With new swing, Kris Bryant puts on show in batting practice

Kris Bryant’s new swing looked good. Even visitors to Wrigley Field thought so.

Using a new two-handed follow through to limit the torque and strain on his left shoulder, Bryant took batting practice before the Cubs’ 10-6 win against the Reds on Saturday. During the impressive BP session, Bryant homered frequently and hit the left-field video board multiple times. When he finished, he drew a round of applause from people touring the ballpark.

“I felt good today,” Bryant said. “So, ready to go.”

Bryant is expected to hit against Drew Smyly on Sunday, and if all goes well, a rehab assignment could follow Monday, possibly at Class AAA Iowa.

And he’ll bring his new swing, in which he keeps his right hand on the bat instead of releasing.

“I feel pretty normal. I’ve been doing a two-handed swing, which I honestly think I feel even better,” said Bryant, who has been on the disabled list with inflammation in his left shoulder since July 24. “I’ve got to bring the contact point a little further back in my swing. I feel like I’m hitting balls further. I feel like before, I was only really hitting the ball with one, one-and-a-half hands connected to the bat, and now I actually feel like I’m hitting the ball with two hands.

“I think this is going to be pretty good for me.”

It might be pretty good for Bryant, but it’s also an adjustment. Tweaking swings and approaches is something manager Joe Maddon did in the minors, and he described a couple novel approaches to making those switches.

Maddon said in Peoria he once taped Angels prospect Bert Adams’ top hand to the bat to make him experience what it feels like to use two hands during an entire swing. He also claimed he tied extension cords — eventually a rope and then a belt with a swivel on it — and stood behind the batting cage to hold back Dante Bichette from jumping out at the baseball

Bryant probably won’t need anything that drastic. But if he reverts in a game, so be it.

“It’s difficult to do what he’s doing in a game. It’s not as difficult in practice,” Maddon said. “The point is, work on it that way and just go play.”

Bryant said he talked with trainer PJ Mainville about ways he could practice without adding wear and tear, and that led to the new swing. It doesn’t feel too foreign to Bryant because he plays a lot of golf in the offseason, and the follow through is similar to that swing.

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Bryant is using batting practice to get used to the swing before trying it in a game.

“Even in the cage off the tee, the ball just seems to be jumping off of the bat,” Bryant said. “It could be the same, honestly, I don’t know. Just in my mind I feel like the ball is really jumping off the bat. Anytime you have that upper edge in terms of how you’re thinking and your confidence, that’s all that really matters. That’s how I’m feeling.”

The Cubs will be feeling especially good if Bryant returns to form and can add to the lineup.

“It’s just like [Daniel Murphy] walking in the door,” Maddon said. “You get a really good player back, it makes a difference.”