Kris Bryant’s first season in Colorado didn’t go as envisioned, with injuries combining to limit the former MVP to 42 games. Bryant hit well in that limited look, posting a .306/.376/.475 line with a career-low 14.9% strikeout rate, but he spent virtually the entire second half on the injured list due to plantar fasciitis in his left foot.
Now healthy for Spring Training, Bryant will get a second crack at serving as Colorado’s primary left fielder. Danielle Allentuck of the Denver Gazette writes that the four-time All-Star also remains open to logging some time on the infield if needed. Bryant played exclusively left field or designated hitter during his first season in Denver, though he obviously has plenty of corner infield experience from his time with the Cubs and Giants.
The Rox already have a decent amount of corner infield depth. C.J. Cron and Ryan McMahon are again lined up for work at first and third base, respectively. Michael Toglia and Sean Bouchard are on hand as first base options behind Cron. Offseason acquisition Nolan Jones and second-year player Elehuris Montero are bat-first players but can cover either corner infield slot. Alan Trejo and non-roster invitee Harold Castro are also in the mix as infield defenders with some flexibility to move around the diamond.
In other news out of Colorado:
- Right-hander Jake Bird recently strained his left oblique, manager Bud Black informed reporters (including Thomas Harding of MLB.com). He’s expected to miss the next four to six weeks. That takes the 27-year-old out of play for the World Baseball Classic — where he’d been slated to represent Israel — and, of more import to Colorado fans, puts his availability for the start of the season in jeopardy. Bird made his major league debut last June and was a fairly frequent bullpen option down the stretch. He got into 38 contests, posting a 4.91 ERA across 47 2/3 innings. Bird’s strikeout and walk profile wasn’t especially impressive but he induced grounders on an excellent 55.7% of batted balls.
- A pair of veteran bullpen pickups marked some of the biggest moves in a quiet Colorado offseason. Righty Pierce Johnson signed a one-year free agent deal, while the Rox claimed veteran southpaw Brent Suter off waivers from Milwaukee. Black told reporters he’d been among those pushing general manager Bill Schmidt to put in a claim once Milwaukee put Suter on waivers back in November (link via Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post). With the Harvard product eligible for arbitration for a final time, the Brewers waived Suter after determining they weren’t going to tender him a contract. Colorado was happy to keep Suter around for his last arbitration season, with the sides agreeing to a $3MM salary within two weeks of the waiver claim. The 33-year-old posted a 3.78 ERA over 66 2/3 innings of long relief last season. He doesn’t throw hard or pick up many whiffs, but he consistently keeps the ball on the ground and fills the strike zone. The latter trait seems especially appealing to Colorado brass, as Black told reporters the club is emphasizing better strike-throwing at the back end of games. Rockies relievers walked 9.9% of opponents last season, the fifth-highest rate in the league.
Love the Rockies.
Always the little steam engine that couldn’t.
I’m all over KB for fantasy. He has slipped waaaay too far in drafts. I think he has at least one or two really nice seasons ahead of him in Colorado. The ballpark already gave his average a nice jump in the cup of coffee last year.
I mean it’s not just one year he’s ‘slipped’ in production. It’s like, 5….
Oh yeah, I get WHY he is being faded, he has declined slowy since the mvp. I just think writing him off as a top 20 OF; a bit premature. I loved the move to Col for him and I think that slight tick combined with the fact that he’s not DONE yet (I’d take his ‘21 season as my 3rd OF all day)…I’ll be investing this year for sure
what the hell happened to this guy?
Just have a good backup. I’d suggest Jordan Walker with 3B-eligibility, though he may start in AAA, but shouldn’t be for long.
@Run I got my eye on that kid for sure! His teammate Tyler O’Neill is another buy low OF I think worth taking a look at as well. That lineup has some major potential if O’Neill and Carlson get themselves straight
Pay a guy 184m that was worth half then play him out of position.
Another contract that won’t age well.
It’s the Rockies model. They’ll probably try to unload him in a year or so.
They signed him for the bat and positional utility. He’s better off at LF and they’ll stick him at DH in a year or two when Charlie is gone.
Castro’s ability to play all over the diamond should give him a leg uo on some of the others for a bench spot. I like Nolan Jones and would like to see how he could do in RF and let Blackmon DH
What the Rockies are doing I don’t 100% agree with, though I know that their fans probably don’t agree with it either, but we’ll see how it works out.
I am not going to try and defend every Rockies move, only a moron would do that. But I am going to hope they are right every time. They are my chosen team and I am sticking with them through the good times and bad. I stayed with them thru the godawful 2011-2015 years. I stayed with them through the Todd and the Todd-lers 2004-2006 years. I stayed with them from the day 1 loss to the Braves in 1993 when both they and I were young and had the world in front of us. Kris Bryant may or may not work out. I wasn’t a fan of the signing simply because I didn’t like the guy in Chicago. But I will be rooting for him (or more specifically the team) to succeed the entire time.
@hiflew. Two years ago, I went to Denver for a series with the Cubs, and to play golf. I’d been to Denver a number of times. I love your park, the area and the city. I hope things work out well for you fans. I look forward to getting to another series in Denver, sooner rather than later.
That said, signing Bryant to that contract, after basically ‘giving’ Arenado away – made no sense to me. Especially with KB’s injury history. He should be playing his home games in a warm weather city. Someone in the Rox org, could have spent the money more wisely.
KB is on the early retirement program.
Oh yeah, I get WHY he is being faded, he has declined slowy since the mvp. I just think writing him off as a top 20 OF; a bit premature. I loved the move to Col for him and I think that slight tick combined with the fact that he’s not DONE yet (I’d take his ‘21 season as my 3rd OF all day)…I’ll be investing this year for sure
Next time Kris Bryant is mentioned at MLBTR, it will be something along the lines of “Bryant injures pinky toe, expected to miss several weeks”
If he remains healthy, his offensive numbers can get close to his MVP numbers since he is in Colorado. Hit 25 hrs in Colorado and find another 10-15 on the road in parks like Great American Park, Giants Park (forgot the name of it now), PNC Park, Rogers Stadium (Toronto), Twins Stadium, and a few others. Those places can give him half or a few more of those 10-15 hrs. If he can manage a .285 BA while having guys on base to get 130 RBIs, he could see MVP numbers. Ball might be heavier in Colorado, but they still fly out at a high rate. Just have no idea what his hard ball hit rate is. Just going on pure speculation on these numbers
There is no chance in H E L L Bryant stays healthy enough to approach those numbers lol. It’s been like 4 years since he was a useful MLB player lol
Bryant isn’t an RBI hunter, never was. His most, 102 in 2016 and nothing close since. His highest RBI total since 2016 was 77. That’s a long way from 130. Last year, he had 5 HRs in 181 PAs. For 600 PAs(which he hasn’t had since ’19) he was on pace for 16 HRs. A long way from 40.
His health is the biggest issue. Even when he’s only missed 20-25 games, he’s almost always had minor nagging injuries with his back, legs or his pinky, as noted above.
In his defense, he seemed to be trying too hard, perhaps to justify the contract to his new fans, and was just off. He hit no homers before his IL stint. He hit much better after he returned. He seemed more comfortable. I believe he will get off to a better start and could get 30 homers in 2023. Of course it depends on injury, but he hit just great in the summer and if he can duplicate that, .300/30/100 would be an easy estimate for him to surpass.
I don’t want to argue, but I think “he was trying too hard” is an excuse without foundation. He hasn’t been close to the numbers you mentioned since 2016.
Health has been an issue with him every year since 2017. He was never a good fielder, and now you have him, 6 years after his peak with annual foot, back and leg injuries playing in the biggest outfield in baseball.
I like positive people, so I encourage you to keep the faith. Hopefully he finds his 2016 form and earns his contract.
I don’t want to argue either, but I said he SEEMED TO BE trying too hard, not he was trying too hard. Big difference, especially when you quote someone. I don’t know why for a fact, no one does. I’m just comparing the two stints he had in 2022 and coming up with a reason for why the second stint was so much better than the first.
I don’t know if he will ever repeat his 2016 form. All I said was his stint after his first IL trip was awesome. If he could repeat that for a whole season the he would easily surpass those numbers. Not saying he could or should be MVP again, but he could potentially help lead the Rockies back to respectability again.
I appreciate the compliment, but I am not really that positive a person. I am more an anti-projection person. I don’t have faith that someone will work out. I just refuse to put any credence into projections no matter who gives them because they are all just guesses anyway. And none of them are any more valid than my own, so why not just stick with my own guess.
130 RBI? He hasn’t had more than 73 in a season since his career high of 102 seven years ago, but sure, why not. 130 RBI it is.
Rockies’ line-up isn’t good enough for him to get 130 RBI. He’d have to bat like Barry Bonds with men on base for that to happen.
You MLBTR writers/editors need to learn that you don’t ALWAYS need a comma after “and,” like in the following situation:
“and, of more import to Colorado fans,”
Note that above, in my first paragraph, is a situation where you DO need it.
Thanks Ben, at first your grammar lessons were annoying to me, only because they seemed off-topic and therefore unnecessary. But I am finding them useful and educational after all, so I will stop being negative about your contributions.
You’ll never see the single word and in quotation marks again in your lifetime. Give us 1 more example BenBenBen , I’m not convinced.
It’s in quotation marks so you know it’s not part of the flow of the sentence, obviously.
Gloria was driving home and, due to the glare, hit a tree.
Too easy…..
I ate a ghost pepper on a dare and, yada yada yada, I can no longer use the restrooms at Target.
You don’t need one after “and” in that sentence either. Good try, though.
Why isnt he at 3rd anymore?
It’s faster and easier to pick him up in the medical cart in the outfield.
I don’t know the real options for the Rockies in LF or McMahon’s flexibility, McMahon appears to be well above average at 3rd. At this point, Bryant is average, to slightly below average defensively at 3rd.
I would limit him in LF, not sure why the Rockies use him there. He’s already injury prone. Playing left is only going to make that worse.
Suter was a good pickup. See him soaking up a lot of middle innings. Wouldn’t be shocked to see him get 6 to 8 wins pitching in middle to long relief. He could also be a candidate to be dealt at trade deadline if Rox are out of playoff contention. A lot of teams could use a Suter type in the bullpen.
The road to .500 already in jeopardy