An awful week for the Colorado Rockies has gotten even worse. The team placed Kris Bryant on the injured list with lumbar degenerative disk disease before yesterday’s 5-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. There is no known timetable for his return.
The news comes after the Rockies were shut out for three consecutive games by the San Diego Padres. The club is wallowing in last place with a an MLB-worst 3-13 record, and the franchise’s leadership and overall direction are questionable at best. On top of that, they will be without their highest-paid player indefinitely.
Bryant is in the fourth season of a disastrous seven-year, $182 million contract. Since signing, he has been plagued by back problems, limiting him to only 170 games and robbing him of his power and ability to play any defensive position. In that time, he has hit .244/.324/.370 with 17 home runs and an 84 OPS+, indicating his total offense has been 16% below the league average.
Prior to signing with the Rockies, he was a star for the Chicago Cubs from 2015-2021 and the San Francisco Giants for the last two months of the 2021 season, mostly serving as a third baseman. In those first seven years of his career, he hit .278/.376/.504 with 167 home runs and a 132 OPS+. He won the Rookie of the Year Award in 2015 and the MVP in 2016.
The word “degenerative” in an injury diagnosis is always terrifying for a professional athlete. According to the Cleveland Clinic, lumbar degenerative disk disease is, “a condition that occurs when your spinal disks wear down.” For most people, this is a common effect of aging, but how it affects Bryant’s ability to play baseball at the highest level remains unknown.
Bryant played both corner outfield spots as well as first base in his first three campaigns in Colorado. This year, they were resigned to him serving as a full-time designated hitter in the hopes that would lessen the strain on his back and help his power return. Through 11 games this season, he’s batting .154/.195/.205 with no home runs.
Bryant is earning $27 million this season, but his salary counts for $26 million against the luxury tax, which is 17.6% of Colorado’s total payroll. Their second-highest salary is pitcher Kyle Freeland’s $16 million ($12.9 million against the luxury tax). The team has reduced payroll by nearly $50 million over the last two years, making Bryant’s loss an even bigger blow proportionately.
In his place, veteran utility infielder Kyle Farmer served as the designated hitter on Sunday and Monday, batting third in the lineup in both games. He’s off to a strong start with a .349 batting average, but over his nine-year career, he’s a .252/.312/.393 hitter with an 88 OPS+ and just 55 home runs.
Farmer has been their starting second baseman for most of this year, but the team recently recalled prospect Adael Amador who plays the same position. That most likely leaves Farmer as the DH for the time being, even though his career numbers show he’s nowhere near the kind of hitter a club needs at that position. They could also use catcher Hunter Goodman as a DH since they called up minor-league catcher Braxton Fulford to take Bryant’s roster spot.
At this point, it’s difficult for the Rockies to count on Bryant to become a productive hitter ever again—certainly not at the level they expected when they signed him. His injuries aren’t anyone’s fault, but they’re devastating for a franchise searching for answers.
Read the full article here
