Chicago Cubs first baseman Cody Bellinger. David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Cubs could pull a surprising move with Cody Bellinger.

The Cubs were 43-50 as of July 17 and looked to almost certainly be sellers ahead of the MLB trade deadline. That meant some of their desirable players like Bellinger and Marcus Stroman would have been trade targets. Bellinger likely would have been dealt to another team.

But then something funny happened: the Cubs started to win.

The Cubs have gone 9-1 since that point, and entered Saturday on a seven-game winning streak. The recent hot streak apparently has the Cubs rethinking things and considering keeping their top players.

The New York Post’s Jon Heyman says the team isn’t convinced about trading Bellinger or Stroman.

FS1’s Ken Rosenthal also said Saturday that he does not believe the Cubs will be sellers.

Bellinger has a been a big reason for the Cubs’ winning streak. He is batting .319 with 15 doubles and 15 home runs this season. The 2019 NL MVP has a .915 OPS and has been particularly hot in July.

This month, Bellinger is batting .427 with a 1.196 OPS. He had clubbed 8 home runs and driven in 24 runs entering play on Saturday.

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