Kris Bryant has been unable to stay on the field for the last several seasons now, and his issues now seem to be getting progressively worse.
The Colorado Rockies announced Monday that they have placed the former NL MVP Bryant on the 10-day injured list. Bryant is dealing with “lumbar degenerative disc disease,” the Rockies say.
A degenerative condition is obviously a major concern for any player. But it is even more so for Bryant, who is now 33 years old and has missed extended time due to injury for multiple consecutive seasons.
After appearing in 144 games during the 2021 campaign, Bryant signed with the Rockies as a free agent. But he has never even played half a season for Colorado since then, appearing in 42, 80, and 37 games in 2022-24 respectively. Bryant has been badly hampered by a host of physical issues, primarily back and foot injuries. Even after making a major positional change to reduce the wear-and-tear on his body, Bryant has still been unable to stay healthy.
Now it looks like Bryant’s back problems have recurred and may be part of a chronic condition. He had appeared in 11 games for the Rockies so far this season but was hitting just .154 over that span.
The good news for Bryant is that he secured his bag before getting hurt as the contract that he signed with Colorado was for seven years and $182 million. But that is a whole lot of money for the 3-12 Rockies to be paying to a part-time player in Bryant, who has only been making the headlines recently for unfortunate reasons.
