Chicago Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman hunched over, his chest bent slightly as reliever Ryan Rolison began to rifle a pitch to the plate.
The 2024 Gold Glove Award winner squatted as the ball was delivered, charged to his left, fielded the 66.2 mph groundball from Ozzie Albies, threw it to Pedro Ramírez at second base, who chucked it to first base for a double play that helped the Cubs escape an eighth-inning jam.
It was a pivotal play that kept Atlanta off the board in the frame as the Cubs beat the Braves 7-3 at Wrigley Field on Monday. The Cubs (84-67) hold a half-game lead on the Philadelphia Phillies for the top National League wild-card spot.
That double play in the series-opening victory for the Cubs was another example of the reliable defense Bregman brings, which has elevated a team defined by their expertise in fielding the baseball. The Cubs rank first in the majors as a team in Defensive Runs Saved, Outs Above Average and Fielding Run Value.
“It’s the thing on our team that we are good at, it’s pretty stable,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said before Monday’s game. “For us to have the big success, we have to be good at it. To be a good team, you got to be good at something, right? You can pick a lot of things to be good at. This is what this team is really good at.
“Other teams have other strengths, but the defense is certainly our strength.”
Monday, the Cubs’ offense was buoyed by another incredible performance from National League MVP candidate Pete Crow-Armstrong, who went 4-for-5 with a home run, one stolen base and four RBI. He was a triple shy of the cycle.
The two-run blast in the sixth was his 42nd, tying Billy Williams’ 1970 campaign for the most home runs hit by a left-handed hitter in a single season in franchise history.
“I’ve gotten to know him decently well and some of his extended family a little bit. I like all of them a lot as people,” Crow-Armstrong said of Williams. “It’s great that he continues to represent the Cubs. At the same time, I think he’d want me to surpass him and his numbers.
“If that homer’s going to mean anything, I’m glad I could hit that one for Billy. That was 42 for Billy.”
Alex Bregman of the Chicago Cubs throws the ball to first base during the first inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field on Sept. 13, 2026, in Chicago. (Isaac Wasserman/Getty Images)
Bregman’s defensive success this season hasn’t been all smooth sailing. He started the season with a fielding run value of minus-1 through the first seven games. So, major-league coach Jonathan Mota and the rest of the Cubs coaching and analytics staff dug deep into one question.
How could they unlock the version of him that won the 2024 American League Gold Glove Award at third base with the Houston Astros?
They found the answer by looking at where he stood.
“His positioning at third base, where he was playing last year in 2025 with Boston, he was playing somewhere different,” Mota told the Tribune. “That’s part of Boston’s unique philosophy in terms of how to play against hitters.”
The Red Sox wanted him closer to the plate and farther from the foul line, but that meant Bregman’s defensive prowess took a hit. He was still solid and posted four Outs Above Average and a Fielding Run Value of three as he set up 116 feet from home plate, per Statcast. But it was down from eight OAA and an FRV of eight in 2024, when he was named the AL’s best defensively at the hot corner. That season, he started 117 feet from home plate.
So, Mota and Bregman worked on his pre-pitch setup, hoping for an answer. It started with moving him back and closer to the foul line. By placing Bregman more to his right, it would allow him to attack ground balls by going to his left.
“He’s great bare-handed for sure,” Counsell said earlier this month in Miami. “I think we see that. He’s been very good going to his glove side. We’ve seen that, and I think he made some nice adjustments, kind of after early in the season, which just shows that you can still make adjustments even after being in the league for a while.”
Just as importantly, it would allow Dansby Swanson to start closer to second base and to charge balls to his right. This season, he’s set up 118 feet from home plate.
Photos: Chicago Cubs 7, Atlanta Braves 3
“For us to maximize the potential of Alex, the potential of Dansby, they’re very good in opposite directions,” Mota said. “The best version was moving (Bregman) back and moving him closer to the line, and that way we can get the outs that are close to the line and the soft-hit outs close to the line because he goes that way and he can get to that because it’s his strength.”
Mota and Bregman fine-tuned his mechanics, ensuring he bent his chest a bit more before the pitch was delivered and popped up — rather than squatting down — as the pitcher rifled the ball in. He also incorporated more long toss to help with his arm strength.
“Read the ball better, react better,” Bregman told the Tribune. “Honestly, transition into catching the baseball and throwing it better. The whole thing.”
Those small adjustments have meant Bregman, statistically, has returned to the 2024 version of himself. He is second among major-league third basemen in OAA (7) and tied for third in FRV (5). The San Diego Padres’ Manny Machado leads in both categories and is tied with Caleb Durbin of the Red Sox in FRV.
“It makes a difference,” Bregman said. “And our advance team does a really good job of kind of positioning us with Mota and putting us in the best chance to get to as many balls as possible.”
Andy Martinez is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.