The Rockies announced that they have placed Kris Bryant on the 10-day injured list due to lumbar degenerative disc disease. Catcher Braxton Fulford had his contract selected to take Bryant’s place on the roster. Right-hander Jeff Criswell was transferred to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man spot for Fulford. Criswell had Tommy John surgery last month and will miss the entire season. Thomas Harding of MLB.com reported the Bryant and Fulford moves prior to the official announcement.
Injuries have been the defining feature of Bryant’s time in Colorado. He is now in his fourth season as a member of the Rockies but hasn’t surpassed 80 games in any of those campaigns. His first season in the mountains, 2022, he hit well but only got into 42 contests. Since then, he has not only been frequently sidelined but also ineffective when in the lineup. He has a .222/.307/.335 batting line over the 2023-25 seasons and is out to a brutal .154/.195/.205 start so far in 2025.
His injury absences have been due to various ailments, including a heel bruise, finger fracture and rib contusion, but back problems have been an ongoing feature as well. In 2022, he spent over a month on the IL due to a lower back strain. A back strain also kept him out of action for almost two months at the end of the 2024 campaign.
Whether those various back problems are all interconnected or not is unknown. The club also hasn’t provided much information on this current diagnosis or what they expect in terms of prognosis. More information will surely emerge tonight or in the coming days.
Either way, it just further compounds the point that Bryant has been an awful investment for the club. Prior to coming to Colorado, he had done it all. He was a Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, All-Star and World Series champion. He had a .278/.376/.504 batting line through 2021. He hit free agency and landed a seven-year, $182MM deal with the Rockies.
Even at the time, it was a bit of a head-scratcher. The Rockies had just wrapped up their third straight losing season and near-term contention didn’t seem highly likely. Some were calling for a rebuild at that time, but they went in another direction by making this big investment. As mentioned, it hasn’t worked out, and the club hasn’t gotten any better. They lost 94 games in 2022 and got to triple digits in each of the past two seasons. They are the worst team in baseball so far this season with a 3-12 record.
Bryant had largely been serving as the designated hitter, so the club will have some options now in who they give those at-bats to. The fact that they have called up a catcher perhaps indicates that Hunter Goodman might move out from behind the plate more often. He has been splitting the catching duties with Jacob Stallings but now perhaps could take the DH slot or move to the outfield, where he has some experience.
Fulford, 26, was a sixth-round pick of the Rockies in 2021. Back in January, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs gave him an honorable mention on his list of the top prospects in the system, noting that he has poor defense and contact hitting but good power. In his 1,219 minor league plate appearances, he has hit .265/.375/.455 with 40 home runs. He struck out at a 25.1% clip last year and is at 27.3% so far this year. Given his bat-first tendencies, perhaps Goodman will stay in the catching mix while Fulford takes some DH time.
Photo courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing, Imagn Images
Damn, KB…tough break after tough break.
Maybe “poor” on the surface as health is often tied to happiness but –
1. Bryant has access to some of the best healthcare available with his job, something 99,% of people who comment on this site can’t afford
2. Regardless if he plays, he’s still getting his $182M.
A degenerative condition, especially considering it’s his back, is awful but as long as he’s wise with his money, he’ll have that going for him.
And his boys are set for life too.
Several generations should be set for life if he’s not an idiot with his money. Lol
Ok….Kris
!n the words of Pfc Gomer Pyle “Surprise Surprise Surprise.”
One of the great what could have beens if not for injuries.
“Could have beens”…Clearly, you meant to say “has beens” and I fixed it for you. You’re welcome.
Thank you for making his comment make no sense.
His first two years with the Cubs were magical. He had the world by the tail and it looked as though he was on the HOF trajectory.
Tim Lincecum
Bryant is only one of 9 players in the integration with an OPS over .900 in their first 3 MLB seasons and had at least 1500 plate appearances. He sat at .915 at the end of 2017. Of those 9, 2 are in the HOF, with Albert Pujols likely the 3rd.
Even while healthy he was a bit over-rated
Bryant’s first 3 years in the league he was 2cnd in fWAR in all of MLB – only Trout was better those 3 years.. He won a ring, ROY & MVP.
KB was pretty good.
I sure hope KB is alright, back issues are the worst.
Atp, I just hope Bryant is still able to do physical activity when he’s 40 without sharp pains.
hope Bryant is still able to do physical activity when he’s 40
==========================
He should think about retiring. I’m guessing the torque on his back is not helping.
Worst signing in sports history. They should release him and eat the money, he ain’t gonna retire. A minor leaguer could do no worse.
Would appear this is an indication he’s ready to walk away and an insurance claim is in the future.
Anthony Rendon would like a word
Rendon earned less and has better stats the last 4 years
On top of that, what lessons are these young players learning? Eat the money, get his carcass out of there.
Didn’t see this coming.
What a surprise
Here, I’ll save everyone time and energy and will post what will likely be the two most common comments on this news:
“In other news, water is wet.”
“No, water isn’t actually wet. It makes things wet.”
Moistness often comes to mind, as well.
And moisture is the essence of wetness…
And let’s not forget humidity, which is essentially air that you wear.
I like to think of humidity as the moisture of air.
Would humidity not be water in a gaseous state?
Water makes other water wet.
I bought a can of dehydrated water. Just add water.
Damp
Moist
We love science here at mlbtr.
A bear that exclusively lives in the woods poops in the selfsame woods.
Mother Bleeper!
Water is also wet…
Ice at Mile High.
So are the purple seats at Coors Field. A mile high from sea level.
I wonder if the Rockies had insurance on that contract. Degenerative discs are a chronic, progressive condition. It’s not something that can really be cured, and it won’t magically go away. It just gets worse with time and age. It’s a shame, but I suspect his career is closer to the finish line than anyone would have expected when he first burst onto the scene.
They should have questioned more why did the Giants not resign him.
Giant fan here. Was decent for Giants that 1/2 year but glad they didn’t sign him for big bucks. Liked him as a player.
The Giants didn’t re-sign him because some idiot gave him 7 years, $172 million.
Oh, it’s not “close to finish line,” I’d say it’s over. The Rox are on the phone with the insurance company as we speak, to try and get some of the money back they still owe him.
Degenerative discs are chronic but not necessarily continually progressive. I’m a LONG time sufferer and it ended my own career. You kind of hit an end point with it. If it’ll just stabilize before needing fused…it’s an amazing blessing! But so so wonky. Fine…then sneeze and your back is out. Barometric pressure? Bound up.
Colorado might not be the best place for him. Someplace stable. Arizona, etc.
Same boat here, neck is fused already.
All it takes is one good sneeze and I can be out for a week or two.
Unfortunate for Kris, but I have to go to work 6 days a week and deal with it, he gets paid either way, I don’t.
I think we’ve all accepted the fact that this isn’t gonna get any better.
“Isn’t gonna get any better”….Lack of desire is a degenerative condition and rarely “gets better”.
Nailed it! This guy has to be malingering. He’s not alone. There are probably a dozen once prominent players who have very suspect mystery ailments that require lengthy stints on the injured list. But Bryant, Rendon, Stanton, Buxton, and Yelich are the ones that stand out to me as no way in hell anyone is that injury prone.
Thanks, Doc. Glad somebody has seen the x-rays to be able to call these guys out!!11
you should change your name to low IQ Joe cause that is asinine
Are your feelings hurt for calling out your boy? What are you; his mom? Oh, and the word you’re searching for is ‘because’, because deliberately shortcutting a word like some twenty-something who couldn’t find an emoji for it, is asinine.
No freaking way. Stunning.
Bryant had a great run this season, as he is ALMOST made it until April 15th before going on the IL.
He and Rendon are two of the worst contracts of all time.
A shame that the Rockies ate money to dump Arenado and then signed Bryant to to try to appease the fanbase.
They didn’t sign Bryant to appease the fan base. Monfort signed Bryant because he fell in love with him during the draft and the Cubs surprisingly selected him #2 when most expected them to go pitching with Jon Gray. The Rockies were widely expected to get Bryant at #3 and the owner just never got over that.
That’s even more crazy
I am not condoning it, just reporting it.
Strausburg would like a word.
Sounds pretty serious. Hope he gets well soon.
Dang Rockies are going to miss Bryant’s .154 bat and his combination dearth of power, speed and fielding.
how are they going to replace this?!
Although $27m each year up to 2028, says he is playing the field nicely towards retirement.
“Are going to miss Bryant’s .154”..And the energy, hustle and “desire” that Bryant brings is totally irreplaceable. Anthony Rendon could learn a thing or two from this guy.
100% agreed. Bryant has struggled, but when he is in the lineup you can see the effort. Te problem is that KB’s hitting style doesn’t really work well in Coors. As great a hitter’s paradise Coors is thought to be, it is not for everyone. The balls that KB was hitting into the basket at Wrigley are warning track outs in Coors. He is not a 450 HR masher, never has been. He is a 375 foot guy that has come down a bit as he aged. Now he has got a lot of warning track outs.
Ironically his numbers started to decline after getting hit in the head by his now teammate German Marquez. Unfortunately I was there at Coors when it happened. I was in standing room only in upper deck and I heard it from where I was.
He has a 501ft homerun at Wrigley Field. He hit himself on the jumbotron
Yeah I probably misspoke there. Instead of “never has been” I should have said “hasn’t been for a while.” 2015-2018 Bryant was definitely one of the best.
If he doesn’t hit them as far, he doesn’t hit them as far. Hard to chalk that up to being a Coors thing in the negative.
Geeez that’s an old man disease. Reminds me of when Todd Gurley had arthritis at 26
Top 10 worst contracts of all time. What else can you say.
MLB version of Gabriel Landeskog
Bryant, Baez, Rizzo.. Cubs fans wanted them back so bad, Rizzo is the only one that had even mild success after Chicago. Overall, they have all been horrific in their post-Cubs era. Thankfully they all thought the grass was greener and could get better deals elsewhere, and Bryant and Baez did, but now those teams are dealing with the trainwrecks that they became.
Schwarber was the biggest mistake. Letting him go for nothing due to financial constraints from Covid should have been a big enough mistake to wipe the entire front office out.
But they were smart enough to let Bryant, Baez, and even Rizzo go. So…
They made offers to all 3 of them, just not for the $ amount they wanted.. so I’m not sure it was smart as much as fortunate they were greedy… but yes, good on the Cubs for not rising to their ask.
Amazingly, Baez is off to a decent start. Been hitting 300 and playing everywhere (CF and 3B mostly). Albeit, he’s still not near what he was with the Cubs though.
I see an insurance claim on the contract in the near future
This is quickly moving towards a Strasburg situation. He can’t play baseball anymore to any serious degree.
Damn, well now they have the full extent of the diagnosis now of what’s bothered him for a long time. I don’t that goes away either. Hopefully he can manage it better with that knowledge, but who knows.
They’ve had this diagnosis for at least a year. The fact that they named it in this announcement suggests he and the team know his career is over.
My wife has a similar disease; hers is in the cervical vertebrae. Forget playing baseball; the goal is to be able to move and to move without excruciating pain. My wife can no longer tip her head backwards and she has limited movement of her neck to the left. There are things bigger than baseball; health is one of them.
Best of luck, KB.
Sounds like a fusion is in the future.
Worst contract in mlb History?
Na. Bryant hasn’t been great, but he hasn’t been Chris Davis level bad.
The Chris Davis contract was one of the worst contracts in sports history. In fact, the Orioles still have to pay him until 2037!
Nothing beats Chris Davis still. It’s always better to gave someone never playing because of injuries to someone who is healthy playing well below replacement level.
Strasburg and Rendon are hands down the 2 worst contracts in MLB history. Davis maybe 3rd or 4th.
Baez is right up there too.
At least the Nats had Strasburg for his great years, and so there’s a balance to that deal.
LA of Anaheim and Colorado can’t say that about Rendon and Bryant.
The Nats got one good year out of Strasburg. The Angles have gotten 3.9 bWAR out of Rendon. During his big contract, Davis gave the Orioles -2.8 bWAR. I don’t know how Davis can’t be the worst of all time.
Rendon makes nearly 40mil per year, that’s why he’s worse than Chris Davis. Throwing away 40mil per year, year after year.
Chris Davis was beyond awful, don’t get me wrong.
The Yankees spent $46M on a guy named Kei Igawa that only appeared in 16 games for them. $20M contract plus the $26M posting fee. He did however set numerous Yankees AAA records: salary, career starts, IP, losses.
I hope KB doesn’t end up retiring early. He’s a cool dude and was great with the Cubs, but now it seems like he gets injured every season, and his numbers drop each time.
Even though the Bryant deal has not worked out, I am happy that the Rockies took the chance. They could have easily just punted the payroll after the Arenado trade and coasted on a Pirates or Rays payroll, but they went out and spent money on extending starters and signing a former MVP. I’d rather watch a team try and fail than not try at all for three years and receive pity draft picks.
Hate it for him. Hate it for the Rockies too. This contract has been and will continue to be awful
There should be a point, especially when a player’s multiple IL stints add up to more than a certain percentage of a total, long-term contract, when the organization can release him.
They can release him already if they want to. They just have to keep paying him.
Both parties should agree on a buy-out. It’s insane to keep showing up just to earn more money.
“There should be a point”..I couldn’t agree more. Not surprisingly, he managed to play over 140+ games in his crucial walk year.
After getting his huge bag of guaranteed money, I don’t think he’s played even 50 games in a year since. Kris Bryant is literally stealing money.
They probably just want to be sure that he officially retires. The only thing worse than eating the rest of his contract would be to eat the contract and then see him have some kind of resurgence elsewhere. Probably best for all parties if he just retires. Perhaps he can do some coaching of younger Rockies players/prospects.
I wonder if bringing up a catcher means they intend to use Hunter Goodman as the primary DH now.
Hopefully it is more a sign that they will be moving on from Stallings instead. He has regressed a LOT this year so far. He just doesn’t look anything like he did last year.
I believe that’s what I have. Two of my lumbar vertabrae have no cartilage so they’re rubbing against each other. Extremely painful at times. I also smoke a lot of Mary Jane so that helps. Maybe KB should get some and it might help. The problem is I think it’s straight edge so he won’t do that.
Bryant was off the IL? That is unusual, isn’t it?
That’s what I said too…
He’s becoming the next Stephen Strasbourg with this back issue that isn’t going to go away.
I don’t think he will finish out his contract.
It’s a shame that Scott Boras doesn’t
have his clients medicals to release to teams.
That’s why teams had to find out about
Carlos Correa’s medical records on their own.
Yet another boras client on the IL. No surprise there. When they goons stop promoting his clients?. Disappointing to fans and future aaa prospects a healthy player on a bad team could have been traded for.
No way!!!
Such a disappointing career. Really sad actually. Started on such a high note with the Cubs. Then this guy really hit the side of the mountain. Yeh, he’s making big money with that contract but I still feel bad for the guy. It’s almost like he’s cursed.
Who is more washed up and unmotivated, Kris Bryant or Javier Baez?
Bryant’s very motivated. He’s been trying to play through back pain for two seasons now.
Rockies GM, Bill Schmidt, told the media during KB’s press conference after he was signed, that the reason why they decided to pursue him and give him a big contract was the they missed out on Bryant in the draft 8 years ago. That was the most idiotic and incompetent thing I’ve ever heard a baseball exec say.
Rockies just got shut out by the Padres for 3 straight games; I don’t know why more of their fans don’t revolt and stop supporting this pathetic excuse of a team.
I’m just glad the Astros didn’t go with Bryant over Mark Appel. Talk about a 1st overall bust holy sheet. Or even worse the Cubs going with Appel instead of KB. I agree 1⁰0% that’s so dumb to say that.
I go to Rockies games at least once a year. I love go to going to Coors. Of course I’m not supporting the Rockies though. Crazy fact. They raise the prices a $1 at Coors only when the Cubs visit. I was told this by a beer vendor that has been there since they had games at Mile High Stadium (not sure what company has the rights to the broncos stadium now. It’s changed so many times. I remember when Sports Authority had the naming rights for like 2 years then they went bankrupt.
Crazy thing is KB and Appel are both 33. With the latter being completely out of baseball
I bet on Astros taking Gray over Appel, who went to the Rockies at #3. They held a viewing party at MMP and gave prizes to fans who made the correct prediction.
An then they take Aiken the next year (who became Bregman after he didn’t sign), oof.
Hflew mentioned the same thing above. If that’s the reason why they signed him, it’s insane.
He still hasn’t gotten over being destroyed by Maddux when he was a sound man. Hahaha
The Rockies could have set all that money on fire and it would have been more useful to their franchise by providing warmth in the cold Denver winter.
Denver isn’t particularly cold.
KB has been a (well-paid) professional during his time in Colorado, but his body is on a degenerative path.
Hoping he gets better just doesn’t cut it anymore. Bryant should be cut from the 40 man team, and given an option to continue as a Rockies staff member while still cashing in the remainder of his player salary through 2028 season.
The IL is a similar result, but degenerative says it all. Thanks KB for the excitement full bore with the Cubs and Giants!
Kris Bryant on the DL? I’m shocked because he’s been so durable for the Rockies.
The trade that sent him there was a bust (Alexander Canario is 2-19 in Pittsburgh and Caleb Kilian just got released. 28 earned runs in 27.1).
Trade that sent him there?
The Rockies got Bryant as a free agent.
If you mean that the Cubs got nothing valuable from the Giants when they traded him there I’d agree, but that has nothing to do with his current contract with the Rockies.
I think he forgot that trade was with the Giants before Bryant signed with the Rox.
All of the Bryant rizzo Baez trades away from the cubs to giants Yankees and Mets were a bust. Hoyer also sent cash to pay remaining salary. Armstrong hasn’t even lived up to expectations
Yeah, let’s call someone a bust based off of 19 at bats.
Bryant, injuries or no injuries, was the epitome of a flash in the pan. He probably should’ve hung it up two years ago. As they said in Moneyball, “if he can hit, why can’t he hit?”
Flash in the pan? The guy was arguably the best overall player in the NL for his first five seasons. And possibly the second best player in the entire league behind Mike Trout for that time. He hasn’t been good since he turned 30 like a lot of players in history, but don’t sell his 20s short. The was a HOF talent that just fell off too quickly.
I get that long term deals rarely work out but his and Rendon’s have been bad from the jump, aside from Rendon’s half season in 2020. You can talk about hindsight but these were two very good young hitters without much injury history or reasons to believe they’d regress as badly as they did.
I mean Rendon and Bryant did kinda have a fair amount of injuries pre contract.
Death, taxes, and Kris to the IL.
In other news, the sky is blue and grass is green
The mother has one of the only rings ever issued to a Chicago Cub. That’s just end of story. That’s a career. Dude made 95 year old people who had NEVER seen the Cubs win cry in happiness. All you got to do. Chronic back issues are real.
At least he sucks for a team that is consistently irrelevant.
That’s an even more expensive DH than Ohtani is.
Guess he won’t be coming ‘back’ anytime soon. This goes down as one of the worst contracts of all time. Right up there with Rendon.
Surprise surprise surprise- G. Pyle USMC
Now KB can now golf and fish alongside Anthony Rendon. Rendon is really happy to have a friend to hang with. They can both laugh together while they drive their wheelchairs to to the bank and compare investment portfolios.
Rocky Mountain spring water is not wet. It’s a Rocky Mountain liquid that makes things it touches wet.
Chicago still loves ya KB. Forever a champ, forever a Cubs legend. Always welcome back home.
There have been a lot of hefty FA contracts handed out over the years but the one the Rox gave Bryant has to be in the Top 5 for worst of all time. But I can’t remember the last time the Rox did something right.
They along with the Angels have to be the two worst run franchises in MLB.
Doesn’t seem all that long ago when Bryant and Rizzo were the toast of Chicago. Both can probably still get comped at any restaurant on Rush St.
Sounds like they need to put him in the humidor with the balls. His body doesn’t like the elevation.
Que all of those Cubs “core” bros. Who thought we should sign him, Baez, and Contreras to $200+ million each. Jesus they still wet their pants when there is a Baez highlight. Although that’s been years now. Jets a horrible GM, but not making those moves were 👍