4 quotes Cubs fans will love to hear from the Cody Bellinger press conference

Cody Bellinger wants to experience October baseball at Wrigley Field

There's no need to re-hash what happened last September. We all know what happened: the Cubs' playoff odds came crashing down to earth after sitting north of 90% a week into September and the team missed the postseason by one game.

Bellinger hasn't forgotten that and based on his comments Wednesday, he's very motivated to finish the job and help the Cubs return to the postseason in 2024.

"We were so close last year, got banged up at the end. We fought till the very end. For me to come back here with almost the same team, to experience the playoffs in Chicago is something I wanted to do ... it's a big part of the reason I wanted to come back here."

Bellinger posted an .827 OPS down the stretch over the season's final month, hitting six home runs and a half-dozen doubles for the Cubs. But that wasn't enough, with Chicago taking things down to the final day of the season before being eliminated from postseason contention. Now, he'll get a chance to lead the team back to October baseball - something we haven't seen at Wrigley Field in a full season since 2018.

Scott Boras and Jed Hoyer seem to have a decent working relationship

Boras often controls the top of the free agent market and perhaps at no time has that been clearer than this winter. The game's top three unsigned free agents - Jordan Montgomery, Matt Chapman and Blake Snell - are all Boras clients, as is Bellinger.

Much has been made not only of Boras' stranglehold on the market but the Cubs' refusal to play in the deep end of the free agent pool. That combination has led to speculation that perhaps Hoyer and Boras don't have a great relationship. But that didn't appear to be the case in Wednesday's press conference.

"Jed and I talk about a lot of things in baseball all the time," said Boras. "So we have a great communication system with the Cubs."

Boras isn't going away anytime soon and given Chicago represents one of the largest media markets and the Cubs are one of most valuable sports franchises in the world, connections will continue to be drawn between the two. Knowing they have a solid working relationship at least gives some peace of mind as a new contention window opens on the North Side.

Cody Bellinger hears the criticisms over his batted ball metrics

There were two big arguments Bellinger detractors pointed to when arguing against giving him a long-term deal: 1) his checkered injury history in his final years with the Dodgers and 2) soft batted ball metrics that didn't exactly back up his bounceback performance in 2023.

Boras tackled both criticisms head-on, reminding everyone both of his injuries were very flukey and telling reporters to go look at Bellinger's batted ball metrics based on counts. When he was ahead in the count, he was still hitting the ball hard. But when he found himself in pitcher's counts, he shortened up and focused on contact last year.

Bellinger himself repeatedly emphasized the confidence he has in his game and stressed he wasn't putting too much stock in the concerns over his batted ball numbers from a season ago.

"I hear it and kind of brush it off," said Bellinger. "There are a lot of different variables that go into it and not to look at one certain stat to dictate a whole season."

At the end of the day, Bellinger produced - and that's what matters. Now, he'll get the chance to re-address both of these concerns in 2024. If he does, he could assuage fears about giving him a long-term deal and cash in big-time in free agency next winter, which would be a best-case scenario for both he and the Cubs.