Jul 11, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees center fielder Cody Bellinger (35) is greeted in the dugout after hitting a two run home run, his third home run of the game, in the eighth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Yankee Stadium Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Cody Bellinger Gets Revenge on Cubs by Setting Major League Baseball History

Originally posted on Chicago Cubs on SI | By Brad Wakai | Last updated Jul 12, 2025 9:00 AM ET

It feels long ago that Cody Bellinger was a key part of this Chicago Cubs lineup.

Signed ahead of the 2023 season to a prove it deal, the slugger won the NL Comeback Player of the Year Award by slashing .307/.356/.525 with 26 homers and 97 RBI that earned him his first MVP votes since he was named the National League's Most Valuable Player in 2019.

That performance caused him to decline his mutual option, hitting the open market in hopes of securing a long-term megadeal.

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Nobody was willing to hand Bellinger that type of contract, though, and he returned in 2024 on a three-year, $80 million deal that contained opt-out clauses after each of the first two seasons.

Bellinger still performed well last year, but he wasn't quite the same player with a slash line of .266/.325/.426, 18 homers and 78 RBI.

So when he opted into his $27.5 million player option for the 2025 campaign, the writing was on the wall that the Cubs were going to offload his contract.

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In what was essentially a salary dump, Chicago traded him to the New York Yankees.

That came back to haunt them in a major way on Friday, with Bellinger getting his revenge on the Cubs by hitting three homers against them, becoming the first player in MLB history to hit three long balls in the first game against his former team.

Cody Bellinger is the first player in MLB history with a 3-homer game in his first game against a former team

h/t @EliasSports https://t.co/QthUqmqRO0
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) July 12, 2025

Of course, the decision to part ways with Bellinger has worked out for Chicago.

It cleared up space for Pete Crow-Armstrong to be the everyday center fielder, giving him the runway to become the rising superstar that he has been throughout this season.

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Looking back, Chicago likely would have loved to have gotten more for Bellinger.

They only received Cody Poteet in that trade, a reliever who is no longer with the team and never appeared in a Major League game for the franchise after they designated him for assignment before Opening Day and ultimately traded him to the Baltimore Orioles.

For more Cubs news, head over to Cubs On SI.

This article first appeared on Chicago Cubs on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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