Alex Bregman Slumps to .233 in 40 Cubs Games
alex bregman has spent 40 games with the Cubs and owns a.233/.328/.333 slash line, with three home runs and 13 RBI. Craig Counsell said he is not worried about the slow start, even after Bregman’s production lagged well behind his own early pace from last season in Boston.
Craig Counsell on Bregman
“Alex is probably off to a slower start by his standards,’’ Counsell said at the outset of the weekend. “That makes me happy in a weird way, that we’ve got some good Alex Bregman coming here, but he’s definitely impacted [this team].’’
That view matches the numbers, which have been uneven for a player the Cubs brought in to handle third base. Bregman has five doubles, one triple and 13 RBI through 40 games, and he did not hit his first home run until his 22nd game in a Cubs uniform.
Bregman’s Recent Line
The latest stretch has not changed the larger picture much. During the Cubs’ 10-game winning streak, Bregman posted a.222/.349/.278/.627 line with two doubles, three RBI and seven walks.
On Saturday night, he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, reached on an error and lined out in his other two at-bats. That kind of night has been part of the slow start Counsell was describing, but it has not pushed the manager away from the idea that the bat will come around.
Alex Bregman and the Cubs Order
Bregman said the adjustment is still underway. “Yeah, I feel like I’ve started quick, maybe two years,’’ he said in the postgame clubhouse. “So, just continue to work at it. Continue to grind away and be confident in the fact that it’s going to happen. Keep working, keep after it, and the end of the year, be right where we want.’’
His comparison point from last season is stark: through 40 games in Boston, he had a.319/.392/.581/.974 line with nine home runs, 15 doubles, 31 RBI and 29 runs. The Cubs are already 40 games into learning what his bat adds in their lineup, and that evaluation is playing out while Michael Conforto’s recent run and Moises Ballesteros’s slide have started to shape how Counsell allocates at-bats.
Counsell said he believes in using the hot hand less than some managers, but added that Conforto has changed his mind lately. He also said Ballesteros is “not quite on it,” and that if he could play 10 guys he would have played 10 guys.
