NEWSLETTER
Although he’d been in something of a mini-slump over the course of the last week (except that grand slam off of outfielder David Murphy), you knew that Kris Bryant’s quality approach and natural power were simply too good for it to last.
Last night, he broke back out with not one but two homers against the Dodgers:
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That first one was quintessential Bryant, taking an outside pitch, extending his arms, and hitting it a mile the other way. The fact that it came on a Clayton Kershaw curveball was just gravy:
The #StatOfTheNight is courtesy of Kris Bryant's success against Clayton Kershaw. pic.twitter.com/k1Hf8fwETA
— Baseball Tonight (@BBTN) June 23, 2015
The second homer was more of the rocket variety, a rope to left field that a fan made a really nice full extension catch on. It wasn’t quite up against the railing – and there’s more walking space behind the bleachers now – but I’m pretty sure that makes it’s way to Waveland if the fan doesn’t catch it. Pretty exciting moment.
Speaking of which, Bryant gave the fans what they wanted after the second homer:
The North Side loves you, @KrisBryant_23. pic.twitter.com/zR4Rrx9UIv
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) June 23, 2015
It was Bryant’s first multi-homer game, and it’s nice that it came at Wrigley Field. The fans calling for Bryant to pop out of the dugout was totally justified, and Bryant sent them home happy.
Now some fun … which homer was hit further, and which was hit harder?
According to ESPN’s Home Run Tracker, the answer to both is the rocket to left. It left the bat six miles per hour faster (105.9mph v. 99.7mph), which makes sense because the first one was coming off of a very slow curveball. The second also went 26 feet farther (413 v. 387), which makes sense because, well, it just looks like it did.
The two-homer game took Bryant’s line up to .282/.384/.485, with a .379 wOBA and a 140 wRC+ (22nd and 26th in baseball, respectively). Through just 60 games, he’s been worth 2.7 WAR according to FanGraphs.
That’s right. To date, Kris Bryant has been on the pace of a 7-win player over the course of a full season.
