Kris Bryant happy for “normalcy” at spring training with Rockies

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Rockies left fielder Kris Bryant is reveling in the same-old, same-old.

“It’s great to have a normal spring, finally, for the first time in three years,” he said Wednesday. “I’m looking forward to not having to feel like I have to ramp up in two weeks. We are all looking forward to some sense of normalcy.”

Last year, Major League Baseball’s labor lockout meant a stalled hot stove season and delayed spring training. Bryant didn’t sign his seven-year, $182 million contract with the Rockies until mid-March. In 2020 and ’21, the major league schedule was altered by the pandemic.

Bryant played in only 42 games last season because of a lower back injury, followed by a bone bruise and plantar fasciitis in his right foot.

He said the quickened schedule was not “an excuse.”

“It’s just more of a … mental routine that we’ve been through for our whole careers and it’s been disrupted the last couple years,” he said. “So it’s just nice to get back to preparing a certain way in the offseason and knowing what you’re getting yourself into rather than a lot of unknowns. We’re all going to use that to our advantage.”

Injury updates: Right-hander reliever Riley Pint suffered a mild oblique strain on Wednesday but the Rockies hope he won’t be sidelined for long.

“We’re optimistic that his return will be relatively soon,” manager Bud Black said. “He pitched great (Tuesday), but he was throwing in the middle of his outing and he sort of felt something. But he kept going, and then at the end of the day, he was a little sore. And today he’s a little sore.”

Black also provided an update on right reliever Jake Bird, who strained his left oblique warming up for a live bullpen session on Monday. Asked if Bird could be ready for the regular-season opener on March 30 at San Diego, Black said: “It’s going to be close. For the (World Baseball Classic) he was going to (pitch) for Team Israel and I know that’s not a reality for Jake, which is a bummer.”

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