Kris Bryant went yard on Tuesday night in Tennessee’s 10-7 victory over Jackson. Bryant was 2-for-5 with a three-run homer and ended up with four RBI on the night. Bryant leads the Southern League in home runs (11) and leads the league with 33 RBI. And while RBI is a team stat, at least Bryant is driving in the runs for what has become a very good Smokies offense.
Kris Bryant is hitting .324/.425/.620 with nine doubles, 11 home runs and a 1.045 OPS in 38 games … and over the last 13 games, .396/.458/.755/1.212 with six home runs.
Albert Almora has struggled this season with the D-Cubs and managed a .253/.266/.352 slash line in April with six doubles and one home run. Almora has been hitting the ball a little better of late and had a big game for the D-Cubs on Tuesday. Almora went 3-for-5 with three doubles, four RBI and a run scored in Daytona’s 12-0 lead over Charlotte.
Jorge Soler collected another double in five at bats on Tuesday night. Seven of Soler’s eight hits this season have been doubles (.364/.440/.682/1.122) and he’s walked three times with five strikeouts in six games.
Stephen Bruno went 4-for-5 with a double, a triple, two RBI and a run scored on Tuesday. Bruno raised his slash line to .317/.413/.528 with 13 doubles, two triples and three home runs. Bruno has walked nine times in 32 games with a .941 OPS.
The Smokies beat Jackson 10-7 on Tuesday and have scored 106 runs this month, more than any other minor league or Major League team.
Mike Olt
Mike Olt worked a walk in his only plate appearance in Tuesday’s game. Olt was not in the starting lineup and while his numbers are still subpar (.187/.257/.462), Olt is hitting .233/.361/.633 in his last 11 games with four home runs, five walks, nine strikeouts and a .994 OPS. For the season, Olt has eight home runs and one double … more than half his 17 hits have gone for extra bases.
As has been pointed out, Mike Olt leads all National League rookies in home runs (8) and RBI (19). ESPN Chicago reported, Olt is the 13th Cubs rookie since 1933 to hit at least eight home runs before the All-Star break.
Rick Renteria addressed his decision to leave Olt out of Tuesday’s lineup. Renteria said he is “still mixing and matching” and “will continue to do so.” According to a report from Carrie Muskat, Renteria said “there will be a day when Olt is getting regular playing time.” Olt’s confidence is improving and the Cubs are “growing” to the point of Olt being in the lineup on more of a consistent basis.
News and Notes
The Cubs entered Monday night’s game ranked 26th in the league in runs scored (3.69). After the 17-run output, the Cubs jumped up to 18th in runs scored (4.05).
The Gameday notes were full of facts from Monday’s game. The 17 runs the Cubs scored on Monday were the most runs the team scored since a 17-2 victory over the Pirates on Aug. 14, 2009 and the most runs the Cubs scored outside of Wrigley Field since a 17-4 win over the Rockies in Denver on July 26, 1996.
The 20 hits on Monday were the most of a Cubs’ team since Aug. 2, 2011 when the Cubs tallied 21 hits in Pittsburgh.
Entering play on Tuesday, the Cubs led the National League in pitches per plate appearance at 3.94. The Cardinals and Dodgers are second (3.86), and the Marlins and Mets are tied for fourth (3.85).