Kris Bryant is off to the worst start of his career

Kris Bryant was being cheered loudly and given a long leash the last time he started a season 0-for-14. He was coming off a National League MVP season and led the Chicago Cubs to their first World Series title in over 100 years.

On Monday, he walked back into Wrigley Field to a standing ovation for his efforts nearly a decade ago all the while his career is languishing playing for the Colorado Rockies. Bryant is now in the third season of a seven-year $182 million deal where he’s only played in 126 ballgames and has fallen to a below-league-average player. All the while the former MVP’s previous position versatility has been diminished by the same injuries keeping him off the field and now Bryant is a 32-year-old first baseman with sub-par pop.

So of course a season of health and great hope for Bryant to finally get right in purple has begun with a tied-for-career worst 0-for-14 start with eight strikeouts over his 16 plate appearances. Bryant had such a tough series in Arizona to begin the season that Bud Black sat him from Sunday’s game but he was back in the lineup on Monday where he did reach base on an error and only struck out once—but still no hits.

Kris Bryant receives a standing ovation 👏 pic.twitter.com/kPoorVcqP2

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) April 1, 2024

Bryant’s performance comes just weeks after he basically said he regretted signing with the Rockies and wished he had known just how bad the team was when he inked. Bryant has since tried to walk back those comments a touch, all the while starting the 2024 campaign as the worst player on the team so far.

To be fair to Bryant, maybe changing his position full-time to first base is impacting his routine a bit. But when the bar is set as low as just 25 homers, and that’d be good, things are real rough for the Rockies regarding Bryant. Nine first baseman across MLB hit 25 or more homers last year, Bryant is the highest-paid player at his position.

Kris Bryant's rolling xwOBA over his last 100 PAs… cool, cool, cool! pic.twitter.com/iaSztqsOUz

— Jake Shapiro (@Shapalicious) April 1, 2024

 

 

The Rockies lost on Monday 5-0, thanks to two errors on the same play from Nolan Jones in leftfield, the position the Rockies shelled out all that money for Bryant to play—he was at first on Monday, a far change from back when he used to play third during the Cubs championship season.

The Rockies are off to a tied for worst start in franchise history at 1-4, with a club record -23 run differential through five games.