It was a very scary moment during Sunday’s game against the Reds when Michael Busch hit a foul ball that Alex Bregman was unable to avoid as he warmed up on deck. Al already summarized what we know from the injury (and there likely won’t be another update until tomorrow due to today’s off day), but an uneasy question remains.
With six games remaining in the regular season and the Cubs one game from clinching a berth in the Wild Card round, today we need to take a closer look at what the Cubs offense
and defense might look like if they are without their star third baseman for any length of time.
Even writing that sucks, a lot. After some early season struggles at the plate, Bregman is currently the second best hitter on the Cubs and it’s not particularly close. As I detailed less than a week ago, he’s been the second best hitter in all of baseball since the All Star Game, behind likely National League MVP, Pete Crow-Armstrong. Those numbers have shifted slightly since last week, with Fernando Tatis Jr. inching ahead of Bregman via fWAR in the last few games, but it’s still a potentially huge loss for any team.
It may be an even bigger loss for the 2026 Cubs than it would be for other teams in the Postseason hunt. The Cubs competitive edge is built almost entirely on elite offense and defense. You can see how the Cubs rank in a number of categories below:
It’s old news at this point, but the reason the Cubs are where they are in the standings is their bats and their gloves. The pitching has been questionable at the best moments and that success is built on the ability of the Cubs defenders to turn weak contact into outs while outscoring their opponents. The former is what allows them to win games where they are giving up way more runs than they should.
Bregman isn’t just a team leader. He isn’t merely the big free agent signing who has set the tone for the Cubs. He’s their second-best hitter since the All-Star break, and their third best hitter during the 2026 season (behind Seiya Suzuki). He’s their fourth best defender this season (behind PCA, Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner). So let’s just stipulate up front that if the Cubs need to replace Bregman it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to replicate that production. Below are select stats for all of the Cubs who have at least 180 plate appearances in 2026:
The most obvious solution is a combination of Pedro Ramírez and Matt Shaw filling in at third base. In limited sample sizes, Ramírez has hit .350/.409/.575 with a wRC+ of 172 in 44 plate appearances against left-handed pitching. Shaw has hit .273/.367/.468 with a wRC+ of 132 against lefties. The results have not been as good against righties for either hitter. Ramírez is slashing .247/.305/.385 with a wRC+ of 89 in 201 plate appearances against righties while Shaw is slashing .205/.295/.373 with a wRC+ of 86 in 97 plate appearances against righties.
Neither is in the same category of defender as Bregman, who should compete for his second Gold Glove this season. You can see the OAA leaderboard from Statcast below:
It’s definitely not ideal, but winning baseball seasons always have a curveball or two. Here’s hoping the Cubs receive good news on Bregman after more tests are run and he’s able to rejoin the team quickly. In the meantime, it’s quite the opportunity for a couple of the Cubs young infielders to make their mark on a Cubs Postseason run. If he can’t play himself, I imagine no one will be cheering for Pedro and Shaw more than Bregman.
