Three years into his seven year $182 million contract Kris Bryant had enjoyed very few happy days, the fourth is proving no better. The Rockies have placed him on the 10-day injured list due to lumbar degenerative disc disease.
“It’s been bothering him for a few days,” manager Bud Black said. “We decided to be a little bit proactive and put him on the injured list. Hopefully in 10 days he’ll be back.”
His 2025 season so far? Not good. A .154 batting average with no homers and one run batted in, he has an OPS+ of 11, ELEVEN! That’s not easy to do.
Former Cub MVP
Bryant had enjoyed an exemplary seven years with the Cubs. It started with a rookie of the year season in 2015. His 2016 was as good as it gets.
Bryant put together an MVP season and the Cubs finally won that elusive world series. He added another almost five seasons at Wrigley and if not on a hall of fame path, he was certainly close as he moved toward free agency.
This is gonna be a tough play! Bryant! THE CUBS! WIN THE WORLD SERIES! BRYANT MAKES THE PLAY! IT’S OVER! AND THE CUBS! HAVE FINALLY WON IT ALL! 8-7 IN 10!pic.twitter.com/kjxQ0HaGHU
— Uncle Jeff (@ebsoftball) November 2, 2023
His stats as a Cub added up to an .886 OPS or an OPS+ of 133, one of the best hitters in the National League. The Giants added him for the stretch run at the 2021 deadline as free agency beckoned.
Rockies sign Bryant
He hadn’t missed a lot of time to injury previously, having played in at least one hundred and forty-four games in all but one of his six MLB seasons, but that changed in Denver.
He got hurt near the end of April in season one. He played two games in May, three games in June. He played all of July but not a single game after that. It’s been back issues for most of this portion of his career.
He had managed to play in only one hundred and fifty-nine games over his first three seasons in Colorado, less than a third of his teams games.
Lots of Contract Left
Let’s face it, at this point he’s a Rockie because he’s got the better part of four seasons and tens of millions of dollars still left on his contract. The Rockies are still hoping to get something out of their investment.
They have never been closer to just throwing it all in, cutting bait and moving on. They’ll have to eat $81 million after this season if they do.
