@PKerseyDW said in This is funny, but not.:
At first glance, quite surprising that Bryant has gone from pulling a Cal Ripken- 1) RoY 2) MVP in 2nd year with team winning World Series to being an ineffective, injury plagued batsman.
Looking deeper, IMO is that Bryant has been exposed as a gimmick hitter who took advantage of what used to be conventional baseball wisdom, which was that pitchers should throw the ball around a right-handed batter’s knees.
For a few seasons, Bryant with his extreme “launch angle” approach was able to take advantage of the low ball. Once pitchers started twirling the ball up at the letters to Bryant, he was quickly diminished and was unable to adjust. Erstwhile Cubbies hitting coach was fired, in part, for pointing this out. Coupled with his injuries Bryant is now at a career crossroads- can he rise again or will he be remembered as a great player for only a brief flicker??
I’m a Brewers fan and you have no idea what you’re talking about. Kris Bryant coming into this year was the 3rd best player in the MLB in WAR since 2015 behind only Mike Trout and Mookie Betts. He was the best player on the 2019 Cubs and lead the team in fWAR at 4.8 with a 135 wRC+. 135 wRC+ was good for the 24th best hitter in the entire MLB ahead of Arenado(128), Acuna(126), Donaldson, Tim Anderson, tied with Mookie Betts(135) and ahead of many good players. This is while being plagued with a serious knee injury throughout the year that wrecked his numbers and a career high 155+ late in the season. Just for comparison career wise since 2015:
Kris Bryant
2015 fWAR and wRC+: 6.1, 136
2016: 7.9, 148
2017: 6.7, 147
2018: 2.3, 125 (102 games, shoulder/wrist injury)
2019: 4.8, 135 (knee injury)
Arenado
2015: 4.5, 121
2016: 5.0, 126
2017: 5.7, 130
2018: 5.7, 132
2019: 5.9, 128
It’s all a matter of health for Bryant going forward, he hasn’t been “exposed” or anything stupid like that. Healthy Bryant is undeniably one of the top players in the league when right. He was a top 25 hitter just last year with injury and had consistently adjusted to lower his strikeout rate each season before that. 2020 is a 30 game injured sample. He’s only 28 and if he’s healthy next year will be still be set for a huge contract. The 200m contract was also proven to be a false rumor.