From the moment Kris Bryant stepped into an MLB batter’s box, he was a star. Now the Chicago Cubs third baseman has the hardware to back it up.
Bryant was named the 2015 Most Outstanding Rookie at Monday night’s Players Choice Awards, beating out the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Jung Ho Kang and the San Francisco Giants’ Matt Duffy. MLB announced the news:
Every major publication had picked Bryant as its NL Rookie of the Year, which is understandable given his brilliant 2015 campaign.
Bryant, 23, hit .275/.369/.488 with 26 home runs and 99 RBI, adding 13 steals on the basepaths. He was called up in early April and became an integral fixture in the Cubs lineup, leading all rookies in WAR while anchoring the middle of the order.
The postseason sapped Bryant’s power a bit, as he had only six base hits in 34 at-bats (.176 average) and hit only two home runs with five RBI. His struggles played a part in the New York Mets’ sweep of the Cubs in the National League Championship Series. It was a disappointing end to what was otherwise one of the best rookie seasons in franchise history.
“It’s amazing,” teammate Anthony Rizzo told Baseball America‘s Gordon Wittenmyer. “He’s come up with all the hype and all the pressure that people try to put on him, and he’s never fazed by it, not one bit.”
It’s never been much of a question that Bryant would win the award. Kang and Duffy were solid contributors for their teams but never remotely approached Bryant’s all-around skills. Duffy is probably a little underrated by most casual fans and finished close to Bryant in WAR, yet the name-recognition factor made this not a close vote.
Duffy, 24, quietly emerged as one of the better young players in baseball under the nose of most casual observers.
The third baseman, who replaced the departed Pablo Sandoval, hit .295/.335/.428 with 12 home runs, 77 RBI and 12 steals. He was a far better defender than the stationary Sandoval and became a pleasant surprise after being a relatively unheralded 18th-round pick.
Taking over at third base for Pedro Alvarez, Kang brought a promising combination of offense and slightly above-average defense to the table. He hit .287/.355/.461 with 15 home runs and 58 RBI, good for a 3.9 WAR, per FanGraphs. A broken leg and torn MCL prematurely ended his season in September, which will hopefully not hinder his development into a fixture in the Pirates lineup.
As it stands, all three players could have won awards in previous years. It’s just too bad for Kang and Duffy that they happened to run into a superstar in the making.
Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter. Advanced stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
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