Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant endured a lot of criticism for a poor 2018, and he’s using it to fuel him going forward.
Bryant said Saturday that he had heard the criticism lobbed at him in a year that saw him hit .272 with 13 home runs while being bothered by a nagging shoulder problem. He added that such criticism motivates him to avoid a repeat performance.
“Definitely, a little bit,” Bryant said, via Jesse Rogers of ESPN. “But, boy, it was great. When you’re not playing, you have a whole lot of time to just sit there and either go through a Twitter rabbit hole and start seeing things about yourself, or seeing things about ‘trade him’ and this and that.
“And I’m like, ‘All right, I’m motivated. Keep ’em coming. Bring it.'”
Bryant says he is healthy to begin 2019. That should help him get back to where he was in his first three seasons, where he hit .288 and averaged over 30 home runs per year.
