Chicago Cubs: Five players that must step up in second half

Warm it up, Kris.

I guess Kris Bryant is looking to add more hardware to his mantle. In 2018.

Is it possible to be the NCAA Player of the Year, Minor League Player of the Year, NL Rookie for the Year, NL MVP in consecutive years, have a down year, then be NL Comeback Player of the Year?

What is wrong with Bryant? His average is down, runs batted in way down, and already has 10 errors on the year. Last year, he only had 12.

The biggest issue that I notice is that pitchers adjusted to Bryant’s approach at the plate. His swing plane leave his susceptible to pitches high in the zone, and he has yet to figure out the change-up.

According to Fangraphs, Bryant has faced 175 change-ups this season. Of those pitches, Bryant swings at approximately 10 percent. Still based off 175 change-ups face, Bryant hits a groundball 37 percent of the time. And 20 percent of the time, he strikes outs.

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If the Chicago Cubs are to get back on track, Bryant and the others must step it up.