Kris Bryant received all 30 first place votes from the BBWAA and was named National League Rookie of the Year.
Kris Bryant was the unanimous winner of the NL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award over Matt Duffy (Giants), Jung Ho Kang (Pirates), Noah Syndergaard (Mets), Justin Bour (Marlins), Joc Pederson (Dodgers) and Stephen Piscotty (Cardinals).
Baseball America, the Sporting News, the MLBPA and the IBWAA also voted Bryant as the NL Rookie of the Year for 2015.
Kris Bryant is the sixth player in franchise history to be named National League Rookie of the Year. Bryant joins Billy Williams (1961), Ken Hubbs (1962), Jerome Walton (1989), Kerry Wood (1998) and Geovany Soto (2008) as the six players that have been named the league’s best first-year player by the BBWAA.
The last three years Kris Bryant has been the College Player of the Year (2013), Minor League Player of the Year (2014) and National League Rookie of the Year (2015).
Kris Bryant lived up to the expectations during his rookie season at the plate while showing consistent improvement defensively at third base. Bryant played four other positions during the year and could see time in the outfield next season. Bryant started games at all three outfield spots and first base.
For the season, Bryant batted .275/.369/.488 with 31 doubles, five triples and 26 home runs for a .858 OPS in 151 games. Bryant played in the All-Star Game in Cincinnati after batting .269/.376/.472 with 14 doubles, four triples and 12 home runs in his first 78 games. Bryant was National League Rookie of the Month in May and August and had a sensational final two-plus months of the regular season.
After the break, Bryant batted .282/.361/.505 with 17 doubles, one triple and 14 home runs for a .867 OPS. Bryant hit .330/.422/.620 with a 1.042 OPS in August and used the schedule to his advantage to get back on track after a rough July.
Offensively, Bryant was night and day at Wrigley Field compared to the road. Bryant hit .311/.408/.629 with 14 doubles, four triples and 21 home runs for a 1.037 OPS in 76 home games. Outside of Wrigley, Bryant managed a .243/.333/.360 slash line with a .693 OPS.
Bryant excelled with runners on base and in scoring position. With the bases empty, Bryant put together a .248/.329/.415 slash line. When there were runners on, Bryant batted .308/.414/.577 with a .991 OPS and 16 of his 26 homers came with a teammate on base. With runners in scoring position, Bryant batted .292/.417/.489 with a .906 OPS and with RISP and two outs, Bryant hit .350/.473/.567 with a 1.040 OPS.
During his rookie season, Bryant set Cubs’ franchise marks for home runs (26) and RBI (99) by a first-year player that were previously held by Billy Williams.
Kris Bryant led all rookies this past season in many offensive categories including on-base percentage (.369), slugging percentage (.488), OPS (.858). home runs (26, tied with Joc Pederson), RBI (99), doubles (31) and runs scored (87). Bryant finished second in walks (77). And Bryant joined Ted Williams (1939) as the only two players in Major League history that reached 26 home runs, 99 RBI, 31 doubles, 87 runs and 77 walks in his rookie season.