Two seasons into his major-league career, Kris Bryant has two All-Star selections, a Rookie of the Year award and a World Series championship to his name.
On Thursday, the 24-year-old Cubs star added another major honor to the list — National League MVP.
Bryant topped Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy and Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager in a vote by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Bryant received 29 first-place votes and 415 points. Murphy had one first-place vote and 245 points, and Seager finished with 240 points.
Angels center fielder Mike Trout was voted the American League MVP over Red Sox right fielder Mookie Betts and Astros second baseman Jose Altuve. Trout received 19 first-place votes and 356 points to Betts’ nine first-place votes and 311 points. Altuve had 227 points.
Writers vote for the award before the start of the postseason, and Bryant was among the NL leaders in several categories during the regular season, including finishing first with 121 runs scored and a 7.7 WAR, according to Baseball Reference.
He was third with 39 home runs and 334 total bases and fourth with a .554 slugging percentage and a .939 OPS. He also finished with a .292 average and 102 RBIs and contributed to the Cubs’ versatility by playing in the outfield and at third base.
Along the way, he turned in record-setting and jaw-dropping single-game performances too.
On June 27 in Cincinnati, he went 5-for-5 with three home runs, two doubles and six RBIs. He set a franchise record with 16 total bases and became the first player in major-league history with three homers and two doubles in a game.
On Aug. 18, he became the second player in major-league history with two five-hit, five-RBI games in one season, along with 1945 MVP Phil Cavarretta, also of the Cubs. Eight days later, he hit two homers in the final three innings to help lift the Cubs over the Dodgers in extra innings.
“It’s definitely the best game of my whole life,” Bryant said after the June 27 game. “But to hear that, with so many good players in this game, I just feel so fortunate and so thankful for this opportunity to play on a stage like this every day.”
Bryant becomes the first Cubs player to win the award since Sammy Sosa won in 1998. It is the 11th time a Cubs player has been named MVP.
Bryant joins Dustin Pedroia (2007-08), Ryan Howard (2005-06) and Cal Ripken Jr. (1982-83) as the only players to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in back-to-back seasons. Ichiro Suzuki and Fred Lynn won both in the same year.
