So this year at spring training new Chicago Cubs manager David Ross announced that he’d like to try Kris Bryant at the leadoff spot. Bryant indicated he was open to the idea. Cubs fandom split along two lines. Some loved it, but an equal number, citing Bryant’s power, wondered why the Cubs would take Bryant out of his number two spot.
At first, it does strain a bit to think of a guy who could hit 30 to 35 dingers a season hitting in the one spot. The conventional thinking about the leadoff spot is a fast player, makes contact, takes walks, and steals bases.