Was it a “wrong meeting” after all? Chances of failure have increased again this year.
The Colorado Rockies placed Chris Bryant on the IL on April 18 (Korea Standard Time). Back problems were the cause. Bryant played in right field in the game against the Toronto Blue Jays on April 14 and caught Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s ball after colliding with the fence. He did not play since then.
Bryant was injured in 13 games this season. His performance in 13 games was .149/.273/.255 with one homer and six RBIs. Naturally, the figure is far from satisfactory. At this juncture, no one knows when Bryant will return to the big league roster.
Bryant signed a seven-year, $182 million FA contract with Colorado prior to the last 2022 season. This is his third year on the deal. But it has never been satisfactory.
In the first year of his contract, he recorded a batting average of 0.306 with an OPS of 0.851, but due to injury, he played in only 42 games and played in 80 games last year, but only posted 10 home runs and 31 RBIs in 0.233/.313/.367 last year. He was also injured after playing 13 sluggish games this season.
Despite the disappointment, Colorado’s investment had its reasons. Ututa Bryant, born in 1992, was a star representing the league. Bryant, who spent his school years in Las Vegas with Bryce Harper, was drafted by the Chicago Cubs with the second overall pick in the first round of the 2013 rookie draft. Mark Appel, a failed prospect, was the only player who was drafted ahead of Bryant in the draft at the time.
Bryant, a former college rookie, quickly graduated from the minor leagues after two years and made his big league debut in 2015. He won the NL Rookie of the Year award in 151 games in his debut season with .275/.369/.488 with 26 home runs, 99 RBIs and 13 steals. And in 2016, his second season, he recorded .292/.385/.554 39 home runs, 102 RBIs and eight steals in 155 games, taking the lead in lifting the curse of the GOAT and reaching the top of the World Series in 108 years.
Bryant won the National League MVP that year, when he led the Cubs to the top. Winning the Rookie of the Year Award The next season’s MVP was won. There were three players before Bryant (Kal Ripken Jr., Dustin Pedroia, and Ryan Howard), but Bryant was the first player to win the Rookie of the Year award in his debut season and the MVP in his second year. Bryant began his career by looking amazing and became the “icon” of the Major League.
The MVP was his last in his second year and he had some ups and downs, but Bryant was a valuable player. He had .284/.385/.516 138 homers and 403 RBIs and 34 steals in 706 games in his first five seasons on debut and was significantly sluggish in the shortening season in 2020, but he had .265/.353/.481 25 homers, 73 RBIs and 10 steals in 144 games for the Cubs and San Francisco Giants in the 2021 season. His first seven seasons on debut were .278/.376/.504 167 homers and 487 RBIs in 884 games. Bryant’s first seven-season fWAR was 31.0, tied for ninth in the major league fielders in that period.
Colorado made a big investment in Bryant, who became a free agent after the 2021 season ended. Although his performance in the 2021 season was slightly lower than before the shortened season, Bryant was still an outstanding offensive player. And most of all, if Bryant, a batter who knows how to float the ball, meets Coors Field, the synergy effect would be great.
However, expectations collapsed in the first season. Bryant started playing in 42 games after suffering back and foot injuries in his first year with Colorado, and spent only half of his season in 2023 with heel and finger injuries. He was injured again this year, and has been suffering from injuries for three consecutive years since joining Colorado. Bryant recorded just 16 homers and 51 RBIs in 135 games with .249/.329/.391.
Although he became a member of the Rockies, his grades declined, and he lost his health. And he is 32 years old, and soon he is in his mid-30s. Expectations are getting lower and lower. Even though he has not even halfway through his contract, it is not unreasonable to call him a “malicious contract.”
It was not uncommon for Colorado stars such as Troy Tulowitzki and Trevor Story (currently BOS) to be sluggish after transferring, but Bryant lost his skills and his batting performance dropped sharply after entering Coors Field.
Colorado sent its former star Nolan Arenado to the St. Louis Cardinals before the 2021 season. And a year after Arenado’s departure, Bryant was welcomed as a new star to quell fans’ resentment. Bryant, however, 노래방알바 has not met expectations at all. Even after leaving the team, Arenado is still performing well after the “mountain,” making Bryant even smaller.
Bryant was a star player representing the Major League before Shohei Ohtani passed away. After Derek Jeter retired, he needed a superstar who could be called the “icon” of the league, but Bryant appeared like a comet in the Major League. With his outstanding skills, good looks and close relationship with Harper, Bryant emerged as a symbol of the league where he had overwhelming skills but lacked “star quality” for Mike Trout, who was too “model student.” However, his heyday was short and now he is a player who can hardly see his face on the ground.
Bryant’s contract with Colorado still has five years left, including this season. Attention is focusing on whether Bryant, who has lost his health and skills, will be able to announce his presence again.