Alex

Bregman

The Cubs just gave Dansby Swanson a two-day break, but Bregman is probably more worthy of being held out of the lineup. He’s hit .243/.327/.342 with just 19 RBI in 297 plate appearances. In 75 at-bats with runners in scoring position, he’s hit .173 with a lone double as his only extra-base hit.

Ballesteros, who is hitting .105 (4-for-38) with one RBI over his last 15 games, sits for the third consecutive contest and fourth time in Chicago’s last five games. Pedro Ramírez gets into the lineup at the hot corner with Alex Bregman taking a turn at DH after Kevin Alcánatara drew back-to-back starts at DH earlier this week.

Bregman thought he had a homer around the left field foul pole Saturday, but he lost it on a replay review. Tonight’s was another solo shot, as all five of his homers this season have been. He’s batting .287/.360/.459 with the bases empty, .231/.321/.265 with runners on and .203/.288/.219 with RISP.

Crow-Armstrong finds himself back atop Chicago’s lineup with manager Craig Counsell shaking things up. The 24-year-old power/speed combo fantasy threat had been scuffling at the dish this month prior to slugging a two-run homer and walking twice during Friday’s series opener at Wrigley Field. Nico Hoerner moves to the cleanup spot with Alex Bregman and Michael Bush hitting behind Crow-Armstrong. It’s a significant development that fantasy managers should monitor moving forward.

Bregman took Grant Holmes deep in the fourth. It was one of three balls hit at least 100 mph for him tonight, so that’s encouraging from a struggling hitter. He did enter the night with a fine 45 percent hard-hit rate, but about half of those hard-hit balls came in at 95-99 mph. He’d hit balls at least 100 mph 23.6 percent of the time.

After coming to Chicago with much fanfare in the off-season, the 32-year-old is hitting .233/.328/.333 with three home runs, 13 RBI, and a 31/22 K/BB ratio in 39 games. He’s making enough contact, and his hard-hit rate is actually in line with previous seasons,s but his bat speed is trending down, and he’s hitting more groundballs than he ever has. There’s still plenty of time for him to figure it out, but it hasn’t been the best start to the season.

It’s a rare off day for Bregman, who takes a break following 29 consecutive starts to open the season. Matt Shaw is at third base and hitting ninth in his place.

Ballesteros takes a seat against Phillies lefty Jesús Luzardo with Alex Bregman getting a break from the field at DH and Matt Shaw entering the lineup at third base for his first start since April 15. The 22-year-old former top prospect is hitting a robust .378 (17-for-45) with three homers and 10 RBI in 19 games this season. He’s a potent offensive threat, but his lack of defensive versatility is going to leave him the odd-man out occasionally when the Cubs have to mix up their lineup.

Bregman recorded his first three-hit performance in a Cubs uniform during a one-sided affair at Tropicana Field. The multi-hit effort raises the 32-year-old veteran third baseman’s batting average from .150 to .200 in the process. He’s gone deep twice and has nearly as many walks (five) as strikeouts (six) through 11 games. It was always only a matter of time before Bregman got going again.

Bregman took Jake Irvin deep twice for his first two homers as a member of the Cubs. The 31-year-old went just 1-for-9 in the previous two games, but as he’s done to many a lefty in his career, he was able to get things going. As long as Bregman stays healthy, he’s going to have enough moments like this to make him a strong fantasy option at the hot corner.