​PHILADELPHIA — None of this is lost on Cody Bellinger.For the battle-tested Yankees outfielder, returning to the All-Star Game for the first time in seven years is about much more than celebrating a strong 2026 season.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIt’s a testament to how much he’s overcome.“It means a lot,” Bellinger said Monday at Citizens Bank Park, shortly after he was named the American League’s starting right fielder and No. 6 hitter for Tuesday night’s All-Star Game.“I’m really enjoying it. Not that I took it for granted last time, but I was so young, and I was like, ‘Oh, I’ll be here every year.’ And it’s not like that. It’s hard. It’s hard to be an All-Star.”This is the third All-Star selection for Bellinger, who turned 31 on Monday. Bellinger’s previous two All-Star appearances came with the Los Angeles Dodgers — first during his standout rookie season in 2017, and then two years later during his 2019 National League MVP campaign.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBellinger was barely 24 for the latter of those NL selections. At that point he was years away from marrying his wife, Chase, or from welcoming their two daughters.Back then, the lefty-swinging slugger had every reason to believe he would be a perennial participant in the Midsummer Classic. Bellinger hit .305 with 47 home runs and a 1.035 OPS in 2019 and won the NL Gold Glove in right field, too.But things turned quickly for Bellinger, who suffered a dislocated right shoulder while celebrating a go-ahead home run in Game 7 of the 2020 NLCS — an important hit in the Dodgers’ road to a World Series title that fall.Following offseason surgery, Bellinger batted just .165 with 10 home runs and a .542 OPS over 350 plate appearances in 2021.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBellinger’s numbers remained uncharacteristically down in 2022, when he hit .210 with 19 home runs and a .654 OPS over 144 games.In a decision that would have seemed unthinkable two years earlier, the Dodgers non-tendered Bellinger the following offseason, making him a free agent rather than signing him to a contract in his final year of arbitration.“I was there when he was struggling at the end with us, and to have that [career revival] with the Cubs and then carry it over to the Yankees, it’s special,” Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said Monday.“It’s hard to do. It’s hard to be consistently good in this game over a long time. It’s even more cool when guys have a down year and they rebound. That means they’ve worked so hard to try and do that. Credit to Cody. We love Cody with the Dodgers.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBellinger has since said he returned from his shoulder injury as quickly as possible, and that the then-raging COVID-19 pandemic — which restricted whom he could work out with after his operation — complicated his rehab.It wasn’t until Bellinger signed a one-year prove-it contract with the Chicago Cub