Cubs' Bryant enjoys being positionless, talks gift for Schwarber
After leaving Tuesday's game with low back tightness, Anthony Rizzo was not in Wednesday's starting lineup, although manager David Ross said before the game Rizzo could be available off the bench.
So that meant a start at first base for Kris Bryant. It's one of the five positions he's played this season, after not starting at his usual third base since April 20. He moved from right field to first when Rizzo left with the injury.
"I like it," Bryant said. "I was walking through the hallway after the game and I was like, 'I don't even know what position I play anymore.' But I'm most comfortable right there. I like to look at the lineup each and every day and find out where I'm playing.
"It kind of reminds me of club ball growing up. I was playing all over the field and I never knew exactly where I was going to be, but I knew I was playing and that was a good feeling. Hopefully I'm not too rusty at any of the positions. I've always taken pride in being able to fill in a hole when the team needs it. It's been really fun for me this year doing that."
Bryant's move away from third base was brought by a pair of circumstances. The Cubs had injuries in the outfield - with Joc Pederson, Ian Happ and now Jake Marisnick going on the injured list - while Matt Duffy has been playing well and is a good fit a third.
Against Washington's Max Scherzer on Wednesday, Ross used David Bote at third, Nico Hoerner at second and Eric Sogard at short, while Duffy was not in the starting lineup.
"I told (Rizzo), 'Get out of this game. I want to play first. I want to play everywhere,'" Bryant joked. "You don't want to see him go out there and do anything stupid and really hurt himself. I just went down and told him we need him for the long haul."
Meanwhile, Bryant got a chance to explain his gift of candy left for former teammate Kyle Schwarber in left field on Monday. The story was a Twix bar was on the grass, but a video taken by a fan shows Schwarber picking up several items left by Bryant.
"I was thinking of a gesture, definitely for fun," Bryant said. "I had about eight or nine pieces of candy in my pocket that whole inning and just left him a present. We were talking about bringing him a Miller Lite, but that probably would be frowned upon."
"I love Schwarbs, I love (Jon) Lester. It was really cool to see them doing their thing and letting them know they're really missed over here. I'm just glad someone caught that on camera."
Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls