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Kris Bryant “Questionable” To Return From Injured List This Year

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Rockies outfielder Kris Bryant has spent most of the 2024 season on the injured list, and his latest trip to the shelf due to a strained back began early last month. Manager Bud Black provided an update to reporters (including Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post) regarding Bryant’s status prior to the club’s game against the Brewers yesterday, and it seems to be possible that Bryant won’t return from the IL before the end of the year.

Black indicated that Bryant’s back, which is plagued by chronic disc problems and severe arthritis at this point in his career, is doing “better” and that the 32-year-old is “feeling good” at this point, but there’s been no indication that Bryant has resumed baseball activities at this point. With just three weeks remaining in the regular season and the 53-90 Rockies eliminated from playoff contention, it’s not clear if Bryant will be able to return this season. Black’s comments on the matter backed up that assessment as he described Bryant’s status as “questionable,” referencing the term used in the injury reports of other sports leagues like the NFL, while acknowledging that the club is “running out of time” to get Bryant back onto the field.

If Bryant doesn’t return to the field this season, he’ll finish the year with just 37 games played and a lackluster .218/.323/.301 slash line in 155 trips to the plate this year. The former superstar once seemed to be on a Hall of Fame track when he won NL Rookie of the Year in his debut 2015 season before following it up with the 2016 NL MVP award, but after slashing .278/.376/.504 (134 wRC+) in the first seven years of his career with the Cubs and Giants his career has taken a nosedive due to injuries ever since he signed a seven-year, $182MM deal with the Rockies prior to the 2022 campaign. He’s only been able to play 159 games in the three seasons since he first donned the purple and black, with a disappointing .250/.332/.381 (88 wRC+) line during that time.

According to Saunders, it’s unclear whether there would be regular playing time available to Bryant down the stretch this year even if he were to make it back from the injured list. Michael Toglia has locked down first base in Bryant’s absence after hitting a scorching .255/.368/.516 with ten home runs in his last 47 games, and Nolan Jones won’t be vacating left field to make room for Bryant either as the 26-year-old searches for the form that earned him a fourth-place finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting last year amid a down season.

It’s possible he could find playing time between right field and DH if he returns, but with 14-year Rockies veteran Charlie Blackmon in the midst of what could be the 38-year-old DH’s final season in Colorado and top 100 prospect Jordan Beck trying to establish himself as an option for the club in right field headed into 2025, it’s not difficult to imagine a scenario where Bryant struggles to find playing time even if he were to return to the field before the 2024 campaign comes to a close. That said, there have been starts in the outfield corners afforded to bench players like Jake Cave and Sam Hilliard in recent weeks that Bryant could theoretically take on if he were to return to the roster in the coming weeks.

Rockies Select Jaden Hill

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The Rockies announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Jaden Hill. Left-hander Evan Justice was optioned to Triple-A to open an active roster spot. Right-hander Dakota Hudson was transferred to the 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-man.

Hill, now 24, was selected in 2021 draft. The Rockies grabbed him that year with a pick in the second round, with Hill going 44th overall. That was despite a notable injury history that was already in place. As noted by Baseball America, Hill missed a lot of time during his college years due to elbow problems and eventually required Tommy John surgery in 2021. His stock faded going into the draft but the Rockies took a chance on him.

He was able to get back onto the mound in 2022, making his professional debut with brief stints in Rookie ball and Single-A. Last year, he made 16 High-A starts and logged 43 2/3 innings with mixed results. On the positive side, he struck out 26.3% of batters faced and got grounders on 52.4% of balls in play. His 11.5% walk rate was a tad high but not disastrous, and perhaps understandable for a guy still working back from major surgery. But he allowed 11 home runs in that small sample, ballooning his ERA to 9.48. His 6.63 FIP was far better but still not a good mark.

Here in 2024, the Rockies have moved him to a relief role, with some good results. He started the year at Double-A, logging 38 1/3 innings over 34 appearances. In that time, he had a 3.52 ERA, 32.9% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate and 50% ground ball rate.

He was promoted to Triple-A and his results there have yielded another mixed bag. In seven innings over seven appearances in the Pacific Coast League, he has struck out 34.2% of batters faced and kept 52.9% of balls on the ground. But he’s also walked 15.8% of batters faced and allowed eight earned runs for a 10.29 ERA. His .500 batting average on balls in play and 57.7% strand rate didn’t help, but the free passes also clearly played a role.

The Rockies are playing out the string on another lost season and Hill was going to be Rule 5 eligible this winter anyway. They will give him his roster spot now and use some of their remaining games to get him acclimated to the majors and see how his stuff plays at the top level. BA currently lists him as the club’s #26 prospect, noting that his fastball can hit the high 90s with a slider and a changeup in the mix.

As for Hudson, he landed on the 15-day IL August 11 due to right elbow inflammation. The club hasn’t provided any updates on his status since then but it appears they don’t expect him to make a return this year, based on the transfer to the 60-day. He can be retained for 2025 via arbitration but he has a 6.17 ERA on the year and was passed through waivers in July, before being re-selected to the roster. Given his rough year and uncertain health status, the Rockies could non-tender him instead.

Rockies Outright Noah Davis

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The Rockies announced a flurry of roster moves this afternoon, including the selection of left-hander Ty Blach’s contract that was first reported last night. Additionally, Colorado has placed right-hander Cal Quantrill on the 15-day injured list and announced that they’ve outrighted right-hander Noah Davis to Triple-A. It’s the first public indication that Davis had been designated for assignment, but his removal from the 40-man roster makes room for the addition of Blach.

Davis, 27, has pitched for the Rockies in each of the past three seasons. The club’s 11th-round pick in the 2018 draft has struggled badly throughout his big league career so far, accumulating a 7.71 ERA with a 5.66 FIP in 51 1/3 innings of work in the majors. While some of those struggles can surely be chalked up to the perils of calling Coors Field your home ballpark as a pitcher, it’s worth noting that Davis hasn’t pitched much better during his time at the Triple-A level. In 123 innings of work with the club’s Albuquerque affiliate, the right-hander has posted a lackluster 5.05 ERA with a 19.1% strikeout rate against an 11.9% walk rate. Those deep struggles in both the majors and the minors have seemingly convinced Rockies brass that a change of scenery would be best for both parties, and Davis will now be eligible for minor league free agency if not added back to the 40-man roster before the start of the offseason. Until then, he’ll remain with the club as a potential non-roster depth option.

As for Quantrill, the right-hander was announced last night as scratched from his scheduled start today due to right triceps inflammation, with Blach scheduled to take his place. It wasn’t clear last night whether or not Quantrill would wind up heading for the IL, but he’s now set to be out for at least the next two weeks. Given his placement on the IL is retroactive to August 29, the right-hander will be eligible to be activated from the shelf as soon as September 13.

It’s unclear if he’ll be ready to go that quickly, but there’s plenty of reason for optimism as manager Bud Black told reporters (including Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post) that he expects Quantrill to return to action at some point this season. The 29-year-old right-hander sports a below-average 4.63 ERA (99 ERA+) with a 5.04 FIP in 138 innings of work this year, but prior to a brutal run of five starts prior to the trade deadline was sporting far more palatable ratios of 4.09 and 4.71 through his first 114 1/3 innings of work in a Rockies uniform.

Rockies To Select Ty Blach

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The Rockies have scratched right-hander Cal Quantrill from his start against the Orioles tomorrow due to right triceps inflammation, as noted by several members of the Colorado beat, including MLB.com’s Thomas Harding. In his place, the Rockies are expected to start left-hander Ty Blach, whose contract will be selected before tomorrow’s game. It’s not yet clear if Blach will replace another player on the active roster or will be the extra pitcher the club adds when rosters expand to 28 tomorrow. Either way, a corresponding move will be necessary to create room for Blach on the club’s 40-man roster.

Blach, 33, pitched 63 2/3 innings for the Rockies earlier this year, his seventh season in the majors and third consecutive year as a member of the Rockies. Prior to his time with Colorado, Blach was a fifth-round pick by the Giants in the 2012 draft and acted as a swing man for San Francisco from 2016 to 2019 before being traded to Baltimore midway through the 2019 campaign. Blach posted a 4.56 ERA and 4.23 FIP in a Giants uniform but suffered through five disastrous starts with the Orioles that wound up being the last appearances he’d make at the big league level until he resurfaced with the Rockies back in 2022.

During his tenure with the club, Blach has been shuttled between Triple-A and the majors regularly with a cumulative 5.90 ERA and 5.25 FIP in 186 innings of work. It’s been more of the same of those lackluster results this year, as he struggled to a 6.36 ERA with a 5.75 FIP in 18 appearances (including ten starts) before being designated for assignment just before the trade deadline last month. With Quantrill unable to take the ball and potentially ticketed for a stint on the injured list, however, it seems that the Rockies are now left to call upon Blach once again to eat innings for the club down the stretch.

As for Quantrill, it’s not yet entirely clear whether or not the right-hander will require a trip to the shelf, or if the club hopes that merely skipping his turn through the rotation will allow him to return to the mound next time up. Quantrill was a speculative trade target for pitching-needy clubs at the deadline last month due to his solid results (4.09 ERA in 21 starts) and the fact that the Rockies are reportedly uninterested in retaining the right-hander long term, but no deal ultimately came together involving the righty. Perhaps that’s for the best in the eyes of his potential suitors, as Quantrill has posted a brutal 7.23 ERA and 6.64 FIP in five starts since the trade deadline. That brutal stretch has caused his ERA to shoot up to 4.64 while his FIP has ballooned to 5.04, both well below league average figures, though perhaps his current triceps issue provides some level of explanation for the sudden struggles.

Rockies Select Seth Halvorsen

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The Rockies announced they’ve selected reliever Seth Halvorsen onto the MLB roster. He joins the bullpen in place of Noah Davis, who was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque. The Rox had an opening on the 40-man roster after passing left-hander Antoine Kelly through outright waivers yesterday.

Halvorsen, 24, will be making his big league debut. The 6’2″ righty spent two years at the University of Missouri before transferring to Tennessee for his junior season. He turned in a 3.81 ERA over 52 innings for the Vols. The Rockies selected him in the seventh round of last year’s draft.

Colorado got Halvorsen to Double-A by the end of his draft year. He has split this season between Double-A Hartford and Albuquerque. Halvorsen turned in a 4.84 ERA in 35 1/3 Double-A frames, striking out nearly 26% of opponents while walking 12% of batters faced. While he only has nine Triple-A appearances under his belt, he has already punched out 15 at the top minor league level.

In April, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked Halvorsen the #14 prospect in the Colorado system. Longenhagen credited him with an upper-90s fastball, as well as an above-average slider and splitter duo. He doesn’t have great control, potentially pushing him into a middle relief role. The Rox are desperate for reliable contributors in the bullpen. There’s plenty of room for Halvorsen to establish himself quickly.

Rockies Outright Antoine Kelly

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The Rockies announced Thursday that left-hander Antoine Kelly passed through waivers unclaimed and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Albuquerque. The team did not make a corresponding transaction, nor had Kelly previously been designated for assignment. His outright drops Colorado’s 40-man roster to a count of 39 players.

Kelly, 24, was claimed off waivers out of the Rangers organization back on July 15. The 2019 second-rounder went from Milwaukee to Texas in 2022’s Matt Bush trade. He had a breakout 2023 showing in the Rangers’ system, splitting the year between Double-A and Triple-A while working to a combined 2.04 ERA with 11 saves, a 32.1% strikeout rate and a 9.3% walk rate.

That performance had Kelly looking as though he could be on the cusp of joining the Rangers and carving out a permanent place in the bullpen. Had he continued on that trajectory, perhaps that’d have been the case. However, Kelly missed time with a forearm injury this season, and his control has been nonexistent when healthy. He’s posted a staggering 10.98 ERA in 19 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, and he’s walked more batters than he’s fanned. A woeful 25.4% of Kelly’s opponents have reached via base on balls, compared to a 23.7% strikeout rate. He’s also plunked a pair of hitters and thrown five wild pitches.

There’s little doubt that when healthy and at his best, Kelly had the look of a viable big league reliever. He’s never demonstrated plus command, but in the past, his strikeout rate and an above-average ground-ball rate have helped to offset a walk rate that was a tick or two higher than average. This year’s injury-marred and walk-riddled season has clearly thrown the lefty’s future outlook into question. For now, he’ll stick with the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate and look to get back on track without occupying a spot on the 40-man roster.

As for the Rox, they now have a vacancy if they wish to claim any of the recently DFA’ed players or veterans who’ve been placed on outright waivers as teams look to shed salary. Colorado isn’t likely to claim anyone who’s a free agent at season’s end, but speculatively speaking, they could potentially consider taking a look at someone who’s signed/controlled beyond the current season. At the moment, only the Marlins and White Sox have waiver priority over them.

Rockies Select Luis Peralta

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The Rockies announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Luis Peralta. In corresponding moves, they optioned right-hander Tanner Gordon to Triple-A Albuquerque and transferred righty Germán Márquez to the 60-day injured list.

Peralta, 23, was just acquired from the Pirates last month in the Jalen Beeks trade. The younger brother of Brewers ace Freddy Peralta, Luis signed with the Pirates out of the Dominican Republic in 2017. He came up as a starter but has been moved into a relief role this year, with some encouraging results.

He has pitched at High-A, Double-A and Triple-A this year between his two organizations. Between all those different stops, he has logged 47 2/3 innings while only allowing five earned runs for a tiny ERA of 0.94. His 11.2% walk rate in that time is a bit high but he’s worked around that by striking out 40.1% of batters that have stepped to the plate.

He was going to be eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter and was likely going to get a roster spot in a few months’ time anyway, so the Rockies are jumping the gun and adding him now, which will allow them to get a look at him against major league hitters for a few weeks.

Gordon had been working out of the club’s rotation, so they will now have a hole there behind Cal Quantrill, Kyle Freeland, Austin Gomber and Bradley Blalock. Right-hander Ryan Feltner landed on the 15-day IL on August 8 due to a right shoulder strain but could perhaps be coming back. Patrick Lyons of Just Baseball relayed on X last week that Feltner’s MRI came back clean and he could be back after something close to a minimal stint. He made a rehab appearance for Triple-A Albuquerque on Wednesday.

As for Marquez, it was reported a couple of weeks ago that he won’t be coming back this year due to some elbow inflammation, so this transfer to the 60-day IL was an inevitable formality. He’ll be on the 60-day IL for the rest of the year but will need to be reinstated in the days following the World Series, as the IL goes away until Spring Training.

Rockies Select Jeff Criswell

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The Rockies announced they have selected the contract of right-hander Jeff Criswell. He will take the roster spot of fellow righty Victor Vodnik, who lands on the 15-day injured list with right bicep inflammation. The club opened a 40-man roster spot by outrighting righty Riley Pint a few days ago. Thomas Harding of MLB.com relayed the moves on X prior to the official announcement.

Criswell, now 25, was selected by the Athletics in the second round of the 2020 draft. In 2021, he made his professional debut with five High-A starts but then got more run in 2022. That year, he tossed 118 1/3 innings across multiple levels, with a combined 4.03 earned run average. He struck out 23.8% of batters faced while giving out walks at a 9% clip.

He went to the Rockies in the December 2022 trade that sent righty Chad Smith the other way. He has been pitching for Triple-A Albuquerque since that trade but without much success. He tossed 121 innings last year over 29 appearances, including 26 starts, but finished with a 7.51 ERA. He did strike out 23.7% of batters faced but walked 12.5% of them and also allowed 32 home runs.

This year, he’s been pitching exclusively in relief with some encouraging signs, having thrown 57 2/3 innings over 35 appearances. The 10.1% walk rate is still high and the 6.24 ERA isn’t impressive, but he’s been striking out opponents at a 30% clip. He’ll be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.

As for Vodnik, the club hasn’t provided any details about his injury but they have every reason to be cautious at this point. They are one of the worst clubs in baseball this year and well out of contention, so there’s no sense pushing a player through an injury, even if it’s mild. Vodnik has emerged as a key piece of the club’s bullpen this year, with a 4.04 ERA, nine saves and six holds.

Rockies Notes: Black, Jones

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While Black’s contract is technically up after the season, his deal has been described in the past (by reporter Nick Groke) as “a rolling year-to-year contract.”  In both February 2022 and 2023, the Rox announced a new one-year extension to Black’s deal, yet no such extension was announced this past spring even though the two sides had some talks about Black’s future.  It could be that owner Dick Monfort’s well-known penchant for loyalty to his employees was running a little thin coming off a 103-loss season, or perhaps Black himself might be considering a different role at age 67.  Saunders writes that Black “loves teaching young players and participating in the Rockies’ attempts to improve,” but has also “remained mum about” the possibility of returning as Colorado’s skipper.

As the Rockies trudge through another rough year, there isn’t yet any indication over whether or not manager Bud Black could be returning for his ninth season.  GM Bill Schmidt told the Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders that the team and Black will “talk at the end of the season” and that “there’s nothing more to report on that” for the time being.  It isn’t exactly a vote of confidence for Black, who is on pace for his sixth straight losing season and his second straight year of at least 100 losses.

While Black’s contract is technically up after the season, his deal has been described in the past (by reporter Nick Groke) as “a rolling year-to-year contract.”  In both February 2022 and 2023, the Rox announced a new one-year extension to Black’s deal, yet no such extension was announced this past spring even though the two sides had some talks about Black’s future.  It could be that owner Dick Monfort’s well-known penchant for loyalty to his employees was running a little thin coming off a 103-loss season, or perhaps Black himself might be considering a different role at age 67.  Saunders writes that Black “loves teaching young players and participating in the Rockies’ attempts to improve,” but has also “remained mum about” the possibility of returning as Colorado’s skipper.

  • Circling back to the Rockies for one final note, Colorado activated Nolan Jones from the 10-day injured list today, and optioned catcher Hunter Goodman to Triple-A.  After a seeming breakout year in 2023, Jones has hit only .202/.311/.313 in 191 PA this season, while playing in just 49 games due to two lengthy IL stints related to lower back pain.  Jones also had extra concerns off the field, as he told Patrick Saunders that his newborn daughter had some breathing problems but is now thankfully doing better.

Rockies Outright Riley Pint

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The Rockies announced that right-hander Riley Pint has been outrighted off the team’s 40-man roster.  Pint wasn’t known to have been designated for assignment, but he apparently cleared waivers and will now likely be headed to the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate.  This is the first time Pint has been outrighted and he has less than a year of MLB service time, so he can’t reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.

Taken fourth overall in the 2016 draft, Pint briefly retired during the 2021 minor league season after dealing with multiple injuries and a lack of performance over his first six years as a professional.  Pint returned to the mound in 2022 but couldn’t shake the severe control issues that have plagued his career, and to date he has a whopping 17.77% walk rate over 300 2/3 minor league innings.  His brief time in the majors has been even more extreme in terms of free passes, as Pint has walked eight of the 27 batters he has faced at the MLB level — between all these walks and two homers allowed, Pint has a 22.09 ERA over his 3 2/3 career innings in the Show.

Pint’s weeklong stint on Colorado’s active roster ended on Thursday when he was optioned to Triple-A, and he has now been removed from the 40-man roster altogether.  It isn’t yet clear if the outright assignment could hint at the end of Pint’s time in the organization, even though his ability to miss bats (33.1% strikeout rate at Triple-A) remains elite.  This strikeout ability helped Pint post a 3.10 ERA in 29 innings with Triple-A Albuquerque this season, albeit also with a 19.8% walk rate.  The possibility exists that Pint could be a valuable reliever if he can manage even decent control, yet he hasn’t made any progress in this area.

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