The Cubs put third baseman Kris Bryant on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Aug. 19, with a sprained left ring finger before the game Saturday against the White Sox. The team did not make a corresponding roster move. Bryant’s left wrist is still bothering him, as well.
Bryant injured the finger and wrist while making a diving attempt on a ball hit to the outfield Aug. 12 against the Indians. He received an injection Tuesday to help with the pain.
“We don’t want players to play through things to their detriment ever,’’ Cubs president Theo Epstein said Friday. ‘‘We don’t want them to ever risk exacerbating an injury and turn it into something more severe. We don’t want players to try to play if they just can’t perform.
“I think Kris felt he could perform. He hit the home run [in Cleveland] and then kept trying. I think the way it evolved, he ended up feeling it in his wrist, and he wasn’t in a position to perform, and it wasn’t the right thing.”
Epstein noted that the Cubs don’t think Bryant’s injury is a long-term problem, but it has become severe enough for the team to put him on the IL. Bryant had begun baseball activities Friday, taking some light swings with a fungo after two days of rest following his injection.
“He’s still feeling it,” manager David Ross said after Saturday’s 7-4 loss. “Took some swings with a fungo and it was still there. Picked up his bat. He said he swung it at about 50 percent and he’s still feeling that [pain] in his wrist.
He had yet to get going at the plate before the injury, and after jamming the wrist in Cleveland, it became apparent that Bryant wasn’t himself. His slash line is .177/.271/.323 with two home runs and four RBI.
“I think the smart thing talking to him was to put him on the IL and let him get 100 percent to where there’s no hesitation when he comes back and maybe get him some looks down in South Bend when he starts to feel a little bit better,” Ross said.
“It’s the right thing to do to let him let him get to a point where he can feel comfortable,” Epstein said. “I think everyone who knows Kris Bryant knows he wants to be out there. There’s big performance and big impact coming. He’s that good of a player. It’s gonna happen.”
Utility man David Bote will get the lion’s share of the team’s reps at third with Bryant on the shelf. Infielder Nico Hoerner also might get a look. Hoerner made his first career start at third base on Wednesday against the Cardinals.
Bote has been solid defensively in 14 games at third this season. He ranks seventh among National League third basemen with plus-2 defensive runs saved, according to FanGraphs (minimum 100 innings).
“He works hard over there; he works hard all around the infield,” Bryant said of Bote’s defense earlier this month.
“It’s those little things in the game that don’t get too much attention, but they definitely do change the momentum.”
The team’s 60-man player pool stands at 58, with 27 active players and five 10-day injured-list players in Chicago and 26 players in South Bend.
