Six weeks into the season, the deal has paid off and then some. Bellinger is hitting .288/.360/.530, good for an OPS+ of 141 that makes him 41% above league average as a hitter. His April was so good that it was his best month in four years. Throw in the defense that’s been as advertised, and he rates as one of baseball’s dozen most valuable position players, at least so far as FanGraphs is concerned.

So he’s “back,” right? Well, no—not in the way you think. This version of Bellinger is a quality player, but one that in many ways hardly resembles the ascendant superstar who won the NL Rookie of the Year Award in 2017 and the NL MVP Award in 2019. As he nears his 28th birthday this summer, we’re seeing yet another of the seemingly endless iterations of Bellinger. Will this one last?

Former NL MVP Award winner Cody Bellinger has agreed to a one-year, $17.5 million deal with the Cubs, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand on Tuesday night. The club has not confirmed the move.

Bellinger put together a remarkable 2019 season for the Dodgers en route to being named the National League MVP—but he’s struggled in the three seasons since. After hitting .305 with a 1.035 OPS and 47 home runs in his MVP-winning campaign, Bellinger has hit just .203 with a .648 OPS and 41 homers in the past three years combined.

The 27-year-old Bellinger showed some flashes of his past success in 2022, racking up 19 home runs and 14 stolen bases. He also recorded seven Outs Above Average as the everyday center fielder for a Dodgers team that won an MLB-high 111 games. Bellinger’s seven OAA were tied for the third most by any NL center fielder.