Bryant suffered 'mild to moderate' ankle sprain on freak play

All the Chicago Cubs can do right now is cross their fingers.

Reigning NL MVP Kris Bryant sustained a "mild to moderate" sprain of his right ankle on a freak play in the fifth inning of Wednesday's game, the Cubs announced following their 8-4 loss to the Washington Nationals.

Although X-rays returned negative, the team remains unsure about whether a disabled-list stint will be required, reports Carrie Muskat of MLB.com. Muskat added that Bryant won't play on Thursday, regardless of whether he's placed on the DL or not.

"It's unfortunate," manager Joe Maddon told reporters, according to Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago. "Hopefully, it's just going to be a couple days. The way I look at it is get him off his feet literally for a couple days."

Bryant sustained the injury on an otherwise ordinary play, when he ranged just to the right of the third-base bag to catch Matt Wieters' pop-up. As he squeezed the out, Bryant's foot caught the edge of the base and his ankle turned.

After hopping around in pain, Bryant was unable to put weight on his ankle, and was helped off the field and directly into the clubhouse by manager Joe Maddon and the Cubs' trainer.

Losing Bryant - who was named Rookie of the Year in 2015 before taking home MVP honors last season - for any amount of time would be a significant blow to Chicago. The 25-year-old has been a consistent bright spot on an otherwise inconsistent club; he came into Wednesday's game hitting .259/.393/.515 with a team-high 16 homers and 16 doubles, as well as a league-leading 53 walks.

Chicago has been dealing with the injury bug of late; regulars Ben Zobrist, Jason Heyward, and Kyle Hendricks are all on the DL nursing various injuries.

The defending champions dropped back to .500 with Wednesday's loss in Washington - yet thanks to Milwaukee's defeat in Cincinnati, Chicago remains just a game back of the first-place Brewers heading into play Thursday.