Cubs To Call Up Kris Bryant On Friday

(CBS) Kris Bryant's time has come.

The consensus top-rated prospect in baseball, Bryant will be called up by the Cubs on Friday. It will mark the culmination of much speculation and anticipation, as Bryant is viewed as the team's cornerstone of the future after tearing up the minor leagues in 2014, when he hit a combined 43 homers and batted .325 across Double-A and Triple-A.

Bryant himself confirmed the report with a tweet saying his "dream is coming true." ESPN first reported the news.

In spring training, Bryant led baseball with nine homers before he was sent back down to Triple-A for service time reasons. With 12 days of the new MLB season gone by, Bryant won't accumulate a full service year in 2015, so the Cubs will retain contract control of him through 2021 instead of 2020. To accumulate a full season of service, a player must be in the  majors for 172 of the 183-day baseball season.

Bryant was amid the center of much debate in spring training, as Scott Boras, his powerful agent, questioned whether Cubs ownership really wanted to win if it didn't have Bryant on the Opening Day roster. Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein fired back by saying he wouldn't let an agent or outsiders affect a decision that was well within the rules of the collective bargaining agreement and that never in his career had he had a rookie debut on Opening Day.

Epstein and Cubs management also maintained Bryant returned to Triple-A for more baseball seasoning, but he was never expected to be down long.

The 6-foot-5, 215-pound Bryant will take the roster spot of Mike Olt, who's head to the disabled list with a wrist injury. Bryant figures to play third base initially and for most of this season, though a corner outfield spot could be in his long-term future as well. The Cubs experimented with him in the outfield in spring training, but their bigger need is at third base this season with Dexter Fowler entrenched in center field, Jorge Soler entrenched in right field, a capable platoon in left field and a the hole at the hot corner that Bryant's been left to fill.

The Cubs drafted Bryant with the second overall pick in the 2013 amateur draft. He's a native of Las Vegas and played his college ball at San Diego, where he was several national player of the year honors as a junior in 2013.

The Cubs haven't yet officially announced any Bryant move, as of late Thursday night.

The Cubs host the Padres on Friday at 1:20 p.m. San Diego right-hander James Shields is scheduled to opposes Chicago right-handed Jason Hammel.

The Cubs are 5-3 and tied with the Cardinals for first place in the NL Central.