Kris Bryant was making the publicity rounds quite often before professional sports took an extended hiatus. The Chicago Cubs third baseman seemed to be finding new confidence in front of microphones and cameras during the team’s spring training. Among the many topics he discussed was the upcoming birth of his first child. Now the day has arrived, and Bryant is officially a proud papa.
Bryant has been talking about the impending arrival of his son since he announced on Instagram last November that his wife Jessica was pregnant. Kyler Lee was born last Tuesday, and Bryant took to Twitter to show off his new kid earlier this week.
While Bryant’s statements to the media this winter were mostly about his thoughts on still being a member of the Cubs , he managed to slide in comments about his excitement over being a father into conversations as well.
As Paul Kasabian of Bleacher Report points out, the unifying thread in Bryant’s comments about Jessica’s pregnancy was that he was quite excited to be a dad.
“I think this is really what I’ve been put on this Earth to do, is be a dad. Obviously I play baseball pretty good, but I’m just so excited [for] this new journey with my wife and my family. Honestly, I think this is going to be one of the best years of my life.”
Of course, Bryant made those comments before the cancellation of baseball and most other activities involving large groups of people due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Kasabian added that Bryant talked about Kyler not following in his footsteps. The Chicago Cubs star said he thought his son would go on to be a musician. The slugger said his boy was going to be a “rock star.”
Bryant went on to say he was going to put whatever musical instruments he could find into the kid’s hands to get him to find a love of music. The Cubs’ player later added that his dad would likely give Kyler a baseball bat and he’d forget all about music.
As has been the case for most people during the social distancing regimen, the Bryants are having to celebrate the birth of their first child while sequestered from the rest of the world. They did get quite a few revelers on social media commenting on the birth announcement, including former Chicago Cubs great Fergie Jenkins and the official MLB Twitter account.
??Kyler Lee Bryant?? 4/7/20 pic.twitter.com/EyGflZPdE1
— Kris Bryant (@KrisBryant_23) April 11, 2020