Chicago Cubs: Bryant, Hendricks earn N.L. monthly accolades

Not only did the Chicago Cubs take home 22 wins in August, two of the team’s most important players grabbed monthly accolades as well.

Kris Bryant won the NL player of the month award after slashing .383/.748/1.220 with 10 home runs and 22 RBI. As reported by CSN Chicago. This is the first time Bryant’s won a player of the month award since winning Rookie of the Month twice last year.

Not to mention, he’s already considered to be the favorite to win N.L. MVP honors at the end of the regular season.

After spending most of 2016 in the shadows of Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks brought home NL pitcher of the month honors. He won Player of the Week for the week of August seventh as well.

In six starts in August, Hendricks went 4-0 with a league-best 1.28 ERA and threw a season high 42 innings. Opponents slashed .179/.317/.538 against him, scoring only six runs.

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This is Hendricks first award since he won Rookie of the Month in 2014. He currently leads the league in adjusted pitching wins, runs, and ERA+.

Both Hendricks and Bryant have been tremendous assets to the Cubs this season. Bryant leads the league in WAR, runs created, OPS, plate appearances, and is currently tied with Rockies slugger Nolan Arenado in home runs with 36.

Hendricks crept quietly into the NL Cy Young conversation by leading the league in ERA at 2.09. He’s having a second half that’s comparable to last year’s Cy Young winner. Hendricks is 6-1 with a 1.34 ERA in 60.1 innings, recording 53 strikeouts and only 12 walks.

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This season, Hendricks is 13-1 when the Cubs give him at least three runs of support, sporting an ERA at 1.50 When Arrieta won his Cy Young in 2015, he was 17-0 with three runs or more of support, with a 1.45 ERA.

Bryant and Hendricks couldn’t have won these awards at a better time either. With the Cubs entering the final stretch of the season, they need their stars to get hot for the playoffs. The potential NL MVP and Cy Young winners look to help secure a Commissioners Trophy on the north side of Chicago for the first time in over 100 years.