It’s been a frustrating first month for Kris Bryant and following his latest injury, those frustrations have only exacerbated.
The Cubs’ third baseman was placed on the 10-day injured list on Saturday with left ring finger sprain and sore left wrist.
“I am frustrated that I’m not able to get out there and play baseball,” Bryant said. “This is a weird time that we’re in right now. Sure, it would be nice just to get out there and have some normalcy, but I’m here for support. Help those who are struggling, feel like a good mentor to those people who need it. I’m hoping to be back out there real soon.”
Bryant injured the finger and wrist on a diving-catch attempt against the Indians on Aug. 12, but he admits he thought things would be fine after blasting a 430-foot homer just moments later.
The wrist progressively got worse in the days that followed and after trying to play through the pain for six games, he required an injection for the pain on Tuesday.
“I was telling Rizzo in the on-deck circle [in Cleveland], ‘I don’t feel great,’ but I didn’t want to come out. And then of course, you hit a home run. You’re on that home-run high and you feel great. … It just progressively speeds up on you. You’re squeezing the glove in the outfield. I was like, ‘Oh man, yeah this hurts, but I feel great. I just hit a home run,” So it’s like, it’s hard to balance those feelings.”
The Cubs third baseman is now working to improve his mobility and range of motion while he’s sidelined. He says the pain in the wrist comes when he’s finishing his swings at the point of extension. The injury has affected his performance at the plate as his .177/.271/.323 slash line shows.
“The bottom hand is gonna be a little more important in guiding the bat. Especially when the finish on the swing has a lot of torque on that bottom hand,” manager David Ross said. “I think either way, any kind of hand issue with the swing can play a big role and it definitely was affecting Kris.
“That’s why it’s just really important for us to give him the time he needs to to get that thing fully healthy and come back and be the player that he expects to be.”
Bryant isn’t sure if the rest and treatment he receives while on the IL will eliminate the pain in his wrist, but his goal is to be able to get to the point of swinging without any hesitation.
“I don’t have the [answers] to that and those are certainly questions I’ve asked the trainers or team doctors, if it’s something that will eventually go away,” Bryant said. “They don’t really know either. It’s kind of just your symptoms might pop up here and there and then you just manage it for what it is and if it gets any worse then you can address it. I guess right now, it is kind of a pain symptom management and moving on from there.”
