The Cubs were rolling in Cincinnati on Sunday, but the mood changed fast when Alex Bregman took a foul ball to the face in the on-deck circle and was rushed into the visitor’s clubhouse.
Bregman was later taken to a hospital in Cincinnati for testing after being struck on his left cheek bone. The hit left him with a cut and a bloody nose, and his cheek was described as pretty swollen.
Busch was batting with two outs in the top of the fourth and Chicago already ahead 5-0 when he fouled a ball back toward Bregman. The ball caught the Cubs’ third baseman in the face, and he was replaced by Matt Shaw.
Bregman had already been a key part of Chicago’s surge in the second half. Before the injury, he helped get the offense going by driving in his 89th run of the season. After a rough first half, he had settled in and given the Cubs a major lift at the plate, becoming one of Craig Counsell’s most important offensive pieces.
That’s why the concern goes beyond the moment itself. The Cubs are closing in on a playoff spot, and with the postseason just over a week away, any extended absence for Bregman would be a major blow to the lineup.
Chicago has spent much of the season battling injuries, especially on the pitching side, but the position-player group had largely avoided a crushing loss. The team also just got Dansby Swanson back from a month-long IL stint, giving the infield a full-strength look right as October approaches.
For now, the Cubs are waiting on an update and hoping the injury isn’t as bad as it looked.
In Other News...
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The family connection makes it even more of a baseball oddity. Yastrzemski is the grandson of Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski, so the play tied a modern postseason turn directly back to one of the most familiar names in club history. For Boston, it was another reminder that the October road can twist in unexpected ways, sometimes with a name from the past helping shape the present. [Read more 🡒]
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Masataka Yoshida, Patrick Sandoval, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Triston Casas and Jahmai Jones all sit in that uncertain space for different reasons, from injury concerns to performance questions to simple roster math. It is the kind of offseason sorting that can reshape the edges of a club quickly, and for the Red Sox, the decisions around those players could be just as important as anything they do on the field between now and the winter. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Prospect Pipeline Just Got A New Reason For Buzz
The latest Bowman Chrome release has given Red Sox followers another excuse to track the farm system a little more closely. The set includes first-ever cards of prospects before they reach the majors, and this year four Boston signees landed 1st Bowman cards, bringing together the usual mix of hype, scouting intrigue and collector attention that tends to follow the organizations better young talent.
For a club that has already seen some prospects move on in recent trades, the timing adds another layer to the buzz around the pipeline. The release also spotlights additional Red Sox prospects who could draw interest from collectors if their development keeps trending the right way, which is part of what makes these early-card windows so appealing. The names will matter most eventually on the field, but for now they give Boston fans one more way to watch the future take shape. [Read more 🡒]