Kris Bryant

[Brandon Glick]

Kristopher Lee Bryant, also known as "KB" or one-half of the famed "Bryzzo" duo, is a Chicago legend for his contributions to the Cubs franchise during their championship window in the mid-2010s.

Bryant was a high school star at Bonanza High School in Las Vegas. He batted .418 over his four-year varsity career, and was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 18th round of the 2010 MLB Draft. He turned down the chance to sign with the Blue Jays, instead opting to honor his commitment to play college baseball at the University of San Diego.

In college, he was named an All-American in 2012 and 2013, and won the Dick Howser Trophy (college baseball's version of the Hesiman Trophy) and Golden Spikes Award (best amateur baseball player) in 2013. The Cubs proceeded to select him with the second overall selection in the 2013 MLB Draft, benefitting from the Houston Astros' mistake of taking Mark Appel first overall. He quickly became one of the top prospects in baseball, winning the USA Today Minor League Player of the Year Award and Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year Award in 2014.

Bryant made his Cubs debut on April 17, 2015 — after notoriously being sent to Triple-A after an electric spring training performance due to service time manipulation — going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts at Wrigley Field. Luckily, that was not a sign of what was to come, as Bryant would win the 2015 National League Rookie of the Year award on the back of a strong .275/.369/.488 slash line. Along with the team's band of other elite prospects — and an inhuman second-half performance from Jake Arrieta — Bryant led the Cubs to the their first NLCS appearance since 2003.

The next season would prove to be Bryant and the Cubs' finest, as the team finally ended their 108-year championship drought, in large part thanks to the third baseman's MVP performance. Bryant led the senior circuit in WAR (7.3) and runs scored (121) in 2016, hitting 39 home runs and posting a .939 OPS for good measure. He was just as valuable in the postseason, slashing .308/.400/.523 on the way to the team's World Series victory.

Over the next several years, Bryant's decline mirrored that of the team. He was still an elite 5.7 WAR player in 2017 as the team made their third straight NLCS appearance, though injuries began to sap some of his effectiveness at the plate. Over a three-season stretch from 2018-20, Bryant accumulated 7.2 WAR, 48 home runs, and an. 846 OPS in 283 games (1,238 plate appearances). In 2021, the team elected to run it back one final time with the championship core, and while Bryant earned his fourth All-Star appearance, the team fell flat.

On July 30, 2021, just minutes before the trade deadline, the Cubs traded Bryant to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for Alexander Canario and Caleb Killian. Bryant finished the season strong on the West Coast, piloting the Giants to an NL West title, though they fell to the Dodgers in Game 5 of the NLDS. He would depart San Francisco for the Rocky Mountains, signing a monstrous seven-year, $182 million deal with the Colorado Rockies that offseason.

In the years since, Bryant has struggled tremendously with injuries, never playing in more than 80 games in any season with the Rockies. Despite playing in the high altitude of Colorado, Bryant's OPS in 2023 and 2024 was below .700. His contract with the Rockies has often been cited as one of the worst in modern sports.

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[We Got The Whole 9]

It's like karma came back for the Cubs manipulating his service. Injuries and covid cut him down to basically 6 seasons. I hope he makes a comeback but his injuries/back are really bad. It doesn't appear to be in the cards. A top 5 all-timer for me. I remember following his senior year and then we were basically giving up-to-the-minute updates on his minor league contact rate as he hit a HR every other day. The debates around his bust-ability waged on and every time he was promoted he would throw up a golden sombrero lol. Dude was a plug-&-play All-Star and made the final putout of the WS. Just storybook all the way.