Major League Baseball

Cubs' Bryant named Minor League Player of the Year — to no surprise

Published Sep. 9, 2014 3:46 p.m. ET

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Kris Bryant added to his resume Tuesday when Baseball America selected the Cubs prospect as 2014 Minor League Player of the Year.

And it wasn't really a contest. The 22-year-old third baseman creamed 43 home runs across Double-A and Triple-A this season. But he's not all power. He batted .325 with 110 RBI, 118 runs and 15 stolen bases.

Bryant was drafted second overall in the last year's draft out of the University of San Diego where he won the 2013 College Player of the year Award. He began the year as Baseball America's No. 8 ranked prospect. But even with all of the expectations heaped upon the first-year pro, he still over-delivered.

"He's exceeded our expectations at every level," Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer told Baseball America.

Even though Bryant didn't get the September call-up he was looking for, he'll likely be on the big-club's roster when spring training wraps in 2015. He's already in good company with the award. Here's just a handful of the winners from the past decade (you might recognize some names): Byron Buxton, Wil Myers, Mike Trout, Jason Heyward, Jay Bruce, Alex Gordon, Delmon Young.

Bryant joins Gordon as the only two players to win College POY and Minor League POY in consecutive years.

Cubs fans can't wait until he's smushing balls onto Waveland and Sheffield regularly, alongside recent call ups Javier Baez, Jorge Soler, and Arismendy Alcantara.

Here's a look at what all the hype is about:

And one down the right-field line reminiscent of Giancarlo Stanton's from earlier this year.

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