Chicago Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman sustained multiple facial fractures after getting hit on his left cheek by a foul ball during Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds.
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But the Cubs won’t be putting him on the injured list, manager Craig Counsell said Tuesday.
Bregman is not ruled out for the regular season. He still has significant swelling in his face and around his left eye that must improve. His vision seemed to be OK when checked by an eye doctor. Counsell noted that Bregman will also need to get through practice scenarios and see how he feels running.
“But all things considered, he’s in a good place,” Counsell said. “So we’re going to just have to progress over the next couple days and see where that takes us.
“I mean, he’s completely himself. He can’t sit still. He’s all over the room. Those are really good signs.”
Counsell said Bregman worked out in the weight room Tuesday and tracked pitches off the Trajekt machine. His return to game action will be dependent on how he feels. The biggest risk to Bregman is taking another ball off his face. Whenever he does return, Bregman is expected to have some sort of modification to his helmet to better protect the fractures in his left cheek.
“His pain is in a pretty good place right now,” Counsell said. “He says, ‘I feel really good,’ and you can’t fake that. His mood is good, so his pain is in a good place. … I think Alex is going to be fine, I really do.
“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 was standing on the grass near the on-deck circle during Michael Busch’s at-bat in the fourth inning Sunday when a foul ball caromed off the dirt and struck him flush on his cheek. Bregman immediately dropped his bat and grabbed his face as he was ushered into the clubhouse by a Cubs trainer. He was taken to a local hospital in Cincinnati to undergo X-rays and CT scans, which revealed the facial fractures.
“When everything was going down on Sunday afternoon, we all thought the worst case might be a possibility,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Tuesday. “All the news since then has been really good. He’s had a lot of different doctors’ appointments and they’ve been positive. 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, but he’s in good spirits.”
Bregman’s teammates were glad to see him around the clubhouse Tuesday.
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“Just a normal game, normal moment and then instantly into something obviously scary, when you think about it, sure, it has implications for the team, but you see a friend just get hit in the face and leaving, it’s awful,” second baseman Nico Hoerner said. “I think his reaction to everything has been uplifting, just in being relentlessly aggressive and positive and speaking out — all those things he’s excited to do and turn it into and just his own mentality kind of leads the group in that way and how to handle it. But yeah, a super jarring thing.”
This is another blow for a Cubs team that has dealt with untimely injuries this year. And it’s reminiscent of this time last season when right-hander Cade Horton sustained a right rib fracture days before the start of the playoffs. He was unable to return before the Cubs were eliminated in the National League Division Series.
For however many days Bregman is sidelined while the swelling continues to dissipate, playing time at third base will go to either Matt Shaw or Pedro Ramírez, the latter of whom got the start there in Tuesday’s series opener against the Miami Marlins.
Bregman, 32, has been on a tear in the second half. Since the All-Star break, Bregman is hitting .296 with a .378 on-base percentage and .978 OPS with 17 doubles, 17 home runs and 48 RBIs. He’s provided Gold Glove Award-caliber defense at third base, including career highs in Outs Above Average (9) and Defensive Runs Saved (15).