Kris Bryant Not Considering Retirement After Latest Back Injury, Diagnosis

When Kris Bryant burst onto the scene in 2015 and secured a Rookie of the Year, MVP and World Series championship within his first two years in the major leagues, it was expected that he would become one of baseball's next great superstars.

His career with the Chicago Cubs was cut short, though, when he was traded to the San Francisco Giants at the 2021 trade deadline. Bryant played the rest of that season with the Giants and then signed a seven-year deal worth $182 million with the Colorado Rockies.

To say Bryant's tenure with Colorado has been a disappointment would be a major understatement. He has appeared in just 170 of a possible 507 games since signing with the Rockies. Bryant has been on the injured list nine times since 2022 and to put that into perspective, he's hit just 17 home runs in his Rockies career. Injuries have ended Bryant's year in each of the last three seasons and that could be the case again this year.

Bryant was recently placed on the 10-day IL with a back injury that was later revealed as lumbar degenerative disc disease. There is no timetable for his return, meaning he could once again be forced to miss another season due to injuries.

When asked if retirement was something that was on the table, Bryant said that he was not considering it, and he would continue to try and make a return to the field.

"I want to be on the field. I want to play the game," Bryant told reporters Sunday at his Coors Field locker, per Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post. "I want to talk to doctors, see if there's anything else we can do. But I'm not going to give up."

Whether Bryant can make a return to the field is unclear, and it is extremely unfortunate to see a player that was primed for multiple MVPs and All-Star game appearances be limited in what he can do on the field.

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