{"id":579041,"date":"2026-02-18T10:09:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T10:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/579041\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T10:09:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T10:09:17","slug":"kris-bryant-details-miserable-back-condition-as-questions-loom-about-mlb-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/579041\/","title":{"rendered":"Kris Bryant details \u2018miserable\u2019 back condition as questions loom about MLB future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kris Bryant\u2019s ongoing back issues are affecting far more than just his baseball availability.<\/p>\n

The Rockies\u2019 third baseman, on the 60-day injured list<\/a> with a degenerative back condition, described daily pain so severe that it can be \u201chard to grab the toothpaste in front of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cAny time my feet hit the ground, I feel like I could probably fall over,\u201d the 2016 National League MVP told reporters Tuesday at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, Ariz., according to The Denver Post<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate and obviously not how I want this to go. I\u2019m here to figure things out and find out if there is a way to get better.<\/p>\n

\"Kris<\/p>\n

Kris Bryant has dealt with a myriad of injuries since joining the Rockies. USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not easy waking up in pain every day, but now we are here. I\u2019m just trying to determine the next step with the training staff and doctors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bryant, 34, has hardly seen the field since signing a seven-year, $182 million contract<\/a> with Colorado ahead of the 2022 campaign.<\/p>\n

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The four-time All-Star has endured 10 separate injured list stints with the Rockies, limiting him to 170 out of a possible 648 games over four seasons.<\/p>\n

Bryant owns a disappointing .244\/.324\/.370 slash line with 17 home runs and 61 RBIs in the Mile High City.<\/p>\n

Last season, Bryant\u2019s lumbar degenerative disc disease<\/a> kept him to just 11 games; an injury that he now says feels like \u201cbeing electrocuted in my whole body.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI could never have expected this or seen this coming,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd now that I\u2019m dealing with it, I wouldn\u2019t wish this on my worst enemy. It\u2019s miserable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said the organization \u201csupports\u201d Bryant as he attempts to get healthy, but recognizes the reality that, at this stage, he \u201ccan\u2019t play baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe have to prepare like he\u2019s not going to play,\u201d Schaeffer said. \u201cThat\u2019s just the way we have to go about it, hoping that he has a recovery and a breakthrough. But was of now, his back really, really hurts. It\u2019s a real thing. He just can\u2019t play baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n

At one point, Bryant \u2014 who began his career with the Cubs \u2014 seemed to be on the fast track to a Hall of Fame career.<\/p>\n

\"Kris<\/p>\n

Kris Bryant heads to first base after drawing a walk with the bases loaded to force in a run during the Rockies\u2019 win over the Padres on July 14, 2022, in Denver. AP<\/p>\n

He won the Rookie of the Year award in 2015 before capturing NL MVP honors the following year while leading the Cubs to the franchise\u2019s first World Series in 108 years.<\/p>\n

Bryant remained a potent offensive player for the next five seasons, including a brief run with the Giants after a midseason trade in 2021.<\/p>\n

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While Bryant said he\u2019s weighing the long-term implications of living with a serious back injury, he has not allowed retirement to cross his mind \u2014 yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to dive deep into that. I don\u2019t want to misspeak,\u201d Bryant said. \u201cI haven\u2019t read the reports. My focus is just to find stuff that will help me wake up, hopefully, in a little less pain than the day before.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kris Bryant\u2019s ongoing back issues are affecting far more than just his baseball availability. The Rockies\u2019 third baseman,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":579042,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5,167,402,4,1605],"class_list":["post-579041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-baseball","tag-colorado","tag-kris-bryant","tag-mlb","tag-the-rockies"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116091091584443600","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}