Alex Bregman Tracking Pitches in Cage, Won’t Need IL

Alex Bregman arrived at Wrigley on Tuesday afternoon looking exactly like a guy who was just two days removed from taking a foul ball to the face. Or like Lane Kiffin’s ego after his (and Bregman’s) LSU Tigers were beaten by the Ole Miss team Kiffin dropped like a bad habit last season. Bregman suffered multiple facial fractures, but he and the Cubs have said that the plan is to have him back for the postseason at the latest.

While a return for the endangered final weekend in Boston seems overly optimistic, Craig Counsell did not rule it out.

The first step in Bregman’s return came when he strapped on a batting helmet and got in the cage to track pitches from the Trajekt machine. For those who aren’t already familiar, Trajekt can be programmed with any pitcher’s arsenal and replicates deliveries using a video screen. This isn’t an Iron Mike or Hack Attack, that’s for sure. While it’s just light work, we saw something similar when Kyle Schwarber was getting ready to come back from his knee injury in 2016.

Bregman’s vision is reportedly fine and he was not diagnosed with a concussion, so the priority is just making sure his face is properly protected. Perhaps more important than his physical well-being is whether he’ll be able to stare down a 100 mph fastball in the near future. To that end, I think it’s better that he was hurt in such a freakish manner, because taking a heater to the cheek might have been more psychologically taxing.

Then again, Bregman is a maniac who would probably be clamoring to get back in the box even if he’d just had his left arm amputated. As for the IL, there’s not much of a need right now with Dansby Swanson back and both Matt Shaw and Pedro Ramírez more than capable of holding down third base for a few games. Having Bregman’s bat out of the lineup hurts, especially with the way he’s been swinging it lately, but things could be worse.