Kris Bryant is certainly making a strong case this spring that he belongs on the Chicago Cubs’ 25-man roster come Opening Day. The 23-year-old phenom continued his torrid spring Saturday, ripping two home runs in the team’s exhibition contest against the Seattle Mariners.
His numbers have to be seen to be believed, and ESPN Stats & Information passed them along:
Jesse Rogers of ESPN Chicago and Carrie Muskat of MLB.com provided comments from Bryant:
As Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune noted, Bryant has power reminiscent of a Cubs legend:
Of course, none of this is terribly surprising. Bryant ripped 43 home runs and 110 RBI between Double-A and Triple-A a season ago. His power is a well-known commodity in baseball circles, and if it weren’t for the fact that the Cubs can gain an extra year of team control by keeping him off the big league roster until April 17, he almost assuredly would be starting immediately.
Still, to do what he did against Felix Hernandez, one of baseball’s best pitchers, is impressive. Hernandez commented on Bryant after the game, as reported by Bob Dutton of The Tacoma News Tribune:
The pitcher added, via Dutton, “Big power, huh? Nice. He looked good at the plate.”
Yes, he has looked good at the plate. And the Cubs are banking on his looking great at the plate for years to come.
If Bryant doesn’t make the Cubs’ major league roster as the team’s starting third baseman, Mike Olt will likely start at the hot corner. Olt hit .248 with 12 home runs last year with the Cubs, which should leave fans wondering what the offense could look like with Bryant’s bat added to the middle of the order.
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