DENVER (AP) — For the next week or so, Kris Bryant will be restricted to not much more than a casual walk as he recovers from a procedure to fix his chronically bothersome back.
The Colorado Rockies designated hitter just hopes this finally alleviates the pain. Bryant returned to town after recently traveling to Los Angeles to undergo a procedure referred to as an ablation, which is designed to interrupt pain signals being sent from the back to the brain. He explained Saturday that it took roughly 45 minutes.
“I feel like I got stabbed in the back right now,” Bryant said before the Rockies played the San Diego Padres. “Not ideal, but I’m in good spirits.”
Once he’s cleared for more than a light stroll, Bryant will return to the weight room in an effort to build strength. There’s no timetable for a return to baseball activities quite yet.
“Just got to let nature take its course,” manager Bud Black explained.
Bryant’s currently on the injured list with lumbar degenerative disk disease, which involves the deterioration of the spinal disks that act as cushions between the vertebrae. It’s his ninth stint on the IL since 2022 due to a series of health issues.
His back has gotten to the point where cortisone shots no longer work. That’s why he had the ablation procedure. Anything to avoid back surgery.
“I don’t want to get to that point. I don’t want to get ahead of myself,” Bryant said. “Just trying to check boxes as they go. We tried all the other, I guess you say, conservative treatments, or more traditional approaches with cortisone shots. They just didn’t work for me. So this was another step along the way.”
“I’m willing to try anything,” added Bryant, whose pain at times has brought on nausea. “It’s weighed on me, for sure. It just sucks.”
The 33-year-old Bryant is hitting .154 this season with no homers, one RBI, 13 strikeouts in 11 games.
Bryant has been limited to 170 games with Colorado since signing a $182 million, seven-year contract before the 2022 season. He’s suffered from an array of injuries, including plantar fasciitis, a bone bruise in his foot, heel issues, a broken finger, a back strain, a lower rib contusion and back problems.
“Right now I feel like I’m in a good spot,” said Bryant, the 2016 NL MVP with the Chicago Cubs. “It just wears on you. It’s not an easy thing for me to deal with but doing the best I can with a pretty crappy situation.”
He hasn’t set any sort of baseball goals quite yet.
“It’s really just one day at a time,” Bryant said. “Just continuing to do everything I can that’s in my power — and the training staff’s power — to find a way to navigate this.”
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