Chicago Cubs: Quit with the Kris Bryant pessimism, Cubs fans

Chicago Cubs: Bote over Bryant? Get real

Many fans have become enamored with David Bote for his late-game heroics and knack for being a defensive stalwart at the hot corner. However, his talent level does not stack up to Kris Bryant.

More from Cubbies Crib

• Cubs starting pitching has been thriving on the North Side
• Make no mistake: the Cubs are very much about power hitters
• Cubs are giving pitcher Javier Assad a deserved shot
• 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

Last week, I wrote about Bote’s concerning deficiencies at the plate. For someone with as high a strikeout rate as Bote (28.6 percent), he has an alarmingly low isolated power number (.168) according to FanGraphs.

While Bryant’s shoulder injuries caused a dip in his isolated power this season, he posted a .262 and .242 average in that category in 2016 and 2017, respectively while simultaneously decreasing his strikeout rate.

Bryant is also superior to Bote in leveraged situations, according to Baseball-Reference.

And despite his struggles in the field this season, Bryant is hardly a slouch at the hot corner as evidenced by his positive defensive runs saved (DRS) margins in 2016 and 2017 and his 7.7 FanGraphs defensive value in 2016.

Bote is just one year younger than Bryant, so age is a non-factor. And, his pedigree and advanced metrics indicate, Bryant has far greater upside.