TBNL: Kris Bryant, steals, injuries, and bobbleheads

Kris Bryant signing a seven-year, $182M contract with the Colorado Rockies in March 2022 was a big deal for a multitude of reasons.

The signing created optimism in Denver. Bryant was a superstar who had actually chosen to come to Colorado. Rockies ownership has finally opened the wallet to bring a big piece in to add to the roster.

Little has gone right for Bryant since, however.

Foot and back injuries limited him to 42 games in 2022.

Glute, heel, and finger injuries limited him to 80 games in 2023.

Recurring back issues and a rib injury limited him to 37 games last year.

Bryant got into just 11 games this year (10 starts at DH and one pinch hit appearance) before landing on the injured list for the ninth time since joining the organization. The team announced that Bryant was suffering from a degenerative lumbar disc disease.

Rockies manager Bud Black expects Bryant to return when he’s eligible later this week. Still, it remains to be seen just how long Bryant will be able to play before other options (including a potential surgical procedure) are considered. Bryant spoke with members of the Rockies beat before Sunday’s game, including Renee Dechert at Purple Row, and expressed his frustration over the situation, but reiterated he isn’t ready to give up:

Bryant has struggled to a .244/.324/.370 (84 OPS+) line with just 17 home runs over 712 plate appearances as a Rockie, a far cry from his career with the Cubs and Giants. The chronic back injuries will likely limit how much he’s able to play over the remaining three years (incl. this season) on his contract, not to mention that he’ll likely be limited mostly to DH duties when he is healthy enough to play.

Brewers running wild

The Brewers ran wild on A’s left-hander Jeffrey Springs and catcher Shea Langeliers on Sunday.

Brice Turang led off with a single and then stole second base after a Jackson Chourio strikeout. Christian Yelich walked. Turang and Yelich successfully pulled off a double steal, but a throwing error pushed each up another 90 feet. William Contreras walked. Rhys Hoskins singled to score Yelich. Contreras and Hoskins then pulled off a double steal. A balk moved them up another base. Sal Frelick walked and stole second.

Milwaukee had stolen a franchise-record six bases in the first inning.

Turang stole second again in the second inning. Frelick again in the third. Caleb Durbin then picked up the first stolen base of his career in the fourth. Durbin, of course, set the Arizona Fall League career stolen base mark last fall before the Yankees traded him to Milwaukee (with Nestor Cortes for Devin Williams).

The Brewers finished the game with nine steals, a new franchise high.

Tigers are winning despite outfield woes

Injuries in the outfield continue to test the Detroit Tigers.

Kerry Carpenter is the latest to get hurt, leaving Sunday’s game with a strained hamstring. Nothing official has been announced yet, but he’s likely heading to the injured list.

Parker Meadows is already out until late May with a nerve issue in his upper arm. Matt Vierling (rotator cuff strain), Wenceel Pérez (lumbar inflammation), and Manuel Margot (left patellar tendon strain) are all also sidelined.

Detroit has relied on converted infielders Ryan Kriedler and Zach McKinstry (they’ve even used Javier Báez out there on three occasions) to cover the outfield.

Detroit’s only healthy outfielder has been mired in a historic slump to start the year. Riley Greene is hitting just .238/.274/.400 through 84 PA with 30 strikeouts in 20 games.

Amazingly, the Tigers are sitting atop the AL Central in the early going despite the outfield troubles.

Elsewhere, around the sport …

• Fun with round numbers. Nationals reliever Kyle Finnegan appeared in his 300th career game on Sunday, pitched the 300th inning of his career, and collected his 300th strikeout. Finnegan has posted a 3.52 ERA (117 ERA+) while saving 96 games (7th on the Nats/Expos all-time list).

• Liam Hendriks returned to a big league mound for the first time in 681 days on Sunday, allowing a pair of runs on three hits in an inning of work, after beating non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and then undergoing Tommy John surgery. Hendriks became the first Australian-born player in Red Sox history in doing so.

• Nashville was home to a mini Home Run Derby on Sunday. The Nashville Sounds (the Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate) and Charlotte Knights (White Sox) combined for 13 home runs, two shy of the most in MiLB since at least 2005. The mark would tie the MLB record, set in 2019. Six different Knights players homered. Five of the Sounds players connected, with Jorge Alfaro and Andruw Monasterio each hitting a pair.

• Shohei Ohtani and his wife, Mamiko Tanaka (a former pro basketball player in Japan), announced the birth of a baby girl on Saturday. That kid has one serious athletic pedigree. Congrats to the Ohtani family.

• Rockies outfielder Brenton Doyle, meanwhile, posted to social media Sunday that his wife had suffered a miscarriage at 12 weeks. Condolences to the Doyle family.

• Demand for Paul Skenes’s first bobblehead giveaway in Pittsburgh was so incredible that lines outside the ballpark extended across the Roberto Clemente Bridge and into downtown Pittsburgh, according to reports on social media. The team had planned to hand out the incredible baseball card bobblehead to the first 20,000 fans to enter PNC Park, but quickly shifted gears and issued vouchers to all fans in attendance to receive a bobblehead.

• Padres infielder Luis Arraez and Astros infielder Mauricio Dubon were involved in a nasty collision on a play at first base that left Arraez down on the field for a few minutes. Arraez’s head and neck were stabilized before he was carted off the field and taken to a local hospital. He was conscious and gave a thumbs-up to the crowd. Initial reports suggest he could have a neck or jaw injury, but it’s unclear if he’ll miss any time.

• Last year’s White Sox team lost a MLB-record 121 games. This year, the Sox have started on pace to lose 129 games. The Rockies are on pace to drop 136. It’s a shocking display of futility.

• Marlins outfielder Griffin Conine will miss an extended period after dislocating his left shoulder sliding into second base during Saturday’s game against the Phillies.

• Some World Baseball Classic news came out last week. Aaron Judge has agreed to play for Team USA for the first time and was named captain of the squad. Francisco Lindor, meanwhile, was named captain of the Puerto Rico team.

• A pair of former MLB pitchers were released by the CTBC Brothers of Taiwan’s CPBL on the eve of the season starting. Kirk McCarty, who appeared in 13 games for the 2022 Guardians, was cut after a rough spring training. Daniel Mengden, who made 65 appearances for the A’s and Royals between 2016-22, was cut after failing a drug test (likely for marijuana, which is illegal in Taiwan).

• In Korea’s KBO, the LG Twins are off to a hot start, leading the league with an early 18-5 record (five games ahead of the Hanwha Eagles). Among the former MLB player highlights: Former Twins, Phillies, and Rockies outfielder Jake Cave is batting .351/.391/.509 for the Doosan Bears. Former Yankees and Guardians outfielder Estevan Florial is hitting .280/.342/.440 for the Eagles. Former Rays, Marlins, and Braves right-hander Yonny Chirinos is 4-0 with a 1.69 ERA through 32 IP for the Twins. Former Pirates right-hander Cody Ponce (who pitched a no-hitter in the NPB in 2022) is 4-0 with a 2.97 ERA over 39 IP for the Eagles in his first year in Korea.

Lastly, this impressive stat caught my attention over the weekend following Chandler Simpson getting called up by the Rays.

Simpson is considered by many to be the fastest player in the game. He stole 59 bases in his collegiate career over three seasons (plus another 75 during summer league play) and then swiped 214 bags over three-plus seasons in the minor leagues (including 104 last season between High-A and Double-A).