Kris Bryant had an unusually slow start to the 2020 season, when he was removed from the game last night without much information from the broadcast booth. And given the Reds’ recent brush with COVID-19, the late lineup announcement this afternoon, and their absence from the starting group for tonight, I admit I was a little scared. Fortunately, we should not fear the worst.
Not necessarily good news, but I tentatively expected much worse than this:
Ross: Bryant deals with what is believed to be a minor problem with his left elbow. He called it “bumps and bruises” and he just wants to be cautious. He says Bryant is not worried.
– Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) July 28, 2020
Ross: The training staff is also not overly concerned with Bryant’s elbow problem. No additional tests are considered necessary yet. I’m just trying behind the scenes.
– Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) July 28, 2020
Kris Bryant is dealing with old bumps and bruises in baseball, and the Cubs are just being cautious. You may be skeptical, and as I said, an elbow injury is not GOOD news, but without further testing scheduled, a little rest may be all you need.
Now with that said: No, the Cubs don’t necessarily deserve the benefit of the doubt, historically they’ve minimized too many injuries in the first few hours / days, but this season, with a guy like Bryant, while he’s battling, with quality bats. To replace it, I just have to imagine that they would be as proactive and cautious as possible. As for Bryant, he has obviously dealt with some shoulder injuries before, so you hate to see another health related speed boost, but if we trust the Cubs, again, this may quickly be a distant memory.
Let’s hope that and let’s focus on beating the Reds tonight. We will update this post if more information is available, but I doubt we will hear much more until the game (or tomorrow).
