Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
MVP Bryant targets weak spots
Cubs star wants to reduce Ks, reclaim opposite-field power
CHICAGO — Kris Bryant reduced his strikeout total by 45, raised his batting average by 17 points and increased his home run total by 13 en route to the National League Most Valuable Player Award in only his second major league season.
Yet the Las Vegan seeks more statistical improvement.
“You have to pick the right numbers to concentrate on,” Bryant said this month during the Cubs Convention. “You want to look at numbers that only lead to a positive result, in positive changes for yourself. I don’t like to dwell on numbers too much. That said, if the numbers are in your face and you’re not using them to get better, you are only failing yourself.”
Mike Bryant, Kris’ father and personal batting coach, perfectly summed up his son’s drive for success.
“We think big,” Mike Bryant said during a recent telephone interview. “We set the bar high and try to be ready for what’s out there.”
One lofty goal would be to cut Bryant’s 154-strikeout total in half, which could translate to a higher batting average than his .292 mark and another leap in his power numbers after hitting 39 homers in 2016.
Bryant’s goal, however, is more technical in anticipation of what he might encounter from pitchers this season.
“I want to get back to hitting the ball to right field,” Bryant said. “In the minor leagues, that’s where most of my power was. I was pitched inside so often to a point I pulled the ball very well. I’m sure guys are going to pitch me (away more now). That’s what they did in the minor leagues, and I want to get back to what I was doing so well.”
Mike Bryant pointed out 27 of his son’s 43 home runs at Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa were hit to right field.
“It’s not that he has to go the other way,” the elder Bryant said. “It’s so he’ll be ready (if pitchers pitch him away).”
According to Fangraphs. com, Bryant hit only one home run to right of center field in 2016, compared with the previous year, when five of his 25 carried over the right-field fence.
Unlike last season, when Bryant worked on taking the verticality out of his swing, his preparation to hit to the opposite field won’t require any mechanical adjustments or fixes.
“It’s letting the ball travel and try to hit through the ball to the opposite field,” Cubs hitting coach John Mallee said. “You see his home run numbers go up, strikeout numbers went considerably down and he didn’t hit the ball to the opposite field as often.
“If you look at those numbers, he just wants to be a complete hitter. He’s not satisfied with .290 or .300. You know at certain points they will pitch you away. If you don’t try to hit the ball to the opposite field and take what they give you, then you’re not going to be the complete hitter you can be. And he wants to be as complete as can be.”
One of Bryant’s signature moments as a rookie came when he hit a 73-mph curveball on the outside corner off three-time NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw for a two-run homer. That snapped an 0-for-15 slump and sparked the Cubs to a victory over the Dodgers.
Mike Bryant credited coach Derek Stafford with helping his son improve while he was at Bonanza High School. That improvement continued at the University of San Diego, where Bryant didn’t have a strikeout until his 48th at-bat in his sophomore season.
From there he became the first to win the Golden Spikes Award (given to the outstanding college player), Baseball America’s minor league player of the year, NL Rookie of the Year and NL MVP in four consecutive seasons.
The elder Bryant insists he’s deeply entrenched in “old-school” teachings but has become a believer in the Wins Above Replacement metric that gives Kris Bryant the highest WAR (13.6) for any player after his first two seasons.
“It intrigues me that he has a higher WAR than Frank Robinson (13.4) and Ted Williams (13.0) did,” Mike Bryant said.