NEW YORK — Cody Bellinger is swinging less frequently than he has at any point in his career. And yet, he is having his best season since winning the National League MVP Award in 2019. He’s become an even more important player to the New York Yankees since Friday, when Aaron Judge was placed on the injured list.In the eighth inning of Sunday’s game against the Boston Red Sox, Bellinger broke a 1-1 tie with a solo home run; the Yankees added four more runs in the inning en route to a 6-1 win. But it was Bellinger’s clutch moment that led to the offensive outburst.Bellinger now has a 138 wRC+ on the season, his best mark since 2019. His 15 Defensive Runs Saved in left field are the most for any player at any position in MLB. With Judge likely out of the American League MVP mix, Bellinger has become a stealth contender for the award. His 3.5 bWAR ranks second, behind only Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., among all AL players.“I think he’s a five-tool player,” Yankees starter Cam Schlittler said of Bellinger. “Obviously, with the situation with Judge, I think he’s one of the guys that could step up. He’s been in a great position all season. It’s kind of what you expect out of him.”The Yankees re-signed Bellinger this offseason to a five-year, $162.5 million contract. He was the player they coveted the most in free agency, and they were overt in expressing how badly they wanted him to return.Months before they re-upped Bellinger, I wrote that I believed Kyle Tucker should be the Yankees’ No. 1 free agency target. My thinking was Tucker had been the more consistent player; you could basically pencil him in as a 4- to 5-WAR player. The Yankees needed a co-star for Judge, and Tucker was the best player on the market and likely the best offensive player available until the 2028 offseason. By that time, Judge will be 36, and who knows if he’ll still be in his prime.In the offseason debate between Bellinger and Tucker, we were ultimately deciding between two elite profiles. But one player has separated himself this year, and it was not the one I thought would be the pick.Tucker began this season as one of the most complete offensive players in the sport. In a vacuum, he was the type of star most contenders would prioritize in free agency. But according to a team source, the Yankees expressed only mild interest in Tucker this offseason. The club felt Tucker’s asking price would reach a “stratosphere” that it had no interest in entering. Tucker ended up signing a four-year, $240 million contract with the back-to-back World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, who continue operating at the top of the market. That left Bellinger as the next-best offensive player available.