Cubs

Cubs 3B Kris Bryant is Sporting News’ 2015 National League Rookie Player of the Year, as selected https://www.whitesoxedge.com/chicago-white-sox/luis-aparicio-jersey by a panel of 167 NL players. SN has given out Rookie of the Year awards since 1946.The Cubs fans who wait patiently on Waveland Avenue for home runs to come flying over Wrigley Field’s left-field stands have to be pretty annoyed that Kris Bryant, the second overall pick of the 2013draft, didn’t make his MLB debut until 2015.The Cubs, of course, installed a ma sive new video board after the 2014 season, and while it’s an excellent addition to the game-day experience, it also swats down some of the home runs in batting practice and during games that might have otherwise wound up in the hands of a Waveland ball hawk.It’s repelled more Bryant-crushed baseballs than the Waveland residents would like to think about, including the powerful right-handed hitting rookie’s signature moment this season: The September 6 blast that would have gone an estimated 495 feet, had the monstrous shot not hit three-fourths of the way up the scoreboard.That was the biggest highlight of a stretch that probably wrapped up the Sporting News NL rookie of the year award an award that is voted on by other NL players, which shows the kind of respect he earned from his peers.MORE SN AWARDS: AL Comeback Player of the Year | NL Comeback Player of the Year | AL Rookie of the YearBryant’s rookie season had its share of swells and swoons. After an 0-for-2 day on August 1, his batting average was down to .244, and he was just one of several candidates in the rookie of the year race. San Francisco’s Matt Duffy and Chris Heston, Pittsburgh’s Jung Ho Kang, Los Angeles’ Joc Pederson, St. Louis’ Randal Grichuk, just to name a couple of 2015’s excellent crop of rookies, were all in the mix.In the next 32 games, though a stretch arbitrarily ended by the ma sive home run off Rubby De La Rosahttps://www.whitesoxedge.com/chicago-white-sox/robin-ventura-jerseyBryant hit .336 with a 1.055 OPS, nine home runs, 26 RBIs and 23 runs scored. The whole league saw what he was capable of after making adjustments.KB’s reinvented himself, actually, in the last four-to-six weeks of the season, Cubs manager Joe Maddon told Sporting News the day after the 495-footer.That stretch boosted Bryant’s season batting average up to .267, but he wasn’t finished. As the Cubs scorched through September to get to 97 wins on the season, Bryant pushed his final batting average to .275, to go with a .369 on-base percentage and .858 OPS. He hit 26 home runs, had 99 RBIs, stole 13 bases and scored 87 runs.He’s a pro, Cubs center fielder Dexter Fowler told SN. You know, just from first meeting him, he knows that he’s good, and he knows his potential; and he’ https://www.whitesoxedge.com/chicago-white-sox/nellie-fox-jersey s also humble, which is awesome, too.Previous Cubs rookies to be honored by Sporting News include Billy Williams (1961), Ken Hubbs (1962), Mark Grace (1988), Kerry Wood (1998) and Geovany Soto (2008).VOTING RESULTSKris Bryant, Cubs 127Matt Duffy, Giants 22Jung Ho Kang, Pirates 5Joc Pederson, Dodgers 3Kyle Schwarber, Cubs 3Maikel Franco, Phillies 2Chris Heston, Giants 2Other 3THIS WEEK’S SN AWARD SCHEDULEMonday: Rookies of the Year (AL and NL) and Comeback Players of the Year (AL and NL)Tuesday: AL and NL Managers of the YearWednesday: AL All-Star Team | NL All-Star TeamThursday: MLB Player of the Year