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Cubs: Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant through the years
Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo have been the driving force behind the Chicago Cubs franchise for the last five years, what should we expect in the future?
Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo have been the dynamic duo that has helped the Chicago Cubs be one of the best franchises in baseball over the last five years. They go together perfectly as Bryant is more of the quite, let his play do his talking, and Rizzo has been the vocal leader and the captain for the Cubs. They have produced some great numbers over the last five years together on the North Side.
Rizzo was on his fourth year with the Cubs and had already made a name for himself as he was selected to the All-Star game in 2014. 2015 was when Rizzo broke out as he batted .278 with 31 home runs and 101 RBI and was selected to his second consecutive All-Star game and finished fourth in MVP voting. The best stat Rizzo had all year was that he played in 160 games and had 701 plate appearances, which both lead the majors.
A big reason why Rizzo broke out in 2015 was this rookie named Kris Bryant. He, as we all know, did not make the big league club out of spring training and was called up in the middle of April. After he got the call, he answered it in a big way.
Batting .275 with 26 home runs and 99 RBI and winning the NL rookie of the year award and a trip to the All-Star game. Both Bryant and Rizzo helped get the Cubs to the NLCS for the first time since 2003 in 2015, and showed that the Cubs were a force to be reckoned with in the years to come.
Chicago Cubs: The goat is dead
2016 was a magical year for the Chicago Cubs, and a big reason for that was because of the Bryzzo duo. Rizzo had another great season both offensively and defensively. He batted .292 with 32 home runs and 109 RBI and finished four again in MVP voting. While also making a third consecutive All-Star game and winning a Silver Slugger and a Gold Glove.
Most seasons, the stats the Rizzo put up would be the best on most teams, but KB put on a clinic at the plate in 2016 as he batted .292 with 39 home runs and 102 RBI which was good enough to win NL MVP and his second consecutive trip to the All-Star game. The Bryzzo duo would help the Cubs to there first World Title in 108 years and be in the history books forever.
2017 started very slow for the Cubs as most people said it was because of the “World Series hangover,” which probably has some truth behind it. The Cubs ended up turning it on and making it to there third straight NLCS before getting beat by the Dodgers. The Bryzzo duo was solid together once again as Rizzo batted .273 with 32 home runs and 109 RBI.
Bryant followed up his MVP season with another solid season in 2017 as he batted .292 with 29 home runs and 73 RBIs. The RBIs were down so much because of the lack of a leadoff hitter the Cubs had. In the two previous seasons, Bryant had Dexter Fowler batting in the leadoff role.
Chicago Cubs: Brew Crew, Rockies have their number
2018 was a disappointing season for the Cubs. Mostly because they had the best record in the NL to the last day of the season when they had to play a game 163 against the Brewers and lost. Then went on to get beat by the Rockies the very next night in the NL Wild Card game. Both Bryant and Rizzo both had down years from what we saw out of them the previous seasons. As Rizzo batted .283 with 25 home runs and 101 RBI. Still substantial numbers out of the Cubs captain.
The most disappointing event of the 2018 season was KB hurting his shoulder trying to slide into first base. At the time, it didn’t seem like it was that bad of an injury, but this was one of those that lingered all season. The shoulder injury zapped all of Bryant’s power as he only hit 13 home runs and had 52 RBI. Those numbers were way down from what we were used to seeing out of the former MVP.
Heading into the 2019 season, the big question regarding the Bryzzo duo was if Bryant was healthy and able to bounce back from a down season. All offseason, he said that he was “good to go,” but no one knew if he would come back to the MVP form. Bryant bounced back in 2019 as he batted .282 with 31 home runs and 77 RBI and was awarded a trip to the All-Star game.
Next. What Castro means to Cubs fans. dark
Rizzo has just been the rock year in and year out for the Cubs. You pretty much know what his numbers are going to be before the season starts. In 2019 Rizzo had another solid season batting .293 with 27 home runs and 94 RBI.
What is there to expect in the future with the Bryzzo duo? Well, I think that there has been enough of a sample size to prove that if both healthy, they will both be outstanding. I believe as long as they both stay healthy, they will both continue to be All-Star caliber players for years to come.