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Kris Bryant, mired in a .188/.273/.333 (9-for-48) slump for 12 games in mid-June, finally went on the disabled list June 26 (retroactive to June 23) with what was described as “inflammation” in his right shoulder, which supposedly happened on a dive he had made for a ball a few weeks earlier.
That finally explained, perhaps, why KB had the power outage he’d been on since mid-May, just one home run since May 14 and a slugging percentage of just .382 in 32 games since that May 14 homer.
A rest of 19 days (plus a two-game rehab stint where he went 2-for-6 with a home run) has now (hopefully) returned KB to form as he returns to the active roster:
Kris Bryant (shoulder) returns to the Cubs lineup for the first time since June 22. He'll bat third and play third base as David Bote was sent down to make room for him. https://t.co/JHSe5G7a0t
— Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) July 11, 2018
David Bote has had three different stints with the Cubs this year. In the most recent one, he hit .333/.464/.476 (7-for-21) with a home run and six walks; overall this year with the big-league Cubs he’s hit .300/.388/.425 (12-for-40) with two doubles and that home run. He’ll almost certainly be back later in the summer. At some point I suspect he’ll be a trade chip, because he’s completely blocked from even a fulltime bench role with the Cubs, and there are some MLB teams he could probably start for.