Kris Bryant Bio
Kristopher Lee Bryant, nicknamed “KB,” is an American professional baseball third baseman, outfielder, and designated hitter for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Chicago Cubs and the San Francisco Giants. Selected by the Cubs with the second overall pick of the 2013 MLB Draft after a standout college career at the University of San Diego, Bryant quickly established himself as one of the premier players of his generation. Across his career, he has earned multiple All-Star selections, a World Series championship, and both the National League Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards.
Early Life and Background
Kristopher Lee Bryant was born on January 4, 1992, in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he grew up immersed in the local baseball scene. He attended Bonanza High School in the Las Vegas Valley and played varsity baseball for all four years, compiling a .418 batting average, a .958 slugging percentage, 103 hits, and 47 career home runs. He also competed in American Legion Baseball, and in 2010, USA Today named him to its All-USA baseball first team. The Toronto Blue Jays selected him in the 18th round of the 2010 MLB Draft, but he did not sign, choosing instead to enroll at the University of San Diego and play college baseball for the Toreros.
Bryant was named salutatorian of his high school class but allowed a classmate who wanted the honor to take the role instead, a gesture that reflected the humility often associated with his upbringing. His father, Mike Bryant, had played in minor league baseball for the Boston Red Sox organization and later sold his patio furniture store so that he could take a job with a more flexible schedule to coach his son. Bryant majored in biology at the University of San Diego before switching to finance.
Path to Professional Baseball
As a freshman at the University of San Diego in 2011, Bryant batted .365 with a .482 on-base percentage and a .599 slugging percentage, earning freshman All-American honors and sharing West Coast Conference Co-Freshman of the Year and Co-Player of the Year recognition with Marco Gonzales. He spent that summer with the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod Baseball League, where he batted .223 with three home runs. As a sophomore in 2012, he batted .366 with 14 home runs and was named first-team All-American by Baseball America, then played for USA Baseball’s collegiate national team.
Bryant’s junior season in 2013 was historic, as he hit 31 home runs to lead the nation, breaking the previous NCAA single-season record of 30 set in the BBCOR era. He won the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy, both given to the top collegiate player in the country, and added Louisville Slugger First Team All-American, Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year, and ABCA Player of the Year honors. Following the 2013 season, the Chicago Cubs selected him with the second overall pick in the MLB Draft, and he signed a contract that included a $6.7 million bonus.
Kris Bryant Career
Early Career (2013–2014)
Bryant began his professional career with the Boise Hawks of the Northwest League, where he batted .354 with four home runs, before being promoted to the Daytona Cubs of the Florida State League in August 2013. After the season, he was named the Arizona Fall League MVP after hitting .364/.457/.727 with six home runs in 20 games. In 2014, he opened the year with the Tennessee Smokies of the Southern League, won the Southern League Home Run Derby, and was promoted to the Iowa Cubs of the Pacific Coast League in June. He finished the year with 43 combined home runs, earning the Joe Bauman Home Run Award, and was named both USA Today Minor League Player of the Year and Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year. Baseball America rated him the No. 1 prospect in baseball entering 2015.
Chicago Cubs (2015–2021)
Bryant made his major league debut on April 17, 2015, at Wrigley Field, and recorded his first hit the next day. He hit his first big league home run on May 9 off Kyle Lohse of the Milwaukee Brewers, and by the end of May, he was named NL Rookie of the Month. He hit his first career grand slam on June 17 against the Cleveland Indians and was later selected to the All-Star Game as an injury replacement. Bryant finished his rookie season with a .275 batting average, 26 home runs, and 99 RBIs, winning the National League Rookie of the Year Award unanimously, the first Cub to do so since Geovany Soto in 2008. He also became the first player in history to win Baseball America’s college, minor league, and major league player of the year awards in successive seasons.
In 2016, Bryant became the first MLB player in modern history to hit three home runs and two doubles in the same game, going 5-for-5 with 16 total bases against the Cincinnati Reds on June 27. He was selected to his second All-Star Game and hit a first-inning home run off Chris Sale, and was later named NL Player of the Month for August. He finished the year with a .292 average, 39 home runs, 102 RBIs, and a National League-leading 121 runs scored, then helped the Cubs win the 2016 World Series by coming back from a 3-games-to-1 deficit against the Cleveland Indians. Following the season, he was named National League Most Valuable Player and also won the Hank Aaron Award as the NL’s most outstanding hitter.
In 2017, Bryant hit .295 with 29 home runs as the Cubs won their second straight NL Central title, and in 2018, he became the fastest Cubs player to reach 100 career home runs, doing so in his 487th game. He was slowed by shoulder inflammation that year, but he returned in 2019 to hit .282 with 31 home runs, and he made the 2021 All-Star team after a versatile season at first base, third base, and the outfield. On July 30, 2021, the Cubs traded him to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for prospects Alexander Canario and Caleb Kilian.
San Francisco Giants (2021)
Bryant made his Giants debut on August 1, 2021, going 1-for-4 with a home run in a loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Splitting time between third base and the outfield, he played 26 games at third base, 19 in left, 11 in right, and five in center. In 187 at-bats with San Francisco, he batted .262/.344/.444 with seven home runs, 22 RBIs, and a perfect six-for-six record in stolen base attempts, adding valuable versatility to a Giants team that finished with a franchise-record 107 wins.
Colorado Rockies Era (2022–Present)
On March 18, 2022, Bryant signed a seven-year, $182 million contract with the Colorado Rockies that included a full no-trade clause, and the club immediately named him its starting left fielder. The deal surprised many in baseball, as the Rockies had traded Nolan Arenado and let Trevor Story leave in free agency. Injuries quickly became a defining theme of his time in Denver, as he played only 42 games in 2022, missing extended time with a back issue and then plantar fasciitis and a bone bruise in his right foot. In 2023, heel issues and a broken finger from a Johnny Cueto pitch limited him to 80 games, and in 2024, a low back strain and a lower rib contusion held him to a .218/.323/.301 slash line with just two home runs in 133 at-bats.
Driving Style and Strengths
Bryant is known for his elite raw power and a patient approach at the plate that earned him a reputation as one of the most dangerous hitters in the National League during his prime years in Chicago. He has shown the ability to play multiple premium defensive positions, including third base and all three outfield spots, which has allowed managers to keep his bat in the lineup even as his body has battled injuries.
Notable Events and Milestones
Bryant became the first player in modern MLB history to hit three home runs and two doubles in the same game on June 27, 2016, and the same year he became just the sixth player to win both Rookie of the Year and MVP in his first two seasons. He also became the fastest Cubs player to reach 100 career home runs, surpassing Hall of Famer Ernie Banks, and he played a central role in ending Chicago’s 108-year World Series drought in 2016.
Kris Bryant Career Wins
Bryant’s most celebrated victory came in 2016, when the Chicago Cubs won the World Series by rallying from a 3-games-to-1 deficit against the Cleveland Indians. The 2016 World Series championship remains the defining team accomplishment of his career, and the same year he was honored as the National League Most Valuable Player.
MLB Highlights
Bryant won the 2015 National League Rookie of the Year Award unanimously, and in 2016 he added National League MVP honors and the Hank Aaron Award. He is a four-time MLB All-Star, having been selected in 2015, 2016, 2019, and 2021, and he also participated in the 2015 Home Run Derby as a rookie. He has earned NL Rookie of the Month, NL Player of the Month, and a host of Players Choice and other league honors throughout his career.
Other Wins and Performances
Bryant captured numerous accolades before reaching the majors, including the 2013 Golden Spikes Award, the Dick Howser Trophy, the 2014 Joe Bauman Home Run Award, the 2013 Arizona Fall League MVP, and 2014 USA Today and Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year awards. He was also a first-team All-American at the University of San Diego in 2012 and 2013.
Kris Bryant Family
Family Background and Racing Lineage
Bryant comes from a baseball family. His father, Mike Bryant, played in the minor league system of the Boston Red Sox and later coached his son, once selling his patio furniture business to take a job with a more flexible schedule that allowed him to attend Kris’s games. Bryant grew up in the Las Vegas area alongside fellow future major leaguers Bryce Harper and Joey Gallo, and the three began playing baseball together at the age of nine.
Personal Life
Bryant proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Jessica Delp, in December 2015, and the two had grown up in Las Vegas and dated since they were 14. They were married on January 7, 2017, with one of the groomsmen being Bryant’s Cubs teammate Anthony Rizzo. The couple has three sons: a son born in April 2020 and twin boys born on July 11, 2022, and they currently reside in the Denver, Colorado area.
2025 Season Performance
Bryant’s 2025 campaign with the Colorado Rockies was severely limited by ongoing back issues, as he was placed on the 10-day injured list on April 14 due to lumbar degenerative disc disease. He was transferred to the 60-day injured list on May 11 and did not appear in another big league game for the rest of the year. He finished 2025 with a slash line of .154/.195/.205 in 39 at-bats.
Despite the chronic back problems that have defined his Colorado years, Bryant has publicly stated that he has no plans to retire. The seven-year, $182 million deal he signed before the 2022 season now runs through 2028, and the Rockies will need to weigh his remaining contract, his injury history, and the organization’s broader rebuild as they plan for the coming seasons. The lingering question around Bryant is whether he can ever return to the form that made him one of baseball’s most decorated young players during his time in Chicago.