Jared Cross has recently submitted to FanGraphs the first iteration of his Steamer projections for 2015. Though unavailable in full as of yet, said projections appear on individual player pages now, and a brief inspection of them reveals that the system is very optimistic about Cubs third-base prospect Kris Bryant. Bryant’s line of .265/.344/.489, adjusted for league and park, is 30% better than league average — a performance worth nearly 20 runs above league average when prorated to 550 plate appearances.

Below is Bryant’s prorated line, with default estimates of zero both for baserunning and also UZR (leaving his positional adjustment for third base as the only measure of defense).

PA AVG OBP SLG BABIP wRC+ BsR Off Def* WAR 550 .265 .344 .489 .324 130 0 19 2 4.1

Bryant recorded identical 14.5% walk rates in identical 297-plate-appearance samples at Double- and Triple-A, respectively, this season — a product of his batting eye, one assumes, but probably even moreso pitchers’ unwillingness to throw him strikes. His 43 home runs represents the highest total this season in the minor leagues.

Also notable is Bryant’s favorable BABIP projection. Steamer tends to be rather conservative with BABIP for players who’ve recorded zero major-league plate appearances. This isn’t the case for Braynt, however, for whom Steamer projects a distinctly above-average figure of .324.

To get a sense of where this Steamer projections might place Bryant among his major-leauge peers, here’s short list of third baseman from 2014 who recorded both (a) a wRC+ of 125 to 135 and also (b) at least 500 plate appearances:

Name Team PA AVG OBP SLG BABIP wRC+ BsR Off Def WAR Anthony Rendon Nationals 683 .287 .351 .473 .314 130 7.4 30.7 9.2 6.6 Josh Donaldson Athletics 695 .255 .342 .456 .278 129 -2.8 19.1 16.7 6.4 Kyle Seager Mariners 654 .268 .334 .454 .296 126 -2.2 16.4 12.9 5.5 Avg — 677 .270 .342 .461 .296 128 0.8 22.1 12.9 6.2 Per550 — 550 .270 .342 .461 .296 128 0.6 17.9 10.5 5.0

It’s probable that all three of Donaldson, Rendon, and Seager are defensively superior to Bryant. Among third basemen, however, only Adrian Beltre (141 wRC+, 5.8 WAR) and Josh Harrison (137 wRC+, 4.9 WAR) out-hit this triumvirate.