Chicago Cubs: Top five surprises of the season’s first month

Apr 17, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Cubs infielder Kris Bryant on deck against the San Diego Padres during the third inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

2) Kris Bryant dominating big league pitching

Okay, so he doesn’t have 10 home runs yet.

Key word – “yet.”

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Despite his lack of long-balls, the Cubs’ rookie third baseman Kris Bryant has been nothing short of spectacular since his promotion in early April from Triple-A Iowa. Before the I-Cubs even played their home opener Bryant had joined the big league club and after a disastrous opener in which he struck out three times as part of an 0-for-4 afternoon, he adjusted – and results followed.

Since his call-up, the slugger is batting .318/.455/.409 in a dozen contests. He’s also driven in 10 runs, which ranks second on the team, trailing only Starlin Castro, who, as noted earlier, has an even dozen RBI to this point.

Most notably, Bryant has struck out 27 percent of the time – which obviously leaves room for improvement; but given the struggles that Javier Baez went through last season (striking out roughly 50 percent of the time) – it’s a number that’s a little easier to stomach.

Any time you have a rookie with an OBP anywhere near .450 – let alone with 10 RBI in 12 games – you’ve got a good thing going on.

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