It’s still unknown how long the Cubs might be without Alex Bregman.
But the third baseman shared a couple pictures to Instagram in the hours after he took a foul ball to the face and was forced out of the Cubs’ win over the Reds on Sunday in Cincinnati, providing some visual insight, at least, into the severity of the injury.
Bregman shared a picture of his face Sunday evening and another Monday morning.
Though the Cubs need only a single win or a single Diamondbacks loss over the regular season’s final week to secure a spot in the postseason, being without Bregman for any amount of time would be impactful at the close of the campaign and the beginning of the playoffs.
The team is locked in a tie with the Padres at the top of the NL wild-card standings, those two just a game ahead of the Phillies. So there’s still much to determine with a half dozen games remaining when it comes to the Cubs’ playoff seed and where they’ll play an opening-round playoff series.
A Cubs lineup without Bregman would be one without its second best hitter this season, particularly since his bat caught fire around the All-Star break. He has a 1.006 OPS, with 18 doubles and 19 home runs, in his last 61 games. Bregman has also been a key figure in the team’s best-in-baseball defense, the Gold Glover putting up the best defensive numbers of his career.
Bregman, who signed a five-year free-agent deal worth $175 million last offseason, is also one of the most accomplished postseason hitters in baseball history. The two-time World Series champ ranks in the top 10 all-time in postseason games played, at-bats, home runs and runs scored.
The Cubs begin their penultimate series of the regular season, against the Marlins, on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field. The wild-card round of the playoffs begins a week later, next Tuesday.