Injured Rockies outfielder Kris Bryant is not close to returning to the baseball field but manager Bud Black said Tuesday that it’s premature to speculate that Bryant might miss the rest of the season.

“I don’t think we want to go there. It’s Aug. 9,” Black said before the Rockies hosted the Cardinals at Coors Field.

Bryant has played in only 42 games of Colorado’s 111 games this season, first missing time because of a sore lower back, and then going back on the injured list on Aug. 1 because of plantar fasciitis in his left foot.

“He’s in a boot. He’s getting treatment. Really nothing to report other than that,” Black said. “He’s going to continue to work with our trainers to hope to feel better.”

Black also said that Bryant is not doing any baseball activities.

When it was suggested to Black that some players recover from plantar fasciitis only by completely shutting down for the season, Black countered by saying: “Some players have had it and they say the best course of action is to play.”

Movin’ on up. Three of the Rockies’ former first-round draft choices are moving up the minor-league ladder.

Outfielder Zac Veen, Colorado’s No. 1 prospect, has been promoted from High-A Spokane to Double-A Hartford and was expected to be in the Yard Goats lineup Tuesday night. Right-hander Riley Pint, the fourth overall pick in 2016, has moved up from Double-A to Triple-A Albuquerque, and first baseman Michael Toglia (23rd, 2019) was also promoted from Double-A to Triple-A.

Veen, who was selected ninth overall in the 2020 draft, hit .269 with 11 home runs and a Northwest League-leading 60 RBIs for Spokane. He also led the league in runs (72) and stolen bases (50).

Pint, who briefly retired from baseball last season, before re-starting his career during spring training, was 2-1 with a 4.64 ERA and a 1.406 WHIP over 38 appearances (42 2/3 innings) with the Yard Goats.

Toglia, a switch-hitter who already has major-league defensive skills, was hitting .234 with 23 homers, a .794 OPS, and 66 RBIs for Hartford.

On Deck
Cardinals LHP Jose Quintana (3-5, 3.39 ERA) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (7-7, 4.56 ERA)
6:40 p.m. Wednesday, Coors Field
TV: ATTRM
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM

Freeland is pitching well and has won each of his last three starts,  posting a 2.41 ERA with 20 strikeouts and only five walks. He led Colorado to its only win during a five-game series at San Diego last week, allowing two runs on six hits across 5 2/3 innings. The lefty is 3-0 with a 4.75 ERA over his last six starts at Coors Field. Freeland has pitched well against St. Louis, going 0-2 with a 3.12 ERA in three career starts. Freeland did not get a decision in the Rockies’ 3-2 win over St. Louis at Coors Field last season but pitched six scoreless innings.

Quintana, acquired from Pittsburgh near the trade deadline, made his Cardinals debut in the nightcap of a doubleheader last Thursday against the Cubs, allowing just one hit — a first-inning homer — in a dominant six-inning performance. The southpaw will make his seventh career start (eighth appearance) vs. the Rockies. He suffered the loss on July 15 in the Pirates’ 12-3 loss at Coors Field. Five of his seven career appearances against the Rockies have come at Coors Field, where he’s 2-2 with a 5.93 ERA.

Trending: Shortstop Jose Iglesias entered Tuesday night’s game slashing .362/.398/.514 with 12 multi-hit games through his last 28 games. Iglesias leads the majors with 24 infield hits, four ahead of any other player.

At issue: Utility player Garrett Hampson was on a hot streak, having recorded a hit in nine consecutive starts from July 9-26, hitting .355 over that span. But then he went hitless in five of his last six starts. Hampson was 1-for-13 with three strikeouts on Colorado’s most recent road trip.

Pitching probables
Thursday: Rockies RHP German Marquez (6-9, 5.18) vs. Cardinals RHP Dakota Hudson (6-6, 4.20), 1:10 p.m., ATTRM
Friday: D-Backs RHP Zach Davies (2-4, 4.03) at Rockies RHP Antonio Senzatela (3-6, 4.68), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM