PITTSBURGH -- Good things come to those who wait, as the saying goes. So do home runs and RBIs, apparently, and maybe awards along with them.

At different points in their careers, people wondered when Cody Bellinger and Josh Bell would hit for power. The questions came years ago about Bellinger, when he was still a skinny teenager. The doubts lingered about Bell until his 26-homer rookie season in 2017; then they resurfaced when he struggled to recapture that power last year.

After the weekend series between the Dodgers and the Pirates, Bellinger owns the Majors’ highest batting average (.386), on-base percentage (.470) and slugging percentage (.755). Bell has baseball’s second-highest batting average (.339), third-best slugging percentage (.704) and third-highest OPS (1.110). Bell’s slugging percentage has jumped 293 points from last season, the largest year-to-year change in the Majors -- just ahead of Bellinger, who has increased his slugging percentage by 285 points.

The only hitter who has driven in more runs than Bell this season is Bellinger. Nobody in the game is hitting the ball as consistently hard as Bell. Nobody in the game is hitting better than Bellinger. Along with Christian Yelich, Bellinger and Bell look like early National League MVP candidates.

Bell is the first player in PNC Park history to hit two home runs into the Allegheny River, and both of those balls splashed down this month. When Bellinger gets a hold of one, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said, “My gosh, people don’t move in the outfield.”

Any more questions about their power?

“They’re both getting their swings off,” Hurdle said. “They both swing the bat to do damage when they go up there with bad intentions in play.”

Power progression
Cole Tucker is Bell’s teammate now. Pittsburgh’s rookie shortstop shares an infield with the switch-hitting first baseman. About a decade ago, Tucker shared an infield with Bellinger and joked that, if Bellinger had been born right-handed, he might have been a shortstop instead of a first baseman.

There was one other thing about a young Bellinger.

“His senior year,” Tucker said, “he had one home run.”

Tucker went to Mountain Pointe High School in Phoenix and played against Bellinger, a product of Hamilton High School in Chandler, Ariz. They were on the same squad in 2012, the D-backs Elite Scout Team, and remain friends to this day.

“We played a lot of baseball games against each other, these being the coolest ones, obviously,” the 22-year-old Tucker said. “He was always a good hitter. He’s always been athletic, always been fast. The one thing that always needed to come was hitting for power. But he could hit a triple into the gap like nobody’s business. It was always a joke like he was so wiry and stringy, but he could really hit. Now it seems like he’s hitting [a home run] every two days, so it’s nuts.”

Bellinger hit only one home run in 2013, his first professional season. Then he hit three in 2014. That number skyrocketed to 30 in 2015, when he played for Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga. He’s hit at least 25 home runs every season since then.

“I think growing into a frame is important, not being -- in my case -- 160-170 pounds,” said Bellinger, who’s now listed at 6-foot-4 and 203 pounds. “It’s just a lot of learning and understanding your swing a little more, understanding how to hit baseballs the correct way.”

In 2017, Bellinger hit 39 homers and drove in 97 runs while winning the NL Rookie of the Year Award. (Bell finished third, with Paul DeJong second.) Strikeouts were still an issue, as he punched out in 26.6 percent of his plate appearances. His “down” year last season included 25 homers, an .814 OPS and another trip to the World Series.

This year, Bellinger is doing it all. He has a 1.226 OPS and the same number (31) of walks and strikeouts.

“It’s cliché, but the power’s the last thing to come,” Tucker said. “That’s what everyone says. Old scout-speak. But it really is true!”

Bellinger’s breakout brings to mind what Pirates executives have often said about Bell. They thought he could be more than a good hitter and not just an all-or-nothing slugger. They believed he could do both. They projected him to be a good hitter with power.

What better way to describe Bellinger right now? Well…

“He looks like Ted Williams. I never got to play against Ted Williams – just missed him by a couple years,” veteran Dodgers catcher Russell Martin said, smiling. “Honestly, he’s a special talent. It’s something really cool to watch day-in and day-out. He does things, and I don’t even understand how he does them. I don’t know if he understands how he does them, but it’s really fun to watch.”

Bellinger doesn’t dive too deep into the secrets of his success. In a brief answer, he chalked it up to confidence and an understanding of his swing reinforced by hitting coaches Robert Van Scoyoc, Brant Brown and Aaron Bates.

“Our hitting coaches have done a great job of understanding when I don’t look right at the plate and getting me back on track. So it’s not just me,” Bellinger said. “There’s a bunch of dudes in here watching and helping. We have a good thing going right now.”

Something to behold
David Freese is Bellinger’s teammate now. The veteran corner infielder joined the Dodgers last Sept. 1, and he’s ready for one more run at another World Series ring. He has played with Mike Trout, Andrew McCutchen and Albert Pujols in his prime. What he’s seeing on a daily basis this season astounds him.

“Right up there, man,” Freese said. “This is up there. … What Belli is doing is incredible, same thing as Josh Bell. It’s fun to watch, and the coolest part about being around this game is 30, 40 years from now, kids or grandkids or whoever are going to ask, ‘Oh, you got to play with this guy. What was that like?’”

Freese will be able to talk about playing with both Bell and Bellinger. While playing for the Pirates last season, Freese -- a right-handed hitter -- was talking with Bell about switch-hitting. Bell often tried to duplicate his swing, making sure he did the same thing as a left-handed hitter that he did right-handed. Same approach, same timing mechanisms, same swing.

Freese reminded Bell that he didn’t have to be the same player on both sides of the plate. Hurdle encouraged Bell last September to stop tinkering and commit to a few key ideas. Bell took their advice, went to Southern California in the offseason and went to work with hitting consultant Joe DeMarco.

Bell has been a different hitter this season, and it’s not just about his batting line. Nor is it because, as Pirates rookie Bryan Reynolds said, Bell seems to “hit something 120 mph every other at-bat.” Even Dodgers manager Dave Roberts noticed Bell’s confidence in the batter’s box.

“He’s covering more pitches, more zones, than he has the last couple of years,” Roberts said. “Just to clean some things up with potential holes that people could potentially exploit, he’s closed off a lot of those holes.”

That has allowed Bell to increase his power and still maintain the high-average approach that propelled him through the Minors. He has surpassed his 2018 home run total and has clubbed five homers that traveled at least 450 feet, according to Statcast.

“I’m so thrilled for Josh. Where he’s come his rookie year through last year, he never stopped working, never stopped fighting,” Freese said. “Obviously, it’s two months into the season, but he’s going to roll this year. You know he is. Hopefully, he just keeps going, keeps things simple.”

Hurdle said Bell’s success is a product of his preparation. Batting practice is no longer a dress rehearsal for the game; it’s a time to establish rhythm and timing. Like Bellinger with the Dodgers’ coaches, Bell has developed a strong relationship with the Pirates’ new hitting coaches: Rick Eckstein and Jacob Cruz.

“It’s just locking in every moment, not living in the future or the past,” Bell said. “Just trying to lock in, focus on timing. If the ball’s there, then swing at it.”

Before every game, Eckstein helps Bell get on time with the opposing starter’s fastball, whether it’s 87 mph from Kyle Hendricks or 97 mph from Walker Buehler. They review video showing how each pitcher has been attacking hitters like Bell. Then Bell works to time up a pitcher’s fastball and drive it to center or left-center field, putting him in position to turn on offspeed stuff -- and occasionally launch it into a nearby body of water.

“I’ve been seeing it through Twitter and Instagram,” Bellinger said of Bell. “It looks like he’s found something in his swing that’s been consistent and he’s been confident in it. It’s fun to watch. He’s got a beautiful swing.”

“Yeah,” Roberts said. “Our guy’s been pretty good, too.”

A midsummer meeting?
OK, here’s one more question about Bell and Bellinger’s power: Could we see them competing in the Home Run Derby this summer?

“We’ll see. One day at a time,” Bell said recently. “We’ll see what the future has in store.”

“Definitely a possibility,” Bellinger said, smiling. “I haven’t given much thought to it, to be honest, but it’s definitely a possibility.”