Alex Bregman did not wait for the hospital paperwork to talk. Jomboy Media posted his Instagram story after the Cubs beat Cincinnati 9-1. The left eye is swollen shut. There is bruising and blood on the cheek. The caption is short. “Thanks for all the messages yall. I’ll be back.”
That is the update. Talkin’ Baseball had already shown how he got there. Michael Busch checked a swing in the fourth. The foul jumped off Luis Mey and caught Bregman in the grass in front of the on-deck circle. He covered the left side of his face and jogged to the dugout. Matt Shaw pinch-hit. The Cubs still won big.
Alex Bregman Put the Damage on Instagram Himself
Craig Counsell did not dress it up after the game.
“He got hit in the left cheekbone essentially, under the eye,” the manager said. “He was bleeding from his nose a little. There’s some swelling. It’s a terrible, terrible accident.”
Bregman went for X-rays and a CT scan in Cincinnati. There was a laceration, a bloody nose, and a cheek that blew up fast. Pete Crow-Armstrong said he heard no concussion, maybe.
“At the end of the day, you just hope your friend is OK.”
Bregman is expected to fly back to Chicago with the club. That is the closest thing to good news until the scans are public.
The video is hard to watch once. Busch barely offered at a heater. The ball came off hot and found the one place a third baseman should not be standing unprotected.
Why This Alex Bregman Update Matters in September
Chicago is on the brink of a clinch. Bregman signed a five-year, $175 million deal in January and has 26 homers and 89 RBIs. He went 1-for-1 with a walk, an RBI, and a run before the foul. A facial fracture or a concussion protocol would hit the Cubs at the worst time of the year.
He spent the spring shutting down theories about bat speed and mechanics. The bat was fine Sunday. The on-deck grass was not. Counsell called it an accident. The Instagram photo looks like more than a bruise. “I’ll be back” is the line everyone wanted. The scans still have to agree.
The original clip is here if you missed the swing.
Bregman has been the expensive piece in a lineup that also runs through Crow-Armstrong and Busch. He already owned a rough stretch with runners on earlier this year. This is different. This is a baseball to the cheekbone in a 9-1 game the Cubs were going to win anyway.
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