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With many players already in camp for voluntary workouts and pitchers catchers across the league set to officially report this week, the return of baseball is finally here. After a busy offseason, Chicago Cubs fans are chomping at the bit to see their favorite players back on the diamond - but one fan favorite is starting the 2026 season on the wrong foot.
Kris Bryant, who signed a seven-year, $182 million deal with the Colorado Rockies following the 2021 season, will open the year on the 60-day IL. Since IL stints can be backdated by three days, this means he'll miss - at a minimum - the first 57 days of the regular season.
Spring training starts, and Rockies 1B Kris Bryant goes on the 60-day IL where he'll be out for at least the first 57 games of the season. Bryant, who played only 11 games last season, has played in 170 games in the first four years of his 7-year, $182 million contract.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) February 10, 2026
Kris Bryant set to open the 2026 season on the injured list
As most Cubs fans are all too well aware, the former NL Rookie of the Year and MVP was diagnosed degenerative lumbar condition in his lower back - casting his future on the field in very uncertain terms. He appeared in only 11 games last season and has played in a total of 170 contests over the last four years, slashing just .244/.324/.370 in 712 trips to the plate.
That's obviously a far cry from the player the Rockies hoped they were getting when they handed him the largest free-agent deal in franchise history. Although he had some injuries near the end of his Chicago tenure, Bryant was still a solidly above-average player, posting a 133 OPS+ during his seven years with the Cubs (including a 122 OPS+ mark from 2018-21, including his brief stint with the Giants).
Bryant isn't about to simply walk away from the $80-ish million left on his contract, but one wonders if we're nearing the point where he and the Rockies work something out, similar to what the Angels did with Anthony Rendon this winter. At this point, Cubs fans are just worried about his overall health, let alone whether or not he plays again.
Now 34, the former first-rounder and face of the franchise is hoping for better days. But an inauspicious beginning to the 2026 campaign doesn't exactly encourage much confidence in things turning around.