Disheartened Kris Bryant Not Considering Retirement Despite Persistent Back Pain

Kris Bryant was the best Cubs prospect since Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, and he more than made good on the hype before ultimately seeing his career similarly derailed by injuries. Bryant began his MLB career on a Hall of Fame trajectory, following his 2015 Rookie of the Year campaign by earning MVP honors as the Cubs won the World Series. His 2017 season was better than 2016 in many regards, giving him three consecutive years of 6.0 fWAR or greater.

Injuries slowed him in 2018, but he bounced back with 31 homers the following season before a disappointing 2020 performance. Unable to work out an extension with the Cubs — that rumor about turning down “well north” of $200 million wasn’t accurate — Bryant was traded to the Giants in 2021 and then signed a big deal with the Rockies that offseason. Now, about two months shy of his 34th birthday and with only 712 plate appearances over four years in Denver, Bryant’s career is at a crossroads.

Limited to DH duties over the first two weeks of the season, Bryant was shut down in mid-April due to complications from degenerative lumbar disc disease. Even shutting down baseball activities has not alleviated the persistent pain, and he’s turned to a number of different treatments in an effort to feel better.

“I wish I had better things to tell you,” Bryant told the Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders. “It’s not in the best shape, and that’s pretty disheartening for me. It’s exhausting for me waking up and hoping to feel (better). I can’t tell you the last time I woke up feeling I’m in a good spot.”

Anyone who’s dealt with chronic pain can tell you how it affects your mental well-being at least as much as your physical state. It doesn’t matter how much money you’re making or what accolades you’ve garnered, battles like this can lay anyone low.

“If you asked me two or three months ago, I would say [my back pain] was not affecting my everyday life. But now it is, which is really annoying to me because usually when you kind of just rest, it’s supposed to get better. So maybe I’m at a point where I should just do a bunch of stuff to see if that helps me.”

That “stuff” includes undergoing radiofrequency ablation back in May, a minimally invasive procedure in which heat is used to destroy small nerve fibers that transmit pain signals from the spine. He is also doing Pilates to strengthen his core without the stress of weightlifting or the intense rotational demands of baseball. Of course, not being able to play the game he loves makes things even worse.

And that’s why he’s still unwilling to consider retirement just yet.

“That’s the thing that eats at me the most.  It’s tough to describe,” Bryant shared. “I’ve played this game for 30 years now, not professionally, of course, but it’s all I have ever known…But watching the playoffs and seeing some of my friends still playing, that gives me the motivation to try and play. So I don’t have those conversations [about retirement], thank goodness, because I don’t want to. I just want to be a baseball player.”

There’s not much else to say about this situation other than it sucks for KB. I hope he’s able to get back on the field and contribute next season, but the most important thing is finding relief for his back pain because life will last a lot longer than baseball. Whenever he does decide to hang it up, ideally on his terms, I would love to see him make a triumphant return to Chicago similar to what we saw with Anthony Rizzo. That’s not really KB’s style, so maybe something a little more subdued than Rizzo’s celebration.

Between this news and Game 7 of the World Series upon us, I’ve been thinking a lot about 2016 and just how incredibly magical that whole season was. How was that almost 10 years ago? You wouldn’t have to try very hard to convince me it was less than five. Time is a cruel thief.