Draft Day Decision: Does Kris Bryant Still Deserve A First Round Selection?
by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor) It’s hard to argue that 2017 was not a disappointing season for the Cubs’ Kris Bryant, after he won the NL MVP in 2016. Was it the World Series hangover? Was it the struggles of the supporting cast? Was it just that he is incapable of matching that impressive season? That’s a question we’ll try to answer, and while no one is going to say that he isn’t among the Top 20-25 players in the game the following numbers wouldn’t justify a first round pick: 549 At Bats .295 Batting Average (162 Hits) 29 Home Runs 73 RBI 111 Runs 7 Stolen Bases .409 On Base Percentage .537 Slugging Percentage .334 Batting Average on Balls in Play Now the question facing fantasy owners is if he can rebound and deserve to be selected in the first round as we head into 2018, or if he’s morphed more into a second round selection? The two numbers that jump out at you are his HR (after hitting 39 in ’16) and RBI. To an extent the two go hand-in-hand, but the big