Positive Update on Cody Bellinger, Who the Cubs Need Badly

The Chicago Cubs have been without starting center fielder Cody Bellinger for the past two weeks after he banged his left knee off the right-center field wall in Houston, but there are signs that the left-handed hitting slugger is nearing his return to the team.

Bellinger was placed on the 10-day injured list with a bone bruise in his left knee and was eligible to return in late May. However, Cubs president Jed Hoyer said during Wednesday'd broadcast on Marquee Sports Network, that while Bellinger was feeling better, he was still experiencing discomfort in the knee when running.

Well, Bellinger is with the team as the Cubs begin a 10-game road trip on Friday against the San Diego Padres and he was first seen taking batting practice at Petco Park prior to the series opener.

But again, we kind of already knew that Bellinger was back to most baseball activities. The big issue right now is whether or not he feels pain while running.

Well, Bellinger later made it to the outfield, where he was doing agility workouts and running. This is the start of his running progression and hopefully that means Bellinger is closing in on a return.

However, you do have to wonder if Bellinger will need a few games in a rehab stint to knock off the rust when he is ready to come back. Bellinger last played on May 15, against the Houston Astros.

Bellinger got off to an incredible start with the Cubs, ending April with a slash line of 297/.371/.604, hitting seven home runs, while maintaining an above average strikeout rate and one of the best slugging % in the league.

Prior the knee injury in Houston, Bellinger did hit a cold spell during the month of May. Overall, in 13 games last month he slashed .226/.276/.302, with no home runs. However, most of that hitting slump was in his last five games before getting hurt. From May 1 through May 8, Bellinger was 10-for-33, but then went on to go 2-for-20 from May 9 through May 15.

Veteran outfielder Mike Tauchman has been the main fill-in for Bellinger since he went on the injured list and Tauchman has done an admirable job in center. The defense has taken a slight hit, but Tauchman has been getting it done at the plate, going 11-for-31, with seven walks since making his Cubs debut on May 19.

In his last five games, Tauchman is 7-for-14 at the plate, slashing .500/.556/.500, with a pair of walks.

There is no doubt that Tauchman has been one of the few bright spots coming out of May, but if you're the Cubs you still prefer to have Bellinger back and hopefully his power returns too. Besides Christopher Morel and Patrick Wisdom, the Cubs just have not had many power threats throughout the season, although Seiya Suzuki is definitely trending upward in the slugging department after his great month of May.

So, we'll keep an eye on more Bellinger updates and until he does come back you should expect Tauchman to continue getting the bulk of the starts in center field.