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The man himself made the announcement
Can't wait to join the @IowaCubs tomorrow! Thank you to @smokiesbaseball and all my teammates for so many great memories!
— Kris Bryant (@KrisBryant_23) June 18, 2014
As predicted, the Cubs waited until Bryant played in the Southern League All-Star Game to promote Kris Bryant to Triple-A. That game was last night, and in the morning they moved him up a level.
Bryant absolutely destroyed the Southern League. He was leading in all three triple crown categories, hitting .355 with 22 home runs and 58 RBI. His on-base percentage was even more impressive, as 43 walks in 68 games gave him a .458 OBP. That led the Southern League too by a wide margin.
Bryant now joins an Iowa Cubs team that has been struggling, but still has a lot of thump in the lineup with Javier Baez and Arismendy Alcantara. It's also assumed that Manny Ramirez will be joining the team any day now.
This move does not preclude Bryant playing in the SiriusXM Future's Game, which will be played the Sunday before the All-Star Game in Minneapolis. The rosters for that team have not yet been announced, but the only reason Bryant wouldn't make the team would be if the Cubs did not want him to play in that game for some reason.
Bryant's promotion brings him just one step away from Chicago in less than a year after beginning his professional career. It seems highly unlikely that Bryant will play in Chicago this season, for both service time and 40 man roster reasons, but the hope is that if he continues to do the Pacific Coast League what he did to the Southern League, he will join the major league roster some time next season.
UPDATE (3:07 Central):
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Triple A going to be loaded now. P Armando Rivero and Arodys Vizcaino headed there with Bryant. Ill be on ESPN 1000 at 3:45 to discuss</p>— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNChiCubs/statuses/479352314168229888">June 18, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Start heading to Des Moines now, folks. It's going to be worth the drive.