Cody Bellinger played his second rehab game Friday night with the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders at PNC Field in northeastern Pennsylvania. He is expected to come off the injured list Sunday. He has been out since July 26 with a left hamstring strain.
On Friday, Bellinger started at left field and played six innings in Scranton's 5-3 win over the Charlotte Knights, the Triple-A affiliate of the White Sox. He went 0-for-3 against right-handed starter Jonathan Cannon, who made 38 starts for Chicago across the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Bellinger struck out swinging in the first inning, grounded out to second in the third, and grounded out to third leading off the sixth.
The defensive work told a clearer story about his recovery than the at-bats. Playing the outfield puts more direct demands on the hamstring. He made two putouts on consecutive fly balls in the second inning. In the sixth, Junior Perez lined a ball to left that deflected off the top of Bellinger's outstretched glove for an RBI double. He then had to run down a ball in the corner off the bat of Mario Camilletti. There were no issues reported with the hamstring on either play.
Bellinger addressed the physical demands of returning from the injury. "I think it's moreso the up-and-down. Playing defense, going to sit down. Playing defense, going to sit down. Going to the bases," he said.
Thursday's first rehab game came with a complication. Rain delayed the start two hours and left the warning track soft enough that RailRiders manager Shelley Duncan moved Bellinger from left field to designated hitter before game time. "I walked the field before the game and the soft warning track, that's tricky," Duncan said. "Don't want him to go back on a ball and have an injury. I want him to play the game the way he plays the game. Too much of a risk there."
Shifted to DH in the seven-inning game, Bellinger went 1-for-3. He singled off Charlotte's 6-foot-10 left-handed starter Noah Schultz. "It felt good. It was good to get in the batter's box again off a pretty good arm over there," Bellinger said. "Ran the bases once, felt good. It was a good day."
He also offered a first impression of the ballpark. "First time (here). It's a really nice ballpark, it's got nice views. Obviously the weather kind of made it a little bit of a delay, but overall it was good day," he said.
While Bellinger was working through his rehab games in Pennsylvania, Friday night was Cody Bellinger Bobblehead Night at Yankee Stadium in New York. If his hamstring holds, the real version will be back in the Bronx by Sunday.
