Chicago Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman had high expectations this season, but his struggles have mirrored the team’s recent freefall.
Despite having two 10-game winning streaks this season, the Cubs are currently sitting at 34-42 on the season and are 4-6 in their last 10 games after snapping a 10-game losing streak late last month.
Bregman’s struggles in that department have been a driving force behind the Cubs’ offensive woes, and he was blunt when discussing his struggles at the plate.
“I haven’t executed all year with runners in scoring position. I’ve been God awful,” he said. “So I need to be better, and if I’m better over the last however many games, we probably win the majority of them. I’ve had plenty of opportunities with guys in scoring position, and I need to be better.”
Sunday’s 2-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants was another showcase of Bregman’s struggles. He came up to the plate in the eighth inning with nobody out and Kevin Alcántara on third base, and he immediately lined into a 3-6 double play to erase the scoring threat.
In the 10th inning Bregman came up with the tying run on third base, but he popped out to the shortstop to strand Pete Crow-Armstrong and to leave the Cubs with a ninth consecutive series loss.
“It’s been terrible and I need to play better. Offensively it’s been awful,” he said.
If the playoffs began today the Cubs would be on the outside looking in, and their struggles with runners in scoring position have been a big part of the reason why the team has consistently faltered in close games throughout their recent run.
Bregman is batting .173 with runners in scoring position this season, with zero home runs. He has had 75 at-bats this season with runners in scoring position, the most on the team, and is slugging just .187 in those appearances. He has also struck out 19 times.
If the Cubs hope to bounce back, they’re going to need players like Bregman to improve dramatically in key situations, and he said the only path to recovering his form is to continue pushing forward both on and off the field.
“I’ve failed many times in this game. I’ve struggled before. I’ve started slow before. I started fast before,” he said. “And when you’re struggling, there’s only one way forward and that’s straight head on through it.”
