From weddings to weight loss: What Kris Bryant and other Cubs have been up to in the offseason
The offseason sometimes means travel for Kris Bryant and his wife, Jessica, who enjoy taking leisurely trips to unwind and mentally recharge
This year the couple has been putting in miles for a different reason.
“This offseason was kind of the wedding offseason,” Bryant said before Friday’s opening ceremony at the Cubs Convention at the Sheraton Grand Chicago. “We had like four or five different weddings — California, (Anthony) Rizzo’s in Miami — so we really didn’t get to go on too many vacations.
“We did a couple of trips to California, but maybe next offseason we’ll do something fun.”
Bryant was one of several teammates who helped Rizzo and his bride, the former Emily Vakos, celebrate their nuptials.
“He’s just getting back from his honeymoon, which is crazy,” Bryant said. “A three-week honeymoon. It was a lot of fun and it was cool to see him super happy.”
Bryant also has made time for his friend and fellow Las Vegas native, Bryce Harper, but he insists the subject of Harper’s much scrutinized free agency never comes up.
“Honestly, we’ve hung out a handful of times but I have no clue where he’s going to play; I don’t ask him that,” Bryant said. “It’s a personal question. I’d love for him to play here, but I try to be a good friend to him and not talk about baseball when he doesn’t want to talk about it.”
Otherwise, Bryant has been focused on getting healthy again. Shoulder inflammation cost him 50 games last summer.
The goal was to “get my shoulder right and I think I definitely have accomplished that. So I’m excited for the season and ready for it to start.”
Here’s what some of the other Cubs have been up to this offseason:
Willson Contreras
The catcher laughed about the picture of his much thinner self that he posted on Instagram as part of the #10YearChallenge, a trend in which people contrast pictures of themselves from 10 years ago and today.
“I felt like (I was strong), but I was super thin. That was where everything started. That was my first year signing as a professional. Looking back (from then) to now I’m really proud. I really like how much change I make in my body,” said Contreras, who’s more muscular these days.
He works out twice a day, five days a week, and changed his diet.
“I don’t drink any kind of soda, I don’t eat any type of bread. I try to eat a lot of protein, a lot of eggs, a lot of salads — a lot of water, for sure. I take amino acids, that helps, too.”
Contreras recently visited relatives in his native Venezuela. He worries for his and their safety in a country that has experienced economic and political strife.
“It’s worse, worse than before,” he said. “It’s really sad to go there and see how many kids are in the street asking for food, how many old people are in the street asking for food, how many people are dying because we have no security.
“There’s a lot of people getting killed on the street and it’s really risky to go there, but I only do it because I have my whole family there. I have to security to go there and that’s really bad for me,” Contreras said.
Ian Happ
It’s no GoPro video, but a painting the Cubs outfielder commissioned can give fans a glimpse of what Wrigley Field looks like from his viewpoint.
“I kept having this experience over and over where I would bring people on the field for the first time,” Happ said. “They would be awe-inspired, and I just thought to myself, ‘What can we do to bring fans this experience?’ ”
Happ admired some cityscapes by artist Patrick Vale that showed every detail down to each window in each skyscraper. Happ asked Vale to render Wrigley in the same way from four different perspectives. Sales from prints of the original works will go to Cubs Charities.
“What he’s done, drawing every (Cubs) fan by hand, every blade of grass individually, it is so incredible,” Happ said.
Pedro Strop
Strop’s hamstring strain from late in the season has contributed to some added pounds.
“When I got hurt I couldn’t run, I couldn’t do much, so I was just eating in the offseason,” he said.
He said the hamstring has is “100 percent” healthy, as evidenced by the running and training he has been doing.
“I lose the weight, like 8 or 10 pounds already, which is good, and I keep working on it.”
Carl Edwards Jr.
When Edwards is not working out, he’s found time to squeeze in a cruise to the Dominican Republic and a trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C.
But otherwise his life has been about his young children.
“I have a daughter that’s 3, my son just turned 6 months (Thursday). I’ve actually learned a lot over the past couple months with my son. It’s been very fun,” Edwards said. “I think I’ve lived my life so far. I have to keep doing what I’m doing (on the field) to better their life. That’s pretty much what keeps me going.”
Joe Maddon
Maddon’s Hazleton (Pa.) Integration Project has received two national honors for its immigration advocacy work: the Renewal award, sponsored by the Atlantic and Allstate, and the Keepers of the American Dream, given by the National Immigration Forum.
“We’re making progress; it’s slow progress, if you look at our country,” Maddon said. “I’ll take some slow progress. As long as it’s rolling in the right direction I feel good about it.”
Maddon also helped host a “Thanksmas” dinner for St. Leonard’s Ministries on the West Side, where some former convicts were served meals.
“It was one of the most stirring evenings I’ve ever had doing our Thanksmas. The one gentleman (who had been in prison) gave his testimony and he had me crying. Heartfelt, totally contrite, he wants to change his life. (He’s) been in institutions for 30-plus years. He spoke well of us and the Cubs and it almost buckled me a little bit.”
Maddon added, “If you ever think no one’s paying attention or it doesn’t really matter, moments like that indicate, no, we’ve got to keep doing this.”
Meanwhile, the Cubs manager has been reading self-help and other books on his iPad.
“I was into ‘Managing Millennials for Dummies.’ That’s been somewhat helpful.”
Twitter @_phil_thompson
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