Alex Bregman Shares Image of Swollen Face, Says ‘I’ll Be Back’
Alex Bregman left Sunday’s game was taken to a local hospital to undergo X-rays and a CT scan after taking a foul ball to the cheek as he stood in the on-deck circle. Michael Busch checked his swing on an inside pitch from Reds righty Luis Mey, and the ball caught Bregman like an elbow from an MMA heavyweight. The third baseman immediately covered his face and was rushed to the dugout, so Matt Shaw had to replace him in the lineup.
Alex Bregman got hit in the face with a foul ball on the on-deck circle and left the game pic.twitter.com/FIUgoddH1M
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) September 20, 2026
“I don’t know anything more than that,” Craig Counsell said after the game. “He had a cut under his eye. He was bleeding from his nose a little bit. It’s pretty swollen. It was below the eye. I honestly thought it hit him in the nose. I thought he had a broken nose, but I knew it hit him somewhere in the face. It’s just an unfortunate accident. I’m hoping and praying he is all right.
“We have to get good results from the hospital first. [Bregman] got hit in the face, so you are worried about his general well-being first. If we get a good report, we’ll move to the next step. I want to get a good report.”
While Bregman and the Cubs obviously have the results of those tests already, they have not yet released that information publicly. We will learn more soon, but Monday’s off day means there could be more of a delay than usual. And with only six games left in the regular season, there isn’t much time for Bregman to recover.
Even if he managed to avoid any broken bones or a concussion, among other potential issues, the selfie Bregman shared to his Instagram story revealed severe swelling that had completely closed his left eye. It looks like his right eye in the image, but just remember that selfies are reversed.
The caption read, “I’ll be back,” but the exact date of his return is very much up in the air right now. It goes without saying that losing Bregman for the postseason, which the Cubs can clinch with another win and a Diamondbacks loss, would be devastating. For now, it’s just good to know that Bregman appears to be in decent spirits.
