Kris Bryant reacts to Yadier Molina and St. Louis backlash: ‘I wasn't attacking anybody'

Share

MESA, Ariz. — A couple months ago, Kris Bryant would've been the last person anybody expected to stand at their locker on the first day of full-squad spring workouts and react to a war of words.

Bryant typically doesn't rock the boat with his comments. He prefers to let his play on the field do the talking.

But when he made an offhand comment about how St. Louis is "boring" at Cubs Convention last month, it took on a life of its own. Cardinals players responded back, calling Bryant a "loser" and defending their city. Yadier Molina had some strong comments on Instagram, saying "only stupid players and loser players make comments like the ones made by bryant."

Bryant reacted to the whole ordeal Monday — a month after the original comments — and said he's still getting backlash and was completely surprised by the ire. 

He mostly just was confused how many people misunderstood the comment and how he said it.

"I guess it's good for the rivalry; it'll be an interesting game," Bryant said. "But I think it was totally taken out of context. I think we all know that it was a comedy show with Ryan Dempster at a Cubs Convention, trying to get the fans excited for the season and I think it certainly did do that. There's nothing going on at that time of the year, so it's easy to kind of grab on to it and run from it."

Bryant said he was aware of the backlash as it happened that mid-January weekend, and acknowledged it was a "perfect storm" in terms of media and fan attention while both teams were having their fanfests and not much else was dominating headlines in the baseball world.

The Cubs star said he intends to get out and explore St. Louis more when the Cubs go there to get more of the lay of the land.

But he still doesn't understand why there was so much vitriol, especially from a guy like Molina, one of the most respected players in the game.

"Yeah I think [Yadi's response came off too strong]," Bryant said. "I wasn't attacking anybody, I wasn't attacking anybody's family, the organization, the fans. I wasn't attacking anybody. It was just totally taken out of context. You'd have to ask him what he thinks about it, if he has anything to say since then.

"It did come off a little strong, kinda caught me off guard a little bit. But hey, you never know what people will react to what you say. Everybody's got a different mindset in how they approach things and what they look at. That's how we look at it."

Despite that, Bryant said he's open to clearing the air with Molina if necessary.

"If he's willing to," Bryant said. "I don't think I said anything wrong, so I'm not gonna like take anything back. I think things were taken out of context."

Bryant may think twice about what he says in front of cameras in the future, but then again, he has always been a thoughtful speaker who considers what he says before he says it. 

This is not a guy who tries to make waves. He's just here to play baseball. 

"You never want to say the wrong thing," Bryant said. "I think I've done a good job on the field to kinda earn the respect of the players around the league. 

"I do things the right way, I treat people the right way, I treat fans the right way. At the end of the day, I know who I am as a person. I know I'm a good person."

Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Cubs easily on your device.
Contact Us