For the first time in his Major League Baseball career, Chicago Cubs star third baseman/outfielder Kris Bryant has hit the disabled list.
In a flurry of roster moves, Bryant was placed on the disabled list with left shoulder inflammation, per an official team announcement. Taking Bryant’s place on the active 25-man roster will be infielder David Bote, but that wasn’t it for the Cubs transaction wise today.
Right-handed relief pitcher Justin Hancock was also sent to the 10-day disabled list with the same injury as Bryant. The only difference is Hancock’s inflammation is in his right shoulder. Luke Farrell was summoned from Triple-A Iowa to replace Hancock on the roster, while Dillon Maples was brought up as well to take the roster spot of Duane Underwood, who made his Major League debut last night and lasted 4.0 innings.
Bryant’s disabled list stint will be retroactive to June 23rd, meaning that Bryant will spend at least a week on the disabled list before he is able to be activated. In Bryant’s absence, Ian Happ and Javier Baez will likely see most of the playing at third base, while Bote will also figure to get a one or two starts.
The 26-year-old Bryant had been absent from the Cubs’ lineup since Friday against the Cincinnati Reds when he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts batting lead-off in manager Joe Maddon‘s lineup. Bryant had previously indicated that he believes he started to experience the soreness in his shoulder as a result of additional work in the batting cages trying to get his swing back on track:
“I think it’s a result of swinging too much. … It’s been pretty sore for about five days,” Bryant said Sunday.
This season began promising for Bryant, as he was on-pace to put up some of the best numbers of his career outside of home runs and runs batted in, but the 2016 National League MVP has struggled immensely since the middle of May, having just one home run since May 14th. The month of June will end for Bryant with a .267/.333/.373 batting line and that one homer and nine runs batted in. Bryant’s .706 OPS this month is well-below his standard of play,
Collectively for the season, Bryant is batting .280/.383/.481 with nine home runs and 36 runs batted in on the season, which is good for a .864 OPS and a wRC+ of 132.
Photo: Tommy Gilligan/USA TODAY Sports
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