kris bryant


Mike Bryant Explains Everything, Pt. 3: Pitchers Have Big Advantage, Potential for Bullpenning

The first two sections of my conversation with Mike Bryant, professional hitting instructor and father of Cubs “borderline superstar” Kris Bryant, established some truths about launch angle and also explained how his son has improved as a hitter. But that addressed only one side of the equation, which is what hitters are trying to do when ... More

Mike Bryant Explains Everything, Pt. 2: How Kris Bryant Has Made Freakish Improvements as a Hitter

In Part 1 of our conversation with Mike Bryant, we dispelled myths about the launch angle movement by establishing a few truths about what these players are and aren’t trying to do. The numbers we’ve all grown familiar with at this point are really just a product of trying to generate an upward plane with the bat. So rather than ... More

Mike Bryant Explains Everything, Pt. 1: Dispelling Myths About Launch Angle Revolution

Even if he’s only a borderline superstar, Kris Bryant may well be the perfect player for modern major league baseball. He’s won some of his sports’ highest accolades while playing all over the field and sitting for photo and video shoots, and he’s done it inside the fishbowl of one of the most pressurized environments in baseball. ... More

Kris Bryant Collects 500th Hit

  Kris Bryant singles to left field in the top of the 4th inning for his 500th career hit More

Countdown to Liftoff: How Joey Gallo and Josh Donaldson Embody Baseball’s New Era

The 1-and-2 pitch to Rangers slugger Joey Gallo last Sept. 17 didn’t signify the start of a revolution—it was more the Second Battle of Saratoga than Lexington and Concord. The first shots had come a few years earlier, igniting the greatest hitting rebellion since Babe Ruth (more or less) invented the home run. What happened on this pitch ... More

We Were All Wrong About Kris Bryant

You were wrong. I was wrong. Scouts were wrong. Computers were wrong. To be fair, pretty much no one and nothing saw this coming. But sure enough, Kris Bryant has turned into exactly the type of player teams can often only dream of employing, a guy who can hit moonshots without striking out. Scouts and projection algorithms alike loved ... More

Harper – Gallo – Bryant – Did They Set The Bar Too High?

Much has been written about these three sluggers by sports pundits all over the country but nowhere can you find a piece from anyone who watched , coached , and/or instructed them through their developmental years from 8 years old through high school - until now ! These three kids all took a starkly different path to the Major Leagues . There ... More

Exclusive: Kris Bryant’s Dad, Mike, Talks to Cubs Insider About Crafting an MVP Swing and How His Son Can Get Even Better (Part 4)

Part 1 of our series looked at Kris Bryant’s adjustments following the 2015, Part 2 got into Mike Bryant’s teaching philosophy, and Part 3 went into the younger Bryant’s adjustments heading into 2016. In this, our final installment, we hear about Mike’s reaction to some of Kris’s prep scouting reports and the adjustments that ... More

Exclusive: Kris Bryant’s Dad, Mike, Talks to CI About Crafting an MVP Swing and How His Son Can Get Even Better (Part 3)

If you find yourself reading this and haven’t seen Part 1 and Part 2, please remedy that posthaste and make your way back when you’re done. In addition to providing context, there’s some great stuff in there for Cubs fans or just baseball fans in general. We’ve already learned about how Kris Bryant adjusted his swing between his ... More

Exclusive: Kris Bryant’s Dad, Mike, Talks to CI About Crafting an MVP Swing and How His Son Can Get Even Better (Part 2)

If you haven’t already done so, be sure to check out Part 1 of our four-part series with Mike Bryant, professional hitting instructor and father of a relatively popular baseball player you may have heard about. When we left off, Mike was discussing Ted Williams’ hitting philosophy, specifically in terms of the shift.  Now he’ll get ... More