When Joe Maddon went on 670 The Score this afternoon and explained that Kris Bryant would sit out of tonight’s game because his sore shoulder – which landed him on the DL once already this season – was acting up again, I wasn’t too concerned. But perhaps I should’ve been.
While Maddon’s breezy tone relieved the stresses I should’ve been feeling at the time, truth remained that Bryant just had an extended rest at the All-Star break, and, of course, was just on the disabled list, where more resting and healing was supposed to take place. But I told myself that it was only one game and it was a night game before a day game during a stretch with a TON of baseball being played. With a roster as versatile and loaded as the Cubs and a player as important to the future of the franchise as Bryant, why not be cautious for a single game, right?
Well, that might still be the case, but it sure seems less likely as reports have begun to trickle out that Bryant really is feeling it and might sit out tomorrow, too:
Maddon said Bryant feeling soreness in his shoulder again. Out of the starting lineup tonight and could get tomorrow as well.
— Kelly Crull (@Kelly_Crull) July 24, 2018
Maddon said Darvish threw 16 pitches in the bullpen. As scheduled. Went well. Will update what’s next tomorrow. Bryant has shoulder soreness again. Could be a day or two. He doesn’t feel great, per Maddon.
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) July 24, 2018
I suppose we’ll have to see where this goes – who knows, maybe he’ll wake up feeling better – but the Cubs have a pretty terrible track record with injuries that seem, at first, like they’ll be just a day or two, before they turn into much bigger problems. So, we’ll see. For now, I’d expect Bryant to sit out tomorrow and otherwise, we’ll just have to wait and see how he feels.
The most frustrating part about it is this sort of injury can completely sap him of his regular power, even when he feels good enough to play. We’ll just have to hope he can work through it long enough until he can return to his usual, MVP-self.
Mini-update from Joe Maddon sure makes it seem like an “abundance of caution” thing, but still:
Joe Maddon says Kris Bryant's sore shoulder remains an ongoing issue that will probably keep him out of tomorrow's lineup, too: "I have to be proactive with that. I want to make sure that we're not pushing it too hard right now."
— Patrick Mooney (@PJ_Mooney) July 24, 2018
UPDATE: This sure doesn’t sound like the way you want to hear a shoulder issue framed:
#Cubs Maddon on Bryant: "Rest would be the best thing for him now but we're not necessarily ready to do that. For right now, it's trying to manage it and get him through the season."
— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) July 24, 2018
That makes it sound like they know Bryant isn’t going to be himself for the rest of the season until he gets a very long break (or surgery?). I guess we’ll have to get the full context.