The Chicago Cubs’ Kris Bryant had some strong words for his haters.
Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs is known for usually being mild-mannered. Although he’s received a ton of criticism for his injuries and underperforming, particularly this season, he hasn’t shown off the field that it’s bothered him much, even as he has looked lost at the plate for most of this season.
However, it was a different story after the Cubs’ loss to the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night. Perhaps Bryant was on a high from finally breaking through and hitting a grand slam during the game, or from the team clinching the NL Central division thanks to a St. Louis Cardinals loss. In any case, he broke character with this quote after the game.
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The team needs Bryant to be fully back and ready to go for the postseason, and having him swing the bat well would go a long way towards this team making a deep run. Yet, in addition to that, it’s also nice to see Bryant show some fire just before the start of the playoffs. We also saw some fire from Willson Contreras for his bat flip from Friday night, though the energy may have been a little misdirected.
Many fans would argue that the criticism Bryant has received has been justified, as he has been slowed by injuries this year. When he has been out there, he’s performed miserably (as have several other key offensive players). Yet if this above quote is any indication, we’ve seen that the criticism doesn’t matter to him.
Those who have already made up their mind that they don’t like Bryant will probably be even further alienated by this quote and turn up the calls to trade him this offseason. However, those are the people towards whom this quote was directed.
In any case, kudos to Bryant for showing some passion and for not letting all the negativity get to him. Hopefully, this is the start of a turnaround in time for the playoffs. If he comes through in the postseason, many of the ugliness from this year will be long forgotten.