After being sent down to the minors after Spring Training, Cub fans and many other baseball fans were upset because they wanted to see the young stud up at the majors after cracking 12 homers during the spring. Well on April 17th, 2015 Kris Bryant was officially called up by the Cubs and was inserted into the cleanup spot and played the hot corner in his first career start. Bryant was the 2nd overall pick in 2013 and has had much hyped connected to him since his college days.
With all the hype and anticipation Bryant had a tough match-up against James ‘Big Game’ Shields. Shields dominated the match-up, but that was to come thanks to his devastating change-up and his ability to put Bryant through a clinic. On the day Bryant went 0-4 with 3 K’s.
Bryant did receive a standing ovation before his first at-bat.
But 3 pitches later Bryant was heading back to the dugout after his first career at-bat.
On the positive side of things for Bryant was that he looked great at 3rd base. During his 12 days in Triple-AAA he was on a mission to improve his defensive skills, and well those days paid off. Look at this impressive play when Bryant robs Derrik Norris of a base hit.
Overall Kris Bryant had a bad day at the plate but that will come on a occasions for the 23-year old phenom. He has to adjust to major league pitching and having James Shields as his first pitcher was a tough task. Bryant will be just fine and with his impressive day at 3rd he looks to contribute to the team with his bat and with the leather.