Saturday, June 16, 2018

Bryant Humble


Kris Bryant is still one of the best players in baseball. It's just that you're not hearing about it as much.

Kris Bryant is still as well-rounded as you can get. He hits home runs, he's great as a third-baseman, he can hit for RBIs, and he has seriously decreased his amount of strikeouts.

The only issue is that this isn't really a Cubs team that involves someone needing to stand out. Looking across at this lineup, everybody's doing pretty well, to the point where even if Bryant is doing a hell of a job, it's not like he's standing head and shoulders above everyone else, or pulling them on his back, to the point where sportswriters are going 'hey, look at this guy!'. He's simply realized that the team is much better as an ensemble, and does his best to stick to the background when he needs to.

It's also better than other players, like Javier Baez, Kyle Schwarber and Addison Russell, can also have hero moments as well, instead of just leaving them all for Bryant. Albert Almora's starting this year, and he's been stellar as a defensive outfielder as well as an average-hitter. Ben Zobrist is, once again, primarily used off the bench, but he's still as powerful as he was in 2016. Tommy La Stella might be the single most valuable bench player in baseball, as well. The only player in the starting lineup that's not hitting above .250 is Anthony Rizzo...who's hitting .249. And rising.

The lineup is so good this year that standing out shouldn't need to be a priority. And yes, the well-balanced nature of the team is a stark contrast to the more-performance-based Brewers team, but there's a reason they're both fighting for first. Both teams are excellent because they know exactly what they are.

The Cubs, thanks to Kris Bryant and a host of others, are only going to continue to get better.

Coming Tomorrow- One of the best closers in baseball? And one that isn't Aroldis Chapman??

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