ARLINGTON, Texas — From the outside, some might look at the red-hot Cubs and imagine that new third baseman Alex Bregman was off to the kind of start he had in Boston last season. They would be wrong.
Through 40 games last season, Bregman posted a slash line of .319/.392/.581/.974, with nine home runs, 15 doubles, 31 RBI and 29 runs for the Red Sox. He has not come close to replicating those numbers so far with the Cubs.
In 40 games with the Cubs, Bregman has posted a very modest slash line of .233/.328/.333/.661, with three home runs, five doubles, a triple, and 13 RBI. He did not hit his first home run until his 22nd game in a Cubs uniform, and was quiet at the plate during the team’s latest 10-game winning streak: He posted a slash line of .222/.349/.278/.627, with his only extra-base hits being two doubles. He has three RBI and seven walks.
On Saturday night, Bregman went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, reaching on an error and lining out in his other two at-bats.
“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].’’
Bregman was sitting at his locker along with Nico Hoerner in a sparsely populated postgame clubhouse, both living up to their reputations for accountability. He noted that, yes, he had the best start of his career in Boston, but can point to a number of other slow starts as well.
“Yeah, I feel like I’ve started quick, maybe two years,’’ Bregman said. “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.’’
Conforto gets another start
Michael Conforto, whose week began with a pinch-hit walk-off home run against the Reds on Monday night, was in the starting lineup for the third consecutive game Saturday. After batting sixth against the Reds on Thursday and reaching base all four times with a single, double, home run and walk, Conforto moved into the No. 2 spot Friday and hit a bloop double, walked, and singled. That’s five hits in seven at-bats, and an encore start, again in the No. 2 slot.
Does Counsell believe in going with the hot hand?
“Yeah,’’ Counsell said. “I mean, I would say, probably not that much, but Michael changed my mind today. I think Michael’s just been on it. I mean, I don’t think there’s any question about that.’’
Conforto’s playing time is coming at the expense of Moises Ballesteros, who has cooled off after a torrid start. The Cubs are 20-7 in games in which Ballesteros starts, but over his last nine games he is just 2-for-31 (.065).
“[Ballesteros] is not quite on it, so it makes it a little bit easier,’’ Counsell said. “But if I could play 10 guys today, I would have played 10 guys. I know that.
“It’s just tough to ignore what Michael is doing. We have to find a spot for him. I think Moises sees what Michael is doing.’’
The Dodgers signed Conforto to a one-year, $17 million deal in 2025 to be their everyday left fielder but he got off to a horrific start (.156 in April) and hovered around a .200 average all season. When he batted just .179 over his last nine games, the Dodgers left him off their postseason roster.