Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant was named as the 2015 Sporting News National League Rookie of the Year on Monday.
Service time concerns may have prevented the Chicago Cubs from allowing Kris Bryant to start his MLB career until the middle of April, but it didn’t hold him back from making his mark on the game. Despite the late start, Bryant turned in a solid rookie campaign and was rewarded for those efforts on Monday by being names the Sporting News National League Rookie of the Year.
Bryant, who didn’t make his MLB debut until April 17th, saw his fair share of ups and downs during his rookie season, but the general consensus was that he was worth the hype. In 151 games with the Cubs, the 23-year-old hit .275/.369/.488 with 26 home runs and 99 RBI on his way to a 6.5 win campaign during his rookie season.
Bryant’s overall play was solid, but he left some questions to be answered for next season. Chief among them will be whether he remains at third base in the future. While he spent 144 games at third and posted a respectful three defensive runs saved and a UZR/150 of 5.4, the Cubs experimented with Bryant all over the diamond and he was solid in the outfield with a 21.2 UZR/150. Given his body size, his long-term future may be in right field.
The Sporting News awards have been presented every season since 1946 and are voted on by polling fellow players. While not the official NL Rookie of the Year award, the Sporting News awards are considered to be similar in nature to what the Golden Globes are to the Academy Awards; a good prediction.
The polling wasn’t even close. Bryant was selected as the winner on 127 of the 167 ballots cast. Matt Duffy of the San Francisco Giants finished second with 22 votes, followed by Jung Ho Kang of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who garnered just five.