The Cubs added Bryant to the roster for Friday's game against San Diego. Bryant is batting cleanup and playing third base against James Shields and the Padres.
Much was made of Bryant's demotion to Triple-A at the end of spring training, as the thought was that the Cubs were trying to delay the start of his service time.The Cubs, though, need a third baseman since Mike Olt could miss at least three weeks with a hairline fracture in his wrist after getting hit with a pitch last weekend.
Although the Cubs wouldn't confirm that Bryant was coming, their top prospect sent out a tweet on Thursday all but confirming it.
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Bryant and agent Scott Boras made it clear they were not happy that he opened the season in the minors. He had a dominant spring training, but by waiting to call him up, Chicago gained an extra year of control before he can hit free agency.
Friday is Day 13 of the season, which means Bryant could at most accumulate 171 days of major league service. Because 172 days counts as a year, keeping him in the minor leagues through Thursday ensured he would not be eligible for free agency until after the 2021 season.
Bryant, of course, batted .425 this spring and led the Major Leagues with nine home runs -- and hit two more in exhibition games that didn't count. He had hit three homers in seven games with Triple-A Iowa and was batting .321.
Chicago took two of three meetings with the Cincinnati Reds to open this six- game homestand and is coming off Wednesday's 5-0 victory. Travis Wood hurled seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball, struck out seven and walked two.
Anthony Rizzo hit a two-run homer and both Dexter Fowler and Starlin Castro had two hits for the Cubs, winners in five of the last seven games. Jorge Soler, Miguel Montero and Jonathan Herrera all drove in runs.
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Jason Hammel gets the nod for Maddon's club Friday and made his season debut in Saturday's 9-5 win over the Rockies at Coors Field. He was touched for three runs and eight hits in six innings.
Hammel has faced the Padres 13 times (12 starts) in his career and the right- hander has a 4-3 record to go along with a 5.01 ERA.
The Padres, meanwhile, revamped their roster this past offseason in hopes of competing in the NL West and are off to a 6-4 start. They have won five of their last six games and took two of three meetings versus the Arizona Diamondbacks.
In Wednesday's 3-2 win over the D-backs at Petco Park, former D-back Justin Upton snapped a 2-2 tie with a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Upton finished with three hits and two runs scored for San Diego, which went 5-2 on its homestand.
Closer Craig Kimbrel struck out two and worked around a hit in the ninth for his third save and Joaquin Benoit tossed a scoreless eighth for the win. Brandon Morrow started for the Padres and was decent through seven innings, allowing two runs and seven hits with five strikeouts and a walk.
San Diego, which will visit Colorado for four games on this trip, hopes newcomer James Shields pitches well in Friday's opener at Wrigley Field. Shields did not record a decision in his debut on April 6 at Los Angeles and gave up two runs in six innings of a 6-3 loss. He fanned eight batters.
The right-hander cracked the win column in Saturday's 10-2 pounding of San Francisco, as he limited the defending World Series champions to a run and three hits across seven innings with seven K's and a walk. Shields will make his second career start against the Cubs San Diego won four of seven meetings with Chicago last season.
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