He reiterated that he does not have plans to retire.
On Sunday morning, Kris Bryant spoke to media in the Colorado Rockies clubhouse about his health diagnosis with lumbar degenerative disc disease. The 33 year old has struggled with back issues since signing with the Colorado Rockies in 2022.
An emotional Bryant described his frustration in addition to his current health status, especially after coming off an unsuccessful 2024.
‘I got a couple shots, I think, on Tuesday, and really trying to let that do its job and see if it works,” he said as he attempts to get off the IL and back into the lineup.
“I’m just frustrated,” he said.
He added that he felt good during spring training.
“All through training, I felt great,” Bryant said. “But, of course, you’re playing, and then you’re sitting, then you’re playing. Then you get in the season, and intensity is a little bit more. I try to do more during the games to stay loose. And obviously, during spring training, I didn’t really have games like that where I had to continue to stay loose.”
He said, “It’s extremely frustrating because I feel like I’ve been consistent and put in so much work this off season and did everything I needed to do. And the body said, ‘No,’”
Bryant does not believe the cold weather has any effect, pointing out that he prefers cold weather to hotter temperatures.
On one point, however, Bryant was clear: He is not ready to retire.
“I want to be on the field. I want to play the game,” Bryant said, adding, “I want to talk to doctors, see if there’s anything else we can do. But I’m not going to give up.”
There have been discussions of surgery.
“The doctors aren’t there yet,” Bryant said. “They mentioned it, but there are other avenues you can go before you get there.”
He also recognizes that back surgery is not a minor undertaking.
“A back surgery is a pretty big surgery,” he said, noting that he wanted to see other options as well so that he would not be “in constant pain and nauseous.”
He said, “It’s extremely frustrating.”
Bryant understands that he’s not as young as he was, but he’s frustrated that despite the work he’s put in, he cannot get back onto the field.
“I’m not 23 anymore, so you don’t feel that you can just roll out of bed and be Superman,” he said, “but at the same time, I feel like I’ve done everything I can. I’ve worked extremely hard in the off season and continued it through spring training and in the season. And that’s just the frustrating part is like, just want something to kind of fall my way, but I’ll keep going.”
How Bryant feels varies from day to day.
“It sucks,” he said. “I think it’s the best way to put it. It really sucks.”
He’s also working with support staff to deal with the emotional effects of physical injury.
“I have a great, great support staff around me, people here, people that I just hired on my own, and that’s been really helpful for me,” Bryant said, “and I certainly recommend that, not just for people who are injured, but people in this game.”
This season, Bryant has appeared as a designated hitter in 11 games with 41 plate appearances. He has six hits, including two doubles, and a slashline of .154/.195/.205.
The timetable for his return is unknown.
Mac Wilcox wrote last week about Bryant’s status on the team. Read that article here.
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