In the final award reveal of the 2016 BBWAA Awards Week, Chicago Cubs phenom Kris Bryant was named the 2016 National League Most Valuable Player Award winner in a nearly unanimous vote, obtaining 29 of the 30 first-place votes.
On Thursday evening the BBWAA got it right, in both the American League and National League Most Valuable Award decisions. Mike Trout won his second American League MVP Award, and has now begun to cement his standing in baseball history as one of the greatest of all time, only five years into his career.
Nearly as amazing as what Mike Trout has done during his young superstar career, is what Chicago Cubs third-baseman Kris Bryant has accomplished in his even younger professional baseball career. The 24-year-old Kris Bryant was named the 2016 National League Most Valuable Player by the Baseball Writers Association of America on Thursday evening. Bryant secured 29 of the 30 possible first-place votes from the BBWAA.
Bryant posted a .292 batting average in 2016, while slugging 39 home runs to go along with 35 doubles and 102 RBI. Oh yeah, and he led the National League in Runs, crossing the plate 121 times for the 103 win Chicago Cubs. Bryant had an on-base percentage of .385 in 2016 accumulating 176 hits, 75 walks, and 18 hit-by-pitches.
Bryant, who was the unanimous Rookie of the Year Award winner in 2015, actually improved his production in almost every category from 2015 to 2016 including runs (+34), hits (+22), doubles (+4), home runs (+13), RBI (+3), batting average (+.17), on base percentage (+.16), slugging percentage (+.66), and total bases (+61).
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To improve that significantly across the board, after being named the unanimous Rookie of the Year just one year prior, is absolutely amazing. More importantly it’s a sign of just how good Kris Bryant is going to be moving forward. This kid is 24, with an excellent work ethic, he definitely has not reached his ceiling by any stretch of the imagination. These are still the pre-prime years for Bryant, so the rest of baseball should take note of who the best player in the National League is going to be moving forward.
Yes, you read that right folks, Kris Bryant will dethrone his childhood teammate, and 2015 National League MVP Bryce Harper as the best player in the National League moving forward, without a doubt.
Think about the steady rise to greatness that Bryant has been on for the past four years:
2013: Golden Spikes Award Winner (Best Player in College Baseball)
2014: Minor League Baseball Player of the Year
2015: Unanimous National League Rookie of the Year, National League All-Star Selection, MLB Home Run Derby Participant.
2016: National League Most Valuable Player Award, National League All-Start Selection, National League Hank Aaron Award Winner, World Series Champion.
Not to mention that Bryant led the entire National League in WAR (7.7) and oWAR (6.6).
The National League MVP Award runner-up Daniel Murphy also had a terrific season for the Washington Nationals, hitting .347 with 25 home runs and 104 RBI in 2016. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t completely forget about Mr. Murphy, but really this conversation is about Kris Bryant, and how scary good he will be beyond this year.
As of now, Bryce Harper has largely been considered the best player in the National League, but that’s a title he is possibly one season away from losing to Bryant who is hot on his tail at this rate. As far as progression and overall body of the career goes, Bryant is already clearly ahead of Harper.
In Harper’s first three MLB seasons, he played 357 games for the Nationals. In Kris Bryant’s first two MLB seasons, he played in 306 games for the Chicago Cubs. Check out some of these comparisons of the two sluggers, with Harper having played 51 more games than Bryant.
Hits: Harper (356), Bryant (330)
Batting Average: Bryant (.284), Harper (.272)
Home Runs: Bryant (65), Harper (55)
Doubles: Bryant (66), Harper (60)
RBI: Bryant (201), Harper (149)
Runs: Harper (210), Bryant (208)
Harper, having played 51 more games than Kris Bryant in these comparisons only leads Kris Bryant in hits by 26, and runs by just two. Bryant has hit ten more home runs, six more doubles, and driven in 52 more runs than Harper in a smaller sample size at the major-league level. If you remove the 9.9 WAR that Harper accumulated during his MVP campaign in 2015, he has a total career WAR of 11.4 over a combined four seasons and 504 games. Bryant has a career WAR of 13.6 in 198 less games than Harper.
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Then there’s the whole concept that Kris Bryant, a primary third-baseman, can also play both corner-outfield positions at a replacement level or better quality, including Harper’s right-field position.
Tonight’s National League MVP Award for Bryant was just the coming out party for the young superstar, mark my words, he will become the hands-down best player in the National League at some point in the very, very near future.