While Jake Arrieta was busy dealing Tuesday night in route to his 20th win of the season, it was a Kris Bryant two-run homer in the third inning that gave Arrieta all the runs he would need. And put Bryant in the Cubs’ record book.
Kris Bryant hit his 26th homer of the season Tuesday night and broke the Cubs’ All-Time single-season rookie home run record. Billy Williams set the mark with 25 home runs in 1961.
Kris Bryant topped Mr. Williams’ record for the most RBI by a rookie in a single season during the last road trip. Williams had 86 RBI in 1961 that was equaled by Geovany Soto in 2008. Bryant has driven in 98 runs this year with 11 games remaining on the schedule.
Over his last 20 games, Kris Bryant is batting .354/.400/.646 with eight doubles and five home runs for a 1.046 OPS. And since the break, Bryant is hitting .289/.365/.545 with 16 doubles, a triple, 14 home runs and a .909 OPS.
Above Video is all 26 of Kris Bryant’s Home Runs
In 141 games this year, Kris Bryant has put together a .278/.371/.505 slash line with 30 doubles, five triples, 26 home runs and a .876 OPS. Sixty-one of Bryant’s 145 hits are for extra bases and he’s walked 71 times with 186 strikeouts, a single-season Cubs’ record.
Sweet Swingin’ Billy Williams batted .278/.338/.484 with 20 doubles, seven triples and 25 home runs for a .822 in 1961 when he was the NL Rookie of the Year.
Kris Bryant has removed any doubt with his play this month on which player will be named National League Rookie of the Year.