Las Vegas’ Kris Bryant coming to Cashman for Big League Weekend

Anybody planning to take a walk around Cashman Field this weekend who finds himself on Washington Avenue out beyond the scoreboard should consider himself warned:

Kris Bryant is coming to town with the Chicago Cubs for Big League Weekend.

The former Bonanza High and University of San Diego slugger will be in uniform for Chicago against the New York Mets, Bryant’s father, Mike, said in a text message today.

Kris Bryant, the second overall pick in last year’s major league draft, specializes in long home runs. The Chicago baseball writers have started comparing him to Dave Kingman, who once hit long home runs for the Cubs and the Mets (and a bunch of other major league teams), though Bryant is a much nicer guy. He mostly smiles instead of scowls.

In his first at-bat as a pro this spring, Bryant hit a pitch from the Angels Jarrett Grube that sailed over the 420-foot sign to straightway center field at Diablo Stadium in Tempe, Ariz. It was what baseball people call a “prodigious blast.”

“It was a good first at-bat,” Bryant told the Chicago baseball writers after getting all of that one. “I wasn’t nervous at all.”

The Cubs and the Mets will play at 1:05 p.m. here on Saturday and Sunday. I predict Kris Bryant won’t be nervous for these games either, despite all the people cheering for him.