Alex Bregman stays under microscope, sparking Cubs fan frustration after failing to beat out bobbled grounder

Alex Bregman wishes he had run a little harder Sunday in Milwaukee.

Thanks to a bobble, a seemingly routine ground out to shortstop in the sixth inning turned into a chance for a baserunner on a day when runs were at a premium against an effective Brewers pitching staff. But Bregman, far from busting it down the first-base line, couldn’t take advantage and was thrown out, much to the dismay of Cubs fans already frustrated with a lack of offensive results from the big-ticket free agent.

The play even drew something of an admonishment from Cubs television announcer Jim Deshaies.

Asked Monday if he regretted not running harder, Bregman answered yes before adding some context: “And I’ve also had 10 soft-tissue injuries running down the first-base line, specifically. There’s kind of some give and take. But at the same time, obviously, I wish I beat the throw.”

Experienced players know their bodies, and there’s a balance between going hard enough to make something happen and overdoing it to the point of risking injury. But Sunday’s mistake, which preceded a 4-3 Cubs victory in 10 innings, was a bad look for a third baseman who has been slow to show, statistically, why the team shelled out $175  million for his services last winter.

Blunt in his answers about how his season has gone to this point, Bregman is the last person who needs to be reminded of his lack of production. He’s a studious presence in the clubhouse with a reputation as one of the hardest workers around.

But that reputation has yet to equal results, and Bregman entered Monday’s series opener against the Padres still searching, with a .335 slugging percentage that ranked in the bottom 15 among qualified hitters in baseball. His .671 OPS would be the lowest of his career by far, after his previous low-water mark of .768 two seasons ago. His .181 batting average and .253 slugging percentage in June were particularly ugly.

Obviously, he’s working to try to fix it. But what is he working on, exactly?

“What’s your guess?” he responded jokingly, acknowledging that his struggles have been obvious to anyone watching. “Hitting the baseball.”

Asked to be more specific, he still gave a predictable answer. A player with a career slugging percentage .135 points higher than what he has now is trying to hit for more power.

“Just being in a consistent spot to be able to hit the ball hard in the air,” Bregman said. “Get back to swinging at pitches that I want to hit and not swinging at pitches that are outside the strike zone. Basically the same stuff. Hit the ball, swing at pitches I can drive and take pitches that I can’t. Hone it in, be better.”

Plenty of frustrated fans would agree that “be better” is a good target. And the Cubs, with their big investment in a two-time World Series champion, are not surprisingly expecting “better” to show up any day now.

Could a loud turnaround moment — such as the 15 RBI that previously slumping shortstop Dansby Swanson, the Cubs’ second-highest-paid player, racked up in two days against the Mets — be on the horizon for Bregman?

“He works and works and works,” team president Jed Hoyer said last week in New York. “No one’s going to outwork him to figure out what it is [that’s wrong].

“I was getting peppered with questions on the radio the other day about Dansby and his struggles. All of a sudden — snap! — he breaks out of it. That’s how it happens.

“My expectation is at some point, [Bregman] will get red-hot, and these questions will be a distant memory. In the meantime, he’s trying to get on base, he’s getting some hits, but the slug just hasn’t been there. It’s kind of always been there for him, and I’m sure it’s a matter of time before we see that.”

If the Cubs can get that out of Bregman, it would be another massive boost for an offense that recently has revived itself from an early-summer slumber. It also would be extraordinarily helpful in bailing out a pitching staff ravaged by injuries.

Until such a turnaround comes, however, Bregman will remain under the microscope of Cubs fans waiting for him to play up to the contract that got them so excited in the offseason.