Kris Bryant struggles as he deals with chronic back injury

DENVER (AP) - Kris Bryant reached the pinnacle of the baseball world in 2016 with the Chicago Cubs but it has been downhill since he signed with the Colorado Rockies in 2022.

Bryant helped the Cubs break a 108-year World Series drought and won the NL MVP in 2016 but he has struggled with injuries in his Colorado career.

On Monday a back injury landed him on the injured list for the ninth time since joining the Rockies, and he talked about his struggles Sunday.

"Just frustrated," he said in front of his locker before his teammates played the first game of a split doubleheader. "I don't have much more of an update in terms of how I'm feeling. Just mentally, I'm kind of not, not there."

He received two anti-inflammatory shots for his injury - officially classified as a lumbar degenerative disc disease - on Tuesday but said the doctors "aren't there yet" for surgery as the next step.

"Back surgery is a pretty big surgery, so obviously I'm not an expert on it. Maybe I should be by now with all the problems I've had," he said. "I want to see all my options, too, so that I'm not, like, in constant pain and nauseous, where I can't eat, which was the situation today."

Bryant said after going through his back exercise program on Saturday he "woke up not feeling great" Sunday morning.

He has played in just 11 games this season and is hitting .154 with no home runs and one RBI in 2025. Bryant, 33, has appeared in only 170 of a possible 506 games since signing a seven-year, $182-million contract with Colorado.

He is hitting .244 with 17 home runs in his three-plus seasons with the Rockies. He played in an average of 121 games in seven full major league seasons before joining Colorado.

"I'm not 23 anymore so you don't feel like you can just roll out of bed and be Superman," he said. "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.

"Just want something to kind of fall my way."