Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon wasted little time making it known what he thinks of Kris Bryant.
Bryant will make his much-hyped big league debut Friday after controversially spending the first week and a half of the season in the minor leagues. The Cubs sent Bryant — who hit nine home runs in spring training — to Triple-A to start the season in order to (presumably) save a season of service time on his first contract.
The company line from the Cubs is that they wanted to get Bryant more seasoning and that extra time in the minors just so happened to coincide with the date the Cubs could call up the third baseman without burning a year of service time. The fact that Maddon is using Bryant as the cleanup hitter in his major league debut is also a pretty telling sign of what the Cubs really think of the player — which is no surprise at all.
Bryant appeared in seven games with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate in Iowa. He hit .321 with three home runs and 10 RBIs. In 181 career minor league games, Bryant hit .372 with 55 home runs and 152 RBIs.
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports Images
