Kris Bryant out of lineup for Rockies after going 0-for-first-two-days
Mar 30, 2025, 10:09 AM
(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Kris Bryant didn’t do anything in the first two days of the Colorado Rockies’ season to silence the continued cacophony of frustration regarding his ongoing issues as he enters the fourth year of his seven-season contract, and found himself out of the lineup just three days into the campaign.
Bud Black’s third lineup card of the regular season sees Bryant out and Hunter Goodman in as designated hitter, with Goodman sliding into that spot after starting as catcher in the first two games. Jacob Stallings will be behind the plate for the series finale at Tampa Bay.
Goodman will be in the cleanup spot, the same position Bryant occupied as DH on Friday and Saturday.
The Rockies had the exact same lineup for each of their first two games against the Rays, which they split. Kris Bryant was the only player in the lineup who failed to reach base, going 0-for-8 with three strikeouts.
Colorado split the first thanks to some splendid defense and stellar starting pitching, but the Rays’ pitchers and an inbound win at Steinbrenner Field have largely held the Rockies’ bats in check, limiting them to a .200 average in the opening two games.
Black noted last December that for the Rockies to be effective, “We need Bryant to be Kris Bryant.”
But he hit .129 in the Cactus League with a .566 OPS. And his first two regular-season games didn’t show any sign of improvement.
The next game will be the 162nd in a Rockies uniform for Bryant, which represents a full season’s worth of work for him. Unfortunately for both the Rockies and Bryant, it will have taken more than three campaigns to reach that mark, a result of the chronic injuries to befall him since signing that contract.
Kris Bryant has failed to play even half of the games in any of his seasons with Colorado. Last season, he was limited to just 37 contests because of chronic back issues, hitting just .218 with a .624 OPS. His Baseball Reference WAR has been negative in each of the last two seasons — minus-1.0 in 2023 and minus-0.7 last year.
