PHOENIX — The waiting game continues for Rockies’ left fielder Kris Bryant, who will miss the rest of the club’s road trip.
Rockies manager Bud Black said Saturday that Bryant will remain in Arizona for treatment and rehabilitation on his injured back after the team completes their weekend series against the Diamondbacks. While the club goes to San Francisco for a three-game series beginning Monday, Bryant will remain on the injured list and work out at the club’s Salt Rivers Fields complex in Scottsdale.
Bryant played catch again with head trainer Keith Dugger on Saturday but he is not swinging a bat yet. Bryant, who signed a seven-year, $182 million deal to come to Colorado, has not played since April 25 at Philadelphia.
Black, who originally said he hoped that Bryant would be ready to play in the current series vs. Arizona, said Saturday that Bryant is “making steady progress.” Tests on Bryant’s back have shown no structural issues.
Bryant said last week that going on the IL was the best thing for himself and the team.
“It’s not doing any good to go out there and feel like you are going to hurt the team,” Bryant said. “If there is a ball in gap or something, and I’m hesitant to even go out there and pick it up or something — that’s not a good spot.”
Bryant also said he didn’t want to put a timetable on his return.
“I guess, in the past, I’ve been in situations where you say you are coming off on this day, and then it doesn’t happen and it creates more of a story than you want it to be,” he said.
Bryant got off to a hot start, at least in terms of average, but he fell into a slump when he first tweaked his back during a game at Detroit on April 22. He’s hitting .281 (16-for-57) with a .689 OPS. He has yet to hit a home run for the Rockies.
RISP road woes. In their 4-1 loss to the Diamondbacks Friday night, the Rockies were 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. That lack of clutch hits on the road has hurt the Rockies this season, just as it did last season.
The Rockies entered Saturday night’s game hitting .207 with runners in scoring position on the road vs. .284 at Coors Field. Last year, when they finished with a 26-54 record on the road, the Rockies’ RISP average was .203 vs. .289 at home.
The Rockies had lost five consecutive games on the road entering Saturday night’s game.
“We have been aggressive, which at times can be really advantageous,” Black said. “You are on the attack as an offense, and you find, a lot of times, good pitchers throw first-pitch strikes. So be ready to hit.
“But at times that can work against you, like last night. (Merrill Kelly) was throwing strikes and we were swinging and making outs. Therefore, he was able to pitch into the ninth inning with less than 90 pitches.”
The solution, Black said, “is to temper that aggressiveness with truly making sure you are swinging at good pitches to hit.”
