The Rockies acquired some unlucky information relating to Kris Bryant in the present day, as Bryant himself informed reporters (together with MLB.com’s Thomas Harding). Bryant was initially positioned on the injured listing earlier this month with a left rib contusion in what he had anticipated to be a reasonably brief stint on the shelf. Since, then, nevertheless, Bryant underwent an MRI after his soreness confirmed no enchancment, and that testing revealed that the veteran was additionally coping with an inside indirect pressure. Bryant added that he has “no thought” when he’ll be capable of return to motion following the brand new prognosis.
It’s the most recent devastating setback in what has been an unbelievably tough Rockies tenure for Bryant. The 32-year-old was chosen second general by the Cubs within the 2013 draft and rose to stardom virtually instantly, capturing the 2015 NL Rookie of the Yr award earlier than profitable the NL MVP award (and a drought-ending World Sequence championship) the next season. Over the course of six and a half seasons in Chicago, Bryant made 4 journeys to the All Star recreation and slashed a wonderful .279/.378/.508 in 833 video games and helped lead the Cubs to 5 postseason appearances, together with three journeys to the NLCS and the aforementioned championship run.
After a quick stint in San Francisco after the 2021 commerce deadline, Bryant discovered himself on the open marketplace for the primary time in his profession and managed to safe a seven-year, $182MM cope with Colorado previous to the 2022 season. Sadly, that deal hasn’t panned out how both aspect was absolutely hoping it might. Whereas Bryant’s first season in Colorado noticed him hit a powerful .306/.376/.475 with a 125 wRC+, he was restricted to simply 42 video games that yr by accidents.
Issues have taken a flip for the more serious since then, as Bryant has remained unable to remain on the sector whereas additionally seeing his manufacturing endure when he’s wholesome sufficient to play. Bryant has appeared in 104 video games with the Rockies because the begin of the 2023 marketing campaign, and in his 436 journeys to the plate with the membership throughout that point he’s hit a paltry .223/.312/.347 that’s 30% worse than league common by measure of wRC+. That’s a slash line that might be tough to abdomen for any participant, a lot much less a $182MM nook bat who hasn’t made an look at his earlier dwelling of third base since becoming a member of the Rockies.
Now, Bryant seems to be dealing with one more prolonged absence after already making one journey to the injured listing earlier this yr as a consequence of a low again pressure. It’s change into more and more clear all through his Rockies tenure that harm woes seem more likely to plague Bryant all through the rest of his enjoying profession; as he informed Patrick Saunders of The Denver Submit final month, he has handled disc issues in his again and “extreme” arthritis that can proceed to impression him all through the rest of his enjoying profession along with his present indirect and rib points.
Each the Rockies and Bryant are absolutely hoping he can’t solely rediscover the expertise that made him one of many league’s finest hitters throughout his time in Chicago, but additionally that he’ll be capable of keep on the sector typically sufficient to showcase that expertise. Within the meantime, the Rockies determine to proceed counting on Michael Toglia and Elehuris Montero to deal with first base in Bryant’s absence whereas Toglia, Jake Cave, and Greg Jones combine and match in proper discipline.
