When you think back on the biggest moments in the Cubs’ season, you may not immediately think of Kris Bryant.
Which is pretty odd, considering that he was the runaway NL MVP. But, then, Bryant was just so consistently good all year that maybe it makes sense he didn’t have quite as many huge, standout moments as you might otherwise expect from an MVP. Consider that September (plus the little bit of October in the regular season) was the only month of the year when Bryant’s wRC+ dipped below 130(!). Mostly, Bryant was just crazy good all year long.
That’s not to say there weren’t huge moments. Who could forget when he single-handedly beat the Dodgers in LA in August, and the crowd started chanting MVP? He started the All-Star Game with a rocket homer off of Chris Sale. Oh, and he did field the final out of Game Seven of the most historic World Series ever.
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Two other games really stand out from the 2016 campaign, though. There was the time he went 5-5 with multiple home runs. And, you know, that other time he did the same thing.
That first one, which came against the Reds in late June, featured three home runs and two doubles, which was the first time in baseball history a player had recorded that line. His 16(!) total bases in the game were a new team record. You have to go back to 1885 to find a Cubs player who recorded five extra-base hits of any kind in a single game. Naturally, it produced a lot of fun visuals:
TFW you were asked to retire Kris Bryant multiple times. pic.twitter.com/T9UhASc4gj
— Brett Taylor (@BleacherNation) June 28, 2016
catcher reacting to Kris Bryant being Kris Bryant dot gif
(gif via @jmkobus) pic.twitter.com/0AnwgpqBX5
— Brett Taylor (@BleacherNation) June 28, 2016
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There’s a lotta sadness there for the Reds in three swings.
Bryant’s big day against the Brewers came a couple months later, and although it didn’t figure five extra-base hits, it did feature two homers, a double, and two singles:
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Bryant scored four times in the game and drove in five, which added the game to this list:
4+ Hits, 4+ Runs & 4+ RBI in a game#Cubs since 1970
Bryant today
Bryant 6/27/16
Bryant 4/21/16
Soriano 9/6/08
Sosa 8/18/95
Sandberg 8/10/89— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) August 18, 2016
Half of them – HALF! – were from Kris Bryant this season. (Oh, and if you’re wondering why I haven’t mentioned that April 21 game? It’s because you might remember it better as the time Jake Arrieta no-hit the Reds in a 16-0 victory.)
It was a great year for Kris Bryant, who deserved every vote he got for MVP (and also one vote that he didn’t get). It’s funny to think that 5.7% of his hits, 8.6% of his doubles, and 12.8% of his homers came from these two games.
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