Alex Bregman is going to do everything he can to get back on the field and help the Cubs on their road to a World Series.
There are no guarantees, of course.
But all signs were positive Tuesday at Wrigley Field that the star third baseman could return from a freak injury and make an impact for this team — not only in the playoffs, but possibly even before the regular season ends this weekend.
“I think Alex is going to be fine; I really do,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “He wants to play. From the second that he’s driving home from Cincinnati, he’s planning on playing.
“He knew he had to get some good news from the doctors. He got that good news. He’s going to do everything in his power and as long as symptoms don’t increase or happen as he increases activity, I think you’re going to see him play.”
Bregman has multiple fractures in his left cheek after being struck by a foul ball off the bat of teammate Michael Busch during Sunday’s game in Cincinnati. Bregman was standing near the on-deck circle behind home plate when he was hit in a fluke incident that certainly could fall under the “Cubbie Occurrence” banner.
He has visited several doctors over the last couple of days and won’t need surgery to correct the fractures. The main hurdle right now is swelling and pain management, but the Cubs have said his vision is intact. The team is working through possible options to protect his face from potentially getting hit again, including a guard on his helmet.
Bregman was already active Tuesday at Wrigley Field, going through a light workout in the weight room and tracking pitches on the Trajekt machine.
The Cubs will ramp up his activity as the week goes along, but they did not rule out a possible return to the lineup before the regular season ends this Sunday in Boston (weather permitting, of course).
“When everything was going down on Sunday afternoon, I think we all thought the worst case might be a possibility,” Jed Hoyer said. “And all the news since then has been really good. … We have to take it one step at a time. We have to see how he’s doing when he’s moving around and active.
“… It’s about how he [feels]. He’s going to have to stand in on Trajekt and he’s going to have to take groundballs and run. Those are the steps. That’s why I said I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. But at this point, he can progress to do all those things.”
Bregman’s presence around the clubhouse and at the field Tuesday was already a shot in the arm for a Cubs team that is one win — or one Diamondbacks loss — away from clinching a postseason spot for the second straight year.
“His reactions to everything has been uplifting just in being relentlessly aggressive and positive and speaking out — all the things he’s excited to do and turn it into,” Nico Hoerner said. “Just his own mentality kind of leads the group in that way in how to handle it.”
Counsell had a simple assessment of Bregman seeing the veteran Tuesday.
“He’s completely himself,” the Cubs manager said. “He can’t sit still. He’s all over the room. Those are really good signs. He is that — he is himself. He’s talking shit, excuse my language. But that part is a good sign.”
It was a rough first half for Bregman after signing a five-year, $175 million contract in the offseason. But he has turned things around over the last few months and completely changed the narrative.
Bregman has the fifth-best OPS (.978) and slugging percentage (.600) in the majors since the All-Star Break, forming a dynamic tandem with superstar center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong in the Cubs’ second-half lineup.
[How a ‘relentless’ Alex Bregman found his groove with Cubs]
The 32-year-old veteran also plays stellar defense at third base and is a key part of the team’s run prevention.
The potential return is adding another chapter into what has become a successful first season in Chicago for Bregman.
“Real toughness,” Hoyer said. “He doesn’t look great, that’s for sure. But no one loves to play more than him — I can say that with no equivocation. I’ve never had a player that loves baseball as much as he does. He just wants to play all the time.
“Right away when you first hear from him after, he’s gonna try to find a way to do it. I think there were scenarios where there was no way it was going to happen if he needed surgery and things like that. But he didn’t, so I think now he has the chance to get out there. There’s nothing he wants to do more. So yeah, it’s impressive.”
