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.

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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.

Apr 5, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; A general view of a statue of Chicago Cubs veteran Billy Williams prior to the Cubs

Billy Williams, 1961

.278 AVG/.338 OBP/.484 SLG

Williams was the first Cub to win Rookie of the Year honors. He smacked 25 home runs, scored 75 times, and drove in 86 in his rookie season of 1961. The home runs and runs batted in were club rookie records until Bryant set new marks this year (26 homers, 99 RBI’s).

1961 was a good start to a great career for Williams. He played in his first of six All-Star games the next year (1962). In 1970 and 1972 he was the runner-up for the National League MVP award. Though he never did win that award, he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1987.

He ultimately hit 426 home runs while batting .290 and slugging .492 over his career. To put that in perspective, Bryant slugged .488 this past season.

Today, Williams’ #26 is retired and flies on Wrigley Field’s right field foul pole.

Apr 5, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; A general view of fans lined up outside Wrigley Field prior to the game between the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

Ken Hubbs, 1962

.260 AVG/.299 OBP/.346 SLG

Hubbs was just 20 years old when he took home ROY honors. While his offensive numbers were somewhat moderate–he only hit five home runs and knocked in just 49 runs–Hubbs was a whiz with the glove at second base.

In fact, during his rookie campaign he set a then record of 78 consecutive errorless games and 418 consecutive errorless fielding chances.

Hubbs hit a bit of a sophomore slump in his second season, as his average fell to .235. But he remained a consistent fielder–and at just 21 years old, the Cubs thought they had their second baseman of the future.

Sadly, Hubbs’ baseball career and life were cut short by a plane accident just prior to the 1964 season. Hubbs suffered from a fear of flying. As a testament to how hard Hubbs was willing to work to achieve success, he faced his fear and earned his pilots’ license.

He was flying his own plane home from a baseball clinic in Utah when it crashed in poor weather, killing Hubbs.

Oct 10, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; Chicago Cubs fans hold up a W flag after game two of the NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Jerome Walton, 1989

.293 AVG/.335 OBP/.385 SLG

Man, the 1989 Cubs were an exciting team. They had just the right balance of youth and veterans (sound familiar?). This team appeared destined for sustained success with young players like Mark Grace to go with prime time veterans like Ryne Sandberg, Greg Maddux, and Andre Dawson.

They won the National League East division. And despite losing in the National League Championship Series, fans looked excitedly towards 1990–especially after seeing teammates Dwight Smith and Jerome Walton come in at No. 2 and No. 1 in the ROY voting, respectively.

Walton took home the award largely in part to a hot July and August which saw him hit safely in 30 consecutive games–a rookie record. (Sadly, I was in attendance on the August 21 game against the Reds when the streak ended.)

He provided a great spark at the top of the line-up for the Cubs that year while hitting for average and stealing 24 bases.

The 1989 season would go down as Walton’s best. He missed quite a bit of playing time in 1990 and never seemed to find the same stroke he had as a rookie.

The Cubs didn’t re-sign him after the 1992 season. He bounced around the majors for several years, making his final stop in Tampa Bay in 1998.

October 13, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Cubs former player

throws out the ceremonial first pitch before the Cubs play against the St. Louis Cardinals in game four of the NLDS at Wrigley Field. Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Kerry Wood, 1998

13-6, 3.40 ERA, 233 SO

May 6, 1998, may have seen the greatest pitching performance of all time. On that day, 20-year-old Kerry Wood struck out 20 Houston Astros.

He followed up that amazing performance by striking out 13 Arizona Diamondbacks on May 11. For the rest of the season, “Kid K” kept hitters swinging and missing with the combination of a blazing fastball and devastating off-speed curve.

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As was the case in 1989, the Cubs rode their ROY to a playoff berth–and it was probably due in large part to the Cubs’ season-long success that Wood took home the award instead of Colorado rookie Todd Helton, who had a pretty special year in his own right.

The Cubs were ousted in the playoffs by the Atlanta Braves. But fans had seen enough from the young gun to expect some amazing things in future seasons.

And then spring training 1999 happened, and Cubs fans got a look at the other side of Kerry Wood: the injury side. Wood missed the entire 1999 season due to Tommy John surgery.

The rest of his career would offer similar glimpses of greatness and injuries. He averaged 10.3 strikeouts/9 innings through his career while visiting the disabled list 14 times in 13 seasons.

Cubs fans have great on-field memories of Kerry Wood. They also have great imaginings of what could have been had he been able to stay healthy.

Fortunately, Cubs fans have lots of great off-field memories of Kerry Wood, too, as he was heavily involved in the local community as a player and remain so in retirement.

Sep 3, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Chicago White Sox catcher

(58) in the first inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Geovany Soto, 2008

.285 AVG/.364 OBP/.504 SLG

It’s pretty hard to make a case that any Cub ROY had a better campaign than Kris Bryant. But, one could, at least, present an argument for catcher Geovany Soto.

While Bryant hit more homers and knocked in more runs, Soto’s 2008 season tops Bryant in batting average, doubles and, surprisingly, slugging percentage.

Soto was a highly touted rookie in his own right back in 2008. His success at the major league level was not altogether surprising. And Cubs fans were hopeful that their club had the next great offensive catcher.

However, Soto proved inconsistent the next several seasons. He followed up his wonderful rookie campaign by hitting .218 with diminished power numbers in 2009.

He rebounded in 2010, only to regress again in 2011. By 2012, the Cubs had decided that a change of scenery would be in Soto’s best interest and traded him to Texas Rangers for some low-level prospects.

While Soto has hung around the major leagues, he has yet to live into the potential he showed in 2008, making his rookie season his best at the major league level.