Cubs' Bryant strikes out 3 times, goes hitless in MLB debut

Kris Bryant walked up to the plate to a thunderous ovation from the Cubs faithful for his first major-league at-bat Friday afternoon in Chicago. The warm reception, however, preceded a somewhat uninspired debut from the 23-year-old third baseman.

The highly touted prospect, called up ahead of the game, struck out in his first three plate appearances in the major leagues, tormented for much of the afternoon by San Diego Padres ace James Shields. In Bryant's first at-bat, Shields threw him a first-pitch cutter before getting him to swing through a pair of changeups. 

(Courtesy: MLB.com)

Bryant made some contact his second time up, fouling off a pair of pitches and working the count full after falling down 0-2, but once again struck out swinging on Shields's signature changeup. It was much of the same his next time up as Shields fanned Bryant for the third time in the fifth inning with runners on second and third.

Bryant finally put the ball in play in his fourth plate appearance, when he grounded out to third base against reliever Dale Thayer in the seventh inning, but finished his debut 0-for-4 in a 5-4 loss to the Padres.

"I'm sure he's going to feel a bit better tomorrow coming out here, although he looked pretty good today," Cubs manager Joe Maddon told MLB.com's Carrie Muskat. "He was facing a pretty tough starting pitcher in Shields. James made it tough on him.

"I know how forceful [his swing] is. I watched in batting practice. It was pretty fun to watch. Believe me, he's going to be fine. He's going to be very productive. That's just one game."

Despite his lackluster performance at the plate, Bryant looked quite comfortable at third base, making a number of routine plays while also stealing a base hit with a diving grab in the fifth inning.

(Courtesy: MLB.com)

"We did bring him up for his glove, didn't we?" manager Joe Maddon joked after the game.

Bryant, who batted cleanup in his big-league debut, led all players during spring training with nine homers, but began the year at Triple-A Iowa. The strategic timing of his promotion enables the Cubs to control his services for an extra year. The former first-round pick went deep three times in seven games with Iowa and hit a minor league-leading 43 homers in 2014.