CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman is thankful he’s not a little shorter.
Sporting a discolored left eye after being struck by a foul ball in the on-deck circle Sunday, the three-time All-Star said it could’ve been worse.
“Super lucky it hit where it hit and just a lot of gratitude that it wasn’t a few centimeters higher,” he said before Wednesday night’s game against Miami.
The ball, off the bat of teammate Michael Busch in Cincinnati, caused several facial fractures.
With the postseason approaching, the Cubs are glad the injury won’t require a stint on the injured list.
Bregman said he’ll likely start shagging ground balls in a day or so and will be trying out new styles of helmets to protect the eye.
“The whole left side of my face has been a little bit numb,” he said.
The Cubs can clinch an NL wild-card berth with a win Wednesday night or an Arizona loss.
“He’s still got significant swelling in his face and his eye that needs to improve,” Chicago manager Craig Counsell said Tuesday. “But all things considered, he’s in a good place.”
Bregman was on deck in the fourth inning of a 9-1 win at Cincinnati when he was hit on the left side of his face by Busch’s check-swing foul. Bregman immediately jogged toward the Cubs’ dugout and covered his face before going back to the clubhouse with an athletic trainer.
“When everything was going down on Sunday afternoon, I think that we all thought the worst case might be a possibility,” president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Tuesday. “And all the news since then has been really good. He’s had a lot of different doctor’s appointments, and they’ve been positive. And I think we have to take it one step at a time.”
Bregman is batting .262 with 26 homers and 89 RBIs in 153 games during his first season with Chicago. He signed a $175 million, five-year contract with the Cubs in free agency.
The 32-year-old Bregman got off to a rough start in his new home, hitting just .229 with two homers in his first 20 games. But he has been one of Chicago’s most productive players since the All-Star break, batting .305 with 17 homers and 48 RBIs in his last 57 games.
Bregman also has excelled in the postseason in the past. He won two World Series championships with the Houston Astros. He appeared in at least two postseason games in each of the previous nine years.
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The Associated Press
