Cubs to promote Kris Bryant, 23, for MLB debut, source says

— -- CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs will promote top prospect Kris Bryant on Friday, paving the way for his major league debut, according to a source familiar with the situation.

He will take third baseman  Mike Olt's roster spot as Olt will go on the disabled list with a hairline fracture in his wrist suffered last weekend in Colorado when hit by a pitch.

Bryant, 23, is hitting .321 at Triple-A Iowa after hitting his third home run on Thursday night against New Orleans.

Bryant won minor league player of the year last season, hitting .325 with 43 home runs and 110 RBIs split between Double-A and Triple-A. He was the topic of conversation all spring as he led the Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues with nine home runs.

Bryant was the No. 2 overall pick out of San Diego in 2013 after leading all collegiate players in home runs with 31. Months later, Bryant won the MVP of the Arizona Fall League, also leading all hitters in home runs. Then came his breakout season in the minors in 2014.

Bryant became the face of a controversial rule in the collective bargaining agreement which states a player is credited with a full year of service time if he's in the majors for 172 days out of the 183-day season. By keeping a player in the minors for the first 11 days of the season, a team can retain his rights for an extra year before he becomes a free agent.

By recalling Bryant now, the Cubs have control over him until after the 2021 season instead of 2020. It prompted his agent, Scott Boras, to be critical of the Cubs during the process while the front office simply said he was going back to the minors for purely baseball-related reasons.

After the Cubs demoted Bryant in late March, the players' association put out a statement declaring it a "bad day for baseball" while the league responded with one of their own essentially telling the union to butt out of the Cubs' business. Bryant was disappointed with the demotion after having such a good spring.

"I was told it was a top-two spring training performance which was cool to hear," Bryant said of his meeting with Cubs management. "The dream is on hold for a little bit but I'm hungrier than ever."

Bryant is the latest of a core of young players to make his debut for the Cubs. He joins fellow rookie Jorge Soler on the major league team as two players who are expected to be part of the Cubs' middle of the order for a long time.

The Cubs host the San Diego Padres this weekend, but it's not known when Bryant would make his debut. The Cubs have not officially announced Bryant's addition to the 40-man roster or his call-up from Triple-A.