Kris Bryant has been one of the three most productive players in baseball since 2015, with only Mookie Betts and Mike Trout producing more fWAR in that time. He’s also among the top 25 Cubs of all time in terms of wins above replacement and just passed Ernie Banks for most home runs in a player’s first five years with the team.
The record-setting shot came early Sunday afternoon when he reached out and kissed a slider, hooking it into the bleachers in left-center to give the Cubs a 3-0 lead. It was his fourth homer since sitting out a couple games and receiving a cortisone injection in his right knee, and he went on to add another — just a solo shot — on a middle-middle fastball in his next at-bat.