Still with the Cubs, Bryant back to his slugging ways

Whatever the future holds, Kris Bryant is giving the Chicago Cubs plenty of production so far in 2021.

Bryant is hitting .303 with 10 home runs in 37 games, and he is second in the National League with an OPS of 1.032. That's quite a rebound after he batted .206 in last year's pandemic-shortened season. Bryant was the subject of trade rumors in the offseason, but the Cubs eventually brought him back on a $19.5 million deal.

Bryant can become a free agent at the end of this season after he was one day shy of eligibility at the end of 2020. He lost a grievance that claimed the Cubs delayed his call-up as a rookie in 2015 to put off his free agency by a year.

Chicago is certainly benefitting from the fact that Bryant remained under team control this year — and perhaps Bryant will have more success entering free agency a few months from now than he would have following a disappointing 2020. Despite his efforts, the Cubs are a game under .500. They did win the NL Central last year, but changes could be coming.

Javier Báez and Anthony Rizzo also have expiring contracts, and Jed Hoyer, the team's president of baseball operations, said before the season it was “unrealistic” to keep every player who was a significant part of the team's World Series title in 2016.

Chicago's starting pitchers have an ERA of 5.03, the worst mark in the National League, and that's held the Cubs back so far this season. They'll have to hope Kyle Hendricks' performance Sunday — one run in eight innings — is a sign of things to come.

SPEAKING OF PITCHING

Only one team in baseball has a worse ERA for its starters than the Cubs. That's the Los Angeles Angels at 5.38. Mike Trout has again been fantastic for the Angels, and Shohei Ohtani already has a dozen homers, but it may be the pitching side of...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Still-with-the-Cubs-Bryant-back-to-his-slugging-16181723.php