On the heels of an MVP season, which followed a Rookie of the Year season, which followed a minor league player of the year season, which followed a college player of the year season, it has become easy to mentally gloss over great individual games by Kris Bryant.
It’s just something he does from time to time. He’s really freaking awesome. On to tomorrow.
But I want to pause for a moment on Bryant’s latest great game, not only because there’s fun to be had, but also because his game was actually a one of a kind:
Kris Bryant is the first player to hit two homers, be HBP twice, and have a third hit in a game. Ever.
— Matthew Trueblood (@MATrueblood) May 22, 2017
Obviously that’s one of those stats that’s as much randomness as it is skill, but very cool nonetheless. And speaking of total randomness but also very cool:
Last player to have 2 HR and 2 HBP and not make any outs in the game was Barry Lamar Bonds, 26 years ago *today*.
— Matthew Trueblood (@MATrueblood) May 22, 2017
Just wow.
On the day, as noted, Bryant went deep twice, notched a single, and got hit twice. In just one day, he raised his slash line from .289/.394/.539 to .303/.411/.587, and increased his wRC+ by 15(!) points, to 159. That’s currently good for 10th in the NL (though if Zack Cozart, Matt Kemp, Eric Thames, and Michael Conforto all finish the season with higher wRC+ than Bryant, I’ll eat my hat). (Please note: my hat is made mostly of white chocolate.)
As compared to his MVP campaign, Bryant currently sports a better batting average, OBP, SLG, ISO, walk rate, strikeout rate, wRC+, and wOBA. Never presume it’s impossible for Bryant to get even better.
He also pulled off a special feat with those homers:
.@KrisBryant_23 is the first @Cubs’ 3B in history to hit 75 HR through his first three seasons. pic.twitter.com/Hz6ZZIDI3n
— MLB Stat of the Day (@MLBStatoftheDay) May 22, 2017
Bryant has many more games ahead of him, and when he has a special one, I’m going to do my best to stop and take note – even if it seems like he has them all the time.