Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports
It took Kris Bryant 21 games to hit his first career MLB home run, but he has now hit three home runs in his last four games. The Chicago Cubs have needed his offensive production after going on a short losing streak, and his emergence as a star couldn’t have come at a better time for both parties.
Bryant is beginning to take the city of Chicago by storm, and is showing the star potential that he was given credit for before he even stepped foot on an MLB field.
During the 24 games that Bryant has played in this season, he has recorded a .281 batting average to go along with three home runs and 19 RBIs. He has shown excellent patience at the plate, and has walked 20 times as well. Young players have issues being patient quite often, but that has not been the case with Bryant so far this season.
There is no question that he has lived up to the hype that was surrounding him during Spring Training. It isn’t always easy for players to step up to the plate and immediately become the star that so many fans are expecting.
Chicago is currently sitting at 17-15 on the season, and they need their young star to continue his success. He has the ability to single-handedly change the Cubs’ offensive production as he has shown over the past four games. If he can continue being a power bat for the Cubs, they are going to continue putting up consistent run production.
That being said, a young player can have issues with consistency. Bryant has had ups and downs already throughout his first 24 games, but he has also demonstrated a calm that not many young players have.
Needless to say, seeing Bryant come on strong like he has been extremely encouraging for the Cubs and their fans. He has been viewed as one of the saviors of the Cubs’ franchise for the past couple of years, and he is finally showing why there was so much hype surrounding him. Theo Epstein has done an impressive job of building together a talented farm system, and has now begun putting pieces together to get them back into the postseason.
No piece that Epstein could acquire would be more important for the Cubs’ future than Bryant. His bat can be a franchise changing asset for the Cubs, and fans are finally seeing proof of that over the past couple of weeks.
Assuming he continues work hard and doesn’t allow the hype to get to his head, Bryant is going to continue developing into the superstar that he has been expected to be. Chicago seems to be bringing him along the right way, and he is definitely heading in the right direction.
Evan Massey is the Green Bay Packers beat writer for www.RantSports.com, and also contributes across the NFL, MLB and NBA. Follow him on Twitter at @Massey_Evan and like him on Facebook.
