Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman pushing for regular-season return after foul ball injury

CHICAGO (AP) — Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman could play again in the regular season after he sustained multiple facial fractures when he was struck in the face by a foul ball on Sunday.

Chicago manager Craig Counsell said Bregman did a light workout in the weight room on Tuesday and tracked pitches from a machine in a batting cage. There are no plans to place him on the injured list.

“He’s got still significant swelling in his face and his eye that needs to improve,” Counsell said. “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 on Michael Busch's check-swing foul ball. 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. “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.”

Pedro Ramírez started at third in Tuesday night's 8-2 loss to Miami in 12 innings. He went 0 for 5 with two strikeouts. Matt Shaw also could fill in at third while Bregman is out.

Chicago (87-70) can clinch an NL wild card with a win over Miami on Wednesday or a loss by Arizona at Colorado.

The Cubs have five games left in the regular season. But the schedule for their weekend series at Boston is in flux because of heavy rain in the forecast.

“I think Alex is going to be fine. I really do,” Counsell said. “The guy is ... he's driving home from Cincinnati and he wants to play. So he’s planning on playing. He knew he had to get some good news from the doctors. He got that good news. So he’s going to do everything in his power, and as long as I think symptoms don’t kind of increase or happen as he increases activity, I think you’re going to see him play.”

Bregman is batting .262 with 26 homers and 89 RBIs in 153 games during his first season with Chicago. The three-time All-Star 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.

“To see a friend and a teammate just get hit in the face and bleeding like that is awful,” Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner said. “I think his reactions to everything has been uplifting, just him being relentlessly aggressive and positive and speaking out, all the things that he's excited to do.”

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