Chicago Cubs fans didn’t need Nostradamus to predict that Kris Bryant was going to be a good player when he was finally called up to the majors. It took exactly 13 days/8 games into the 2015 season for the Cubs to call up their best prospect since Ronald Reagan was acting in movies.
Kris Bryant clubbed his first career homer, and his teammates… disappeared. Check out the video of it here, as his teammates gave him the “silent treatment.”
There was a lot of talk swirling around the Cubs for not having Bryant on their opening day roster, mostly by Bryant’s’ agent Scott Boras, but Theo Epstein and company knew long ago that they were going to delay Bryant’s MLB debut in order to acquire an extra year of control down the line.
For those of you still questioning the late call up, please click here.
The Cubs were able to use a Mike Olt wrist injury to call up Bryant on his first day of eligibility and he has produced right away as the Cubs everyday 3rd baseman. Joe Maddon has shown great faith in the young slugger as Bryant was slotted to bat 4th in his first major league game (also known as #Krismas), which is very uncommon for a rookie.
Thru 20 games, Bryant is hitting .278 with 14 RBI and 6 doubles…he has been as advertised, Bryant has a great eye at the plate as he is on pace to walk over 130 times; when you project his stats over a 162 game season.
Bryant led the minors last year with 43 home runs but has not launched one during the first month of the season. With slash lines of .422/.361/.783, the Cubs front office is just fine with Bryant’s production and they know that the home runs will come soon enough.
As the first one came Saturday night.
“If he keeps on-basing .450 I’ll be pretty happy,” general manager Jed Hoyer said.
“I think we’ve seen a lot of respect. I think he’s done an unbelievable job of staying patient. It shows a lot of maturity. I’m not worried at all. … I don’t think he’s lost his power.”
Hoyer knows that teams are pitching Bryant like he’s a 10-year veteran and that his patience at the plate will lead to more homers once Bryant starts capitalizing on opposing pitchers’ mistakes.
Maddon has tinkered with the batting order to help Bryant see more fastballs; batting him 2nd in front of Anthony Rizzo. However, pitchers are still not giving in to the young phenom.
All in all, the first month of Kris Bryant’s career has been a success and it is only a matter of time before baseballs will be littering Waveland Avenue with regularity, thanks for the Cubs #1 prospect.