ST. LOUIS -- Perhaps nobody had a better 2016 than Kris Bryant. It culminated in a World Series title for his team and his first MVP award -- and then he began 2017 with a January wedding in his hometown of Las Vegas. What’s in store for the new season?

Every year I've done this with you, you’ve said the previous year was the best of your life. How can the next 12 months possibly top the past 12, when you won the MVP and the World Series and then got married?

Kris Bryant: It's going to be hard to top, but it's possible. I mean, any time I look at my previous seasons, I see areas I want to be better at. That's where I get excited, so even though I had a really good year last year, I see some areas I would like to [be] better in. And that's kind of what excites me going forward. I mean, you’re striving for perfection even if you never get it.

Let’s stay there. Right now, if you saw a 3-2 changeup from a good right-handed pitcher, how much better are you now than, say, six months ago? It was your one weakness last year.

KB: So much better. I mean, I feel like this spring training I saw a bunch. I got some good hits on them. I feel like I'm just seeing them better, which is good. And that was kind of my goal in spring training. I didn’t know if they'd throw me a lot of changes, but that's what they were doing, and I was very happy that they were doing that because, you know, I felt more comfortable seeing the release point and that type of thing in certain counts when they're going to throw them.

The other thing you’ve talked about is going to right-center. A lot of people have written or said that is something you’re working on this spring. But that started last season late in the year. How do you work on that?

KB: I mean, obviously cage work, but it's hard to really emulate that game situation, so I’m just waiting for that pitch out there, both last year and during this spring. Towards the end of spring, I did hit a couple of doubles the other way. I feel good about it. I feel confident about it.

I saw you in the barber’s chair for a long session the other day. Are you sticking with that look in the back? What are we calling that these days?

KB: I’ve heard "faux hawk mohawk." I don’t even tell the barber. They see it and just leave it. We’ll stay with it. I’m going to run with it as long as I have hair.

After seeing your teammates in spring training, which ones are taking the next step?

KB: I like looking at the guys in the minor leagues. Ian Happ, Chesny Young. I told them all the time -- they're my favorite players. I love watching them play the game. Chesny, I mean, never heard of him, and he comes out here ... he's great. He hits every ball hard, fields every ball clean. I'm super impressed with both of them, and I think they're big leaguers right now.

They both said how much they enjoyed being around the big leaguers all the way through your last exhibition games in Houston.

KB: It’s a different lifestyle. You come to these super nice hotels, pull up right next to the plane and get on. It’s like fairy-tale land, playing baseball at this level. I remember when I first got called up, I had to take a couple deep breaths and realize where I am and understand this is normal life right now for as long as you make it. For as long as you work hard, it’ll be your fairy-tale life.

The latest Bryzzo souvenir commercial is out and how much fun was it getting your teammates like Javier Baez and Addison Russell involved?

KB: Everybody nailed it. It was so cool to see everyone involved. No one is too big to have fun like that. They did a great job. I think it highlights everyone’s personality too. That’s good. It was what they were trying to accomplish.

That leads me to this question, which I get asked often about. What’s the key to team chemistry? Is being able to laugh at yourself way up there?

KB: In baseball, its great. In life, its even better. Life is short and we live a great life, so I think it's important to find those times, you pick and choose, where you can make fun of yourself. Just laugh. It's an opportunity of a lifetime to play this game. I mean [Anthony] Rizzo dancing like that is his comfort zone. I love to laugh. It’s important to keep a smile on your face when you do this for a living. Rizz and his dances. That’s right up his alley.

You always say you have goals, but you don’t state them publicly. What can you tell us? Is it just more of everything: more home runs, higher average?

KB: Statistics, mental goals, team goals, all of it. I want to be better than last year -- that's the only way I know. It's the only way I've ever operated playing this game. Improve on the areas that you didn’t do, and improve on the areas that you did do. And that's all the way back to high school and college, and I've always written them down. I mean, my dad and I talked about it a lot, so it’s just the only way I know.

Tell fans what this spring was like. It felt different -- been there, done that -- for you and the team, right?

KB: Yeah. The weight, it's kind of off our shoulders in terms of the 108 [years without a World Series title] hanging over our heads, but there was no lack of motivation or lack of effort this spring. Everybody got their work in, everybody had really good springs. I mean, especially towards the end, I feel like going into this year we are a lot better than we were at the end of last spring.

What was the most fun you had outside the park at spring training?

KB: I mean, playing golf, going to the pool. I love spring training because you get the chance to play games, but at the same time, you get days off to relax and ease yourself into the full grind of it all. And we’re not packing up and going on the move. It was a good spring, but we’re ready for the season.