Bryant to sit for 2 days, could return Friday

CHICAGO -- Kris Bryant has tried to stay on the field for the Cubs over the past several days. The star third baseman is now doing what he can to avoid the injured list with a nagging left wrist issue.

Cubs manager David Ross announced Tuesday that Bryant has received a medical injection in the ailing wrist, taking him out of the mix for Chicago until Friday at the earliest. The Cubs have an off-day Thursday and then host the White Sox for three games this weekend.

"I'm not going to say he'll be back on Friday," Ross said before Tuesday's game against the Cardinals. "If he's not feeling well, or if he feels like it hasn't bounced back, then we'll take it from there.

"The hope is that he would be back Friday, but there's no way of knowing that until we have those conversations and he picks up a bat and swings and tests it and all those things."

The wrist issue for Bryant dates back to Wednesday in Cleveland, where he made a diving attempt at a fly ball off the bat of Cesar Hernández in the fifth inning of the Cubs' 7-2 win. Bryant was in clear discomfort immediately after the play, but he stayed in the game and belted a sixth-inning homer before being pulled.

Bryant also dealt with a back issue at the end of Summer Camp and had a minor left elbow setback earlier this season.

Over Bryant's past four games, he has gone 2-for-16 with a pair of singles, five strikeouts and no walks. On the season, he has hit .177 with a .594 OPS through 14 games as Chicago's leadoff man. Bryant's 28.6 percent strikeout rate is his highest mark since 2015.

Following a 1-for-7 showing in Monday's doubleheader, Bryant let Ross know that the wrist issue was continuing to be problematic. Evidence could be found in the third inning, when the slugger swung through a 93-mph fastball over the heart of the plate from Ricardo Sanchez for a strikeout.

"Internally, when you know what's going on and how they feel," Ross said, "you have a little bit of like, 'Man, is he right?' And so, we've had conversations. You talk. We've been communicating. He's in there getting treatment with the trainers. Talking to him daily about how he's feeling, and he really wanted to try to push through and push past it and not make excuses, which I admire.

"But, I think at some point, you have to kind of be real with yourself and honest, when your performance is not where you want it to be."

After Monday's doubleheader, Cubs infielder David Bote -- Bryant's backup at third base -- said the players have nothing but respect for teammates who try to play through being banged up.

"Even if you only have 50-60-80 percent to give," Bote said, "you're giving what you have to give, and I think at the end of the day, that's awesome. And you respect that from each other. I think that's what we're doing as a team, and you go to fight for guys like that.

"You want to fight with guys that, when they're hurt, they're still gutting it up and playing. That's just respect, but also, too, it's knowing when it is to say, 'Hey, this is kind of bothering me.'"

Bryant took that approach on Monday night, and will not hope the next few days of recovery can avoid a trip to the injured list.

"I listen to the players and the doctors and the experts," Ross said. "If we thought it was best for Kris to go on the IL, we would put him there. But I think the best thing for Kris and the Cubs right now is to kind of wait and see, so we'll wait and see."

Souza to injured list
Also prior to Tuesday's game against the Cardinals, the Cubs placed outfielder Steven Souza Jr. on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain. Chicago selected the contract of utility man Hernán Pérez to take Souza's place on the active roster and moved injured lefty Brad Wieck (left knee) to the 45-day IL to vacate a spot on the 40-man roster for Pérez.