Alex Bregman did not want the Cubs to ease him into October from the bench. With Sunday carrying no postseason consequence, the third baseman still asked Craig Counsell for another start, looking for a few more live at-bats before Chicago opens its National League Wild Card Series against the Padres on Tuesday.
His answer came quickly at Tropicana Field. In just his second game back after suffering multiple fractures in his left cheek, Bregman drove a first-pitch sinker into the left-field seats in the first inning, then lined an 0-1 sweeper to the same part of the ballpark in the third. The two homers, his 27th and 28th of the season, left little doubt that the ball is again coming into focus for one of Chicago’s most important bats.
Counsell said before the game that Bregman was eager to play, and the Cubs gave him the opportunity as their designated hitter. That role may remain his assignment when the postseason begins. Bregman has not yet returned to third base in either game since coming back from the injury, though he did take ground balls during Saturday’s workout at Tropicana Field.
The manager’s decision is not only about whether Bregman can make the plays. It is about protecting a player who was struck in the face by a foul ball off Michael Busch’s bat while waiting in the on-deck circle on Sept. 20 in Cincinnati. Counsell said Bregman has improved day by day, but stressed that the club must weigh the value of his glove against the possibility of another impact and, in turn, the risk of losing his at-bats.
Those at-bats have carried Chicago for long stretches of the second half. Before the injury, Bregman had produced a .298 average, 19 home runs, 18 doubles, 53 RBIs and a 1.000 OPS across his previous 60 games. His overall OPS rose from .670 to .801 during that run. Entering the regular-season finale, his 3.3 FanGraphs WAR since the All-Star break trailed only Pete Crow-Armstrong’s 4.7, Fernando Tatis Jr.’s 3.7 and Elly De La Cruz’s 3.6.
Friday’s doubleheader at Fenway Park had been a quieter return. Chicago’s offense fought difficult winds tied to a Nor’easter, and Bregman went 0-for-4 in the opener. Still, he said then that his face felt fine and that he was seeing the baseball clearly. More than anything, he wanted to regain the ordinary rhythm of playing, without allowing the injury to occupy his thoughts in the box.
Sunday offered that rhythm in full. The Cubs moved from the weather at Fenway to the controlled setting in St. Petersburg, and Bregman’s first two trips to the plate looked like the work of a hitter preparing for a postseason assignment rather than testing a repaired face.
Chicago still has a decision to make about its third-base alignment against San Diego. Bregman’s health will guide it, and Counsell will continue to evaluate him daily. But the offensive question has already been answered: Bregman wanted the final regular-season at-bats, and he used them to show he is ready for October.
