Rockies outfielder Kris Bryant has spent most of the 2024 season on the injured list, and his latest trip to the shelf due to a strained back began early last month. Manager Bud Black provided an update to reporters (including Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post) regarding Bryant’s status before the club’s game against the Brewers on Saturday, and it seems possible that Bryant won’t return from the IL before the end of the year.
Black indicated that Bryant’s back, which is plagued by chronic disc problems and severe arthritis at this point in his career, is doing “better” and that the 32-year-old is “feeling good” at this point. Still, there’s been no indication that Bryant has resumed baseball activities. With just three weeks remaining in the regular season and the 53-90 Rockies eliminated from playoff contention, it’s unclear if Bryant will be able to return this season. Black’s comments on the matter backed up that assessment as he described Bryant’s status as “questionable,” referencing the term used in the injury reports of other sports leagues like the NFL while acknowledging that the club is “running out of time” to get Bryant back onto the field.
If Bryant doesn’t return to the field this season, he’ll finish the year with just 37 games played and a lackluster .218/.323/.301 slash line in 155 trips to the plate this year. The former superstar once seemed to be on a Hall of Fame track when he won NL Rookie of the Year in his debut 2015 season before following up with the 2016 NL MVP award, but after slashing .278/.376/.504 (134 wRC+) in the first seven years of his career with the Cubs and Giants, his career has taken a nosedive due to injuries ever since he signed a seven-year, $182M deal with the Rockies before the 2022 campaign. He’s only been able to play 159 games in the three seasons since he first donned the purple and black, with a disappointing .250/.332/.381 (88 wRC+) line during that time.
According to Saunders, it’s unclear whether Bryant will have regular playing time down the stretch this year, even if he were to make it back from the injured list. Michael Toglia has locked down first base in Bryant’s absence after hitting a scorching .255/.368/.516 with ten home runs in his last 47 games. Nolan Jones won’t be vacating left field to make room for Bryant either as the 26-year-old searches for the form that earned him a fourth-place finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting last year amid a down season.
If he returns, he could find playing time between right field and DH. Still, with 14-year Rockies veteran Charlie Blackmon in the midst of what could be the 38-year-old DH’s final season in Colorado and top 100 prospect Jordan Beck trying to establish himself as an option for the club in right field headed into 2025, it’s not difficult to imagine a scenario where Bryant struggles to find playing time even if he were to return to the field before the 2024 campaign comes to a close. That said, there have been starts in the outfield corners afforded to bench players like Jake Cave and Sam Hilliard in recent weeks that Bryant could theoretically take on if he were to return to the roster in the coming weeks.
