Remember a couple of Fridays ago when we were all excited that our big slugging rookie phenom third baseman was coming to the big leagues after a torturous 12 day wait?

Oh, he came up alright and went hitless in five at bats and struck out three times.

And but for a single here and a double there, what has he done really?

Gary Scott at least hit a grand slam in his first week.

Typical Cubs, another flopped phenom.

Kris Bryant has now played 10 homerless games in the big leagues.  The guy who hit 55 homers in 181 minor league games has yet to hit one in the big leagues.

If you projected out Bryant’s major league numbers over a full season, they’re embarrassing.  Here’s what he’d do at his current pace over 162 games:

.351 average
.478 on base
.459 slugging
.938 OPS
211 hits
97 runs
65 doubles
0 triples
0 homers
146 RBI
16 stolen bases in 16 attempts
146 strikeouts
130 walks
275 total bases
164 OPS+

Well sure, that would win him the Rookie of the Year, and the MVP and probably first ballot induction into Cooperstown, but where are the homers?  WE WERE PROMISED BIG DONGS?  WHERE ARE THE BIG DONGS?¹

Instead of a guy crushing homers, we end up with this guy who gets on base half the time, drives in a run every game, walks as much as he strikes out, runs surprisingly well, has already played three positions and has those dreamy blue eyes that you could drown in.

Obviously the homers are coming, but how incredible is it that even without one (and 10 games without a homer is not a big deal for anyone) he’s already convinced us that he’s not as good as advertised?

He’s better.

Think about that.  No Cubs prospect, ever, and just a few prospects in baseball, ever, have come up with more hype and more outsized expectations than Kris Bryant.  And after one poor game at the plate (a game in which he was very impressive on defense, mind you) he’s been incredible.

At times, the Cubs batting order has Jorge Soler, Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Starlin Castro batting back-to-back-to-back-to-back.  For the opposition that’s no fun, and yet to them it must seem like some combination of that group is always coming up to bat.  Well, it’s half the lineup, so about half the time it is.

Part of Bryant’s early success is that it seems like every time he bats, Rizzo is on base.  Well, that’s just not true.  But more than half the time he bats, Rizzo is on base.

Here are Rizzo’s numbers since Bryant came up: .400/.529/.650/1.179, 2 homers, 7 RBI, 5 stolen bases.

Conversely, Bryant is on base almost half the time Castro is up.  Starlin’s numbers since Bryant was called up: .348/.375/.435/.810, 1 homer, 7 RBI.

Rookies aren’t supposed to show up and do what Bryant is doing.  Mike Trout hit .220 in his first 40 big league games.

Bryant is already being pitched around.  After 10 games!

Once his power kicks in, you could see him putting up months like Albert Pujols did as a 31 year old rookie in 2001.  Albert’s first month in the big leagues: .370/.431/.739/1.171, 8 HR, 27 RBI.  Oof.  Albert didn’t have the hype Bryant did.  He was able to catch some of those pitchers off guard.  To them he was just this balding, thick armed, nobody.  They figured it out pretty quickly, but still, Bryant came up with a target on his back, and it hasn’t mattered.

Rookies are supposed to do what Addison Russell is doing.  You’re supposed to struggle a little bit.  It makes you more endearing.²  Ryne Sandberg had one hit in his first 30 at bats putting up a whopping .033/.091/.033.  He ended up alright.  (Hell, he hit .271 that season.)

Robin Ventura had four hits in his first three games as a White Sock, then went four for his next 35, and hit .178 in his first go around in the big leagues.

Russell’s looked overmatched at the plate at times so far (13 strikeouts in his first 25 at bats), but he’s also driven in four runs in his first six games.  Other than playing bat toss into the crowd four times in those six games, there aren’t any long-term concerns about Addison.

He’s the youngest player in the National League.  Incredibly, to this point in his professional career he’s never faced a pitcher younger than him.  As was pointed out to me yesterday, his DAD is 38 years old.  Ugh.³

Maybe he’ll spend a little more time in Iowa at some point this season, maybe he won’t.  Regardless, if your biggest concern at this point in your season (other than hoping you don’t ever need to use Brian Schlitter again) is Addison Russell, you’ve got it pretty good.

We’d still like to see the big kid at third hit a homer or two or 35, but watching this team every night has been pretty incredible.  And to think, this is only the beginning.⁴

1. Can you imagine watching those dongs on that JumboTron?  I quiver just thinking about it.
2. Russell, unlike Bryant, seems to understand a narrative arc.  You have to struggle early to draw the audience in and make them wonder if it’s really going to happen for you.  Then you hit four homers in a three game series at Busch Stadium and shut everybody up.
3. I felt old when I bought a Kris Bryant shirsey the other day, but that stat about Addison’s dad…it’s going to take me a while to get over it.  I’ll power through, though.
4. Well, they are on pace to win 99 games…but let’s not get head of ourselves.