Things have changed in the Windy City. The Chicago White Sox, often overlooked, are one of the MLB’s darlings. Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs are struggling mightily and facing the prospect of being sellers at the deadline.
After a Sunday night loss to the San Francisco Giants, struggling Cubs infielder Alex Bregman accepted his share of the blame for the shifting dynamics in Chicago.
“I’ve been terrible,” Bregman said, according to ESPN. “I need to play better. Offensively, it’s been awful. I’ve failed many times in this game. I’ve struggled. I’ve started slow before. I’ve started fast before. When you’re struggling, there is only one way forward and that’s straight, head-on through it. It comes down to executing in the game.”
Bregman is in the first year of a five-year, $175 million deal with the Cubs, and it’s not a contract the Cubs will be thrilled about if his production doesn’t see an uptick moving forward.
“I haven’t executed all year,” Bregman said. “Runners in scoring position, I’ve been god-awful. I need to be better. If I’m better over the last how many games, we probably win the majority of them.”
Bregman’s OPS dropped to .669 after Sunday’s defeat, and it’s not wasted on him.
“I need to be better with runners on base, plain and simple,” Bregman said. “They brought me here to play good baseball, and I haven’t played good baseball. I need to figure it out.”
Plain and simple, he’s willing to shoulder the blame for how the Cubs’ is turning out.
“Those can be directed at me because I haven’t come through with guys in scoring position,” Bregman said of recent booing at Wrigley Field. “I have plenty of chances. Guys are getting on base in front of me all the time.”
Meanwhile, the South Side is buzzing.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.