Cubs 3B Bryant named NL Rookie of the Year

It worked for a second, just long enough for Amsinger to ask him one question, but then it went out again.

Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant has been unanimously voted the National League Rookie of the Year after hitting. But by June, he was starting at shortstop and leading the young Astros toward their first playoff appearance since 2005.

This time around, Bryant didn’t need to look hard for the chip when the Cubs left him in the minors despite the best spring training by a player in at least a decade – a two-week exile that suppressed his service time and assured the Cubs an additional year of club control. The third baseman quickly became an All-Star on a rising team that also reached the postseason. Like Correa, we are going to hear a lot from Bryant in the years to come. “I definitely exceeded my own expectations”.

Seeking their first championship since 1908, the Cubs were swept by the NY Mets in the NLCS.

Bryant, 23, was a unanimous choice for the National League award, capturing all 30 first-place votes for 150 points from members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Bryant won the award over fellow finalists Matt Duffy and Jung-Ho Kang of the San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates respectively. He beat out Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor and Twins DH Miguel Sano. Lindor had a strong season with a. 313 batting average, 12 home runs and 51 RBI in 99 games.

If the entire league still wasn’t on alert regarding Correa’s status as an “elite” young player, it is now.

Correa already has had to overcome his fair share of adversity in his professional career, having suffered a broken ankle in 2014 while playing for the Astros affiliate in Lancaster.

Correa set the Astros’ rookie home run record in October and passed Lance Berkman, who set the previous mark back in 2000. Bryant was called up in mid-April and had an impact on the Cubs right away.

Bryant and Correa each earned the major league minimum salary of $507,500. The next step for the Astros will nearly assuredly be to make an attempt to lock down Correa long-term and buy out his arbitration-eligible years, a tactic the team has attempted with other future (and now current) stars, a few successfully so (Jose Altuve) and a few not so much (Jonathan Singleton).

Bryant started the season at Triple-A.