Kris Bryant’s first season with the Rockies was a tough one for the star left fielder.
On Monday, ahead of the Colorado series opener in San Diego, Bryant was placed on the disabled list with plantar fasciitis in his left foot. Manager Bud Black told reporters in San Diego that Bryant also had a left foot bruise.
This is the third time this season that Bryant has been on the IL. The first two times it was because of lower back pain.
Black said that after consulting with team doctors and head coach Keith Dugger, the team decided the best course of action was to put Bryant on the IL.
“After I made it worse (on Sunday) it wasn’t going to resolve to the point where Kris could play next week, so we decided to do that and be pre-emptive now, and let him go to therapy and recover. get some treatment to alleviate some of the swelling that’s been happening the last few days that wasn’t there three or four days ago,” Black told MLB.com in San Diego.
Bryant, 30, has played just 42 of the Rockies’ 103 games after signing a seven-year, $142 million contract with Colorado — the biggest free agent deal in franchise history. He reduced .306/.376/.475 with five home runs (all on the road), 12 doubles and 14 RBIs.
Bryant left Sunday’s game against the Dodgers at Coors Field in the fifth inning. After Colorado’s 7-3 loss, Black said Bryant “aggravated” his left foot injury.
Bryant was treated and tried to play through the pain, but he was running cautiously after sliding into home plate while scoring on Randal Grichuk’s two-run single in the third inning. Bryant made a running catch in the fifth inning but struggled to catch the ball.
“We pulled him out of there and he was in pain,” Black said on Sunday. “It’s going to be awkward moving forward until this resolves itself.”
Black said Sunday the Rockies still hope to use Bryant as a designated hitter to hopefully take some of the stress off his foot, but on Monday the club decided Bryant needed a full break from baseball.
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