Chicago Cubs: Kris Bryant is the Cubs’ greatest rookie

Oct 19, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant during practice the day before game three of the 2015 NLCS at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Yesterday, it was announced that the Baseball Writers of Association of America took pity on a poor, hapless, unknown kid from back-water Las Vegas, Nevada. That always do-good bunch of writers gave a youngster the thrill of a lifetime by naming him the 2015 National League Rookie of the Year.

In this singular act of charity, the writers have made an otherwise unknown ballplayer into a household name. Surely Kris Bryant, the nearly anonymous third baseman for the Chicago Cubs, is overcome with joy by receiving a Major League award.

More from Chicago Cubs News

• Cubs should keep close eye on non-tender candidate Cody Bellinger
• Cubs starting pitching has been thriving on the North Side
• Make no mistake: the Cubs are very much about power hitters
• Cubs: It’s time to start thinking about potential September call-ups
• Cubs: P.J. Higgins deserves to be in the lineup on a daily basis

It surely must have come as a surprise given the kid’s tough season. Bryant struck out 199 times against big league pitching. He struggled to find playing time–having to shift from third base to left field, to right field–even to center–in order to get some time on the field. Did anyone else notice that this kid couldn’t even make the big league club coming out of spring training?

Seriously, there can’t be a single human being who is surprised by Bryant’s award. The BWAA could have handed the award to him back in August and no one would have objected—such was the strength of Bryant’s rookie campaign.

It was arguably the best season put together by a Cubs rookie.

So let’s see how Bryant stacks up against past Cubs ROY honorees… and see what happened to those ROYs while we’re at it.