damning. His expected run contribution based on how he's hit the ball is just .324, which ranks in the bottom 10% of the league. His actual wOBA though, is .376, which puts him in the top 5%.

Bellinger's xWOBA on contact is just .354, compared to .488 in his MVP season and .413 in 2020. In 2021 when Boras accused the Dodgers of forcing him to play, it was .344.

All of these numbers are improvements over the past two seasons, but the gap shows that much of the success he's had in 2023 can be put down, simply, to getting lucky.

Boras Has Dodgers Not Happy

Boras is doing what he's known for; making excuses to justify his player's poor performance.

Bellinger has notoriously struggled to produce a consistent swing that could generate higher contact rates. Whether or not that can be blamed on the Dodgers is up for debate, but it's extremely bizarre to say his performance this year is due to health when it's still nowhere close to his peak.

The Dodgers are consistently viewed as one of baseball's best organizations, and there's no chance they'd risk the future potential of someone as valuable as peak Cody Bellinger. Especially if warned by his agent.

But Boras is engaging in revisionist history, only walking it back after it became clear he'd damaged an important relationship.

Bellinger will likely get paid this offseason because he's demonstrated the capability for improved performance. But any team taking him on will certainly see the same batted ball data, no matter how much Boras tries to blame the Dodgers for their decision making.