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3 things we heard from the Chicago Cubs, including Kris Bryant’s outfield enjoyment and a Willson Contreras update

colleen kane, chicago tribune
·5 min read

A recent best-of-three series did not go well for Kris Bryant.

After the Chicago Cubs’ victory over the Cardinals on Friday in St. Louis, a fan enticed the Cubs right fielder to play a game of “Rock, Paper, Scissors.” Bryant chose paper twice. The kid left with the win after beating him with scissors both times.

“I thought I could outsmart a 10-year-old, but I got played,” Bryant said.

Despite getting “smoked,” Bryant pointed to the fan interaction as one of the things he has enjoyed about getting so many starts in the outfield over the last month. Bryant opened the three-game series against the Pirates in Pittsburgh on Tuesday in right field, his fourth straight start at the position and 11th this season.

He has started 14 games at third base — the last on April 20 — two at first base, 11 in left field and five in center field. Bryant, who has 605 career starts at third, said Tuesday he brings four gloves on the road with him, “so I’ll be ready for anything that day that is thrown my way.”

“I’m really enjoying playing the outfield right now,” he said. “You get to different cities and you hear certain things in the outfield. There are always a bunch of kids out there, and they just want a wave. It’s just a completely different game than third base is. I’m really appreciating it.”

Injuries and lineup flexibility have pushed Bryant into the outfield this year, and he takes pride in being a versatile piece, saying he aspired to that after watching Ben Zobrist do it.

“It’s important to show off your versatility and not only defensively but offensively and being able to move around the lineup and do certain things and not just be an all-or-nothing hitter or just a third baseman,” he said. “I feel like I’ve embraced that attitude from the moment I was called up, and it’s just who I am right now. The game is kind of going that way. If you’re able to play more positions, you’re able to hang around longer, and I want to play this game as long as I can.”

Bryant detailed to the Tribune earlier this month some of the physical differences in playing the outfield versus third base, including a different throwing motion.

He added Tuesday he has noticed he has fresher legs after playing in the outfield because he’s not bending down as much as he does at third. He also said the positions are different from a mental perspective.

“When you’re feeling good at the plate, (playing in the outfield) makes it a lot of fun because you can really bask in your last at-bat if it’s a good one,” he said. “Or if it’s a bad one, you’re really thinking about that one too. Whereas at third base, you’re involved with everything. It’s right there in front of you. It is a very different game.”

Willson Contreras out of the lineup

Cubs catcher Willson Contreras was not in the starting lineup Tuesday after taking a Craig Kimbrel fastball off his left wrist Sunday.

But manager David Ross said X-rays were negative and it is just a bruise. Contreras planned to take swings in the cage Tuesday afternoon to see how he was feeling.

P.J. Higgins started at catcher with Jake Arrieta on the mound, and the Pirates scored on a passed ball in the two-run first inning.

“(When Contreras plays) you have a guy back there who has navigated through the (Pirates) lineup, seen what they’ve hit, seen the mistakes, where you want to go,” Ross said before the game. “There’s just so much feel involved, as well as the scouting report, that you miss when your starting guy is out. Not to mention on the offensive side for Willson.

“But he knows the shapes of their pitches, he knows where they like to set up to execute pitches, his target, his communication with them, signs. All those little details that the everyday guy goes through in learning each individual pitcher and what they like and how to get the most out of them is extremely important.”

Before the series opener, the Cubs placed infielder Matt Duffy on the 10-day injured list with a lower back strain. They selected infielder Patrick Wisdom from Triple-A Iowa and designated right-handed pitcher Jason Adam for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.

David Ross salutes Joe West

Ross said he was happy for umpire Joe West, who was set to work his major-league-record 5,376th game Tuesday night when the Chicago White Sox hosted the Cardinals.

While West has been involved in plenty of controversy since he began as an umpire in 1976, Ross said he had mostly positive interactions with West during his playing days.

“He’s actually somebody I really respect a lot because he’s always stayed true to his zone, his beliefs,” Ross said. “There’s no wavering really when you’re around Joe. Like him or not, you get the same guy consistently, whether it’s behind the plate or on the bases. So my interactions have been good.”