Alex Bregman Sends Cubs Into the Wild Card Series on a High Note

Game 162 is always exciting to watch, even if the stakes are non-existent.

The Chicago Cubs entered the day with nothing to play for after losing a doubleheader to the Boston Red Sox. The disappointing Friday showing locked them into a Wild Card series with the San Diego Padres. This made jetting off to Tampa Bay for a neutral-site meeting to close out the season quite more bizarre. But it's safe to say the Cubs still made the most of the opportunity.

The Cubs have many questions about their playoff approach. Who’s going to be in the starting rotation? What are the lineups going to be? Can the bullpen finally be reliable? However, one of their biggest questions has centered on Alex Bregman: Will he be ready for playoff baseball?

After his performance against the Red Sox on Sunday, the answer sure feels like yes!

Bregman struggled to find any consistency at the plate after his return from a broken nose. In his first game back, he went 0-for-4. However, in game 162, he finished with a 4-for-4 outing that included two home runs and 4 RBI’s.

well, hello alex bregman. 😤 pic.twitter.com/u9mIP49Y3L
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) September 27, 2026

The performance capped off a nice season, and he is now heading to the playoffs with a hot streak he certainly wishes to continue. So ... what changed from Friday to now?

Elise Menaker of Marquee Sports asked Bregman in a postgame how he quickly turned the tide:

"We were looking at some stuff last night before the gam today to make an adjustment to get back to where we were before the break. It was a good day," Bregman told Menaker. "I wanted as many as I could get [at bats] just to try to get to feeling normal again in the box, and today was a really good day."

Final postgame intervie[W] of 2026.

See you in San Diego! pic.twitter.com/mvfSRHe07W
— Elise Menaker (@EliseMenaker) September 27, 2026

A lot of players, particularly for a playoff-bound team, are not worried about their number of at-bats. But Bregman knew what these final few days could do for him in terms of working out some issues before the playoffs start. It's also hard to imagine that he isn't well aware of who is on the mound in Game 1 on Tuesday.

Bregman has put up some amazing numbers against likely starter Michael King.

Just gonna leave this here:

Alex Bregman is 7-for-8 lifetime vs possible Game 1 Padres starter Michael King
👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀
— CHGO Cubs (@CHGO_Cubs) September 27, 2026

With the season over, the Cubs can conclude that the signing of Alex Bregman was a necessary one. His stat line shows just how important he was to the team, especially down the stretch. And although the Cubs struggled toward the end of the season, the hope is that this win is the start of a necessary hot streak that will help them make a deep playoff run.

The Cubs won’t have home-field advantage over the San Diego Padres, but it’s the start of a new season. Gone is your final record of 89 wins and 73 losses. Gone are the mistakes your bullpen made all those times during the regular season.

It is a new day, and the Cubs have an opportunity to start fresh and do what they did last year: Beat San Diego and go up against the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Division Series. It’s all about getting hot at the right time, and Alex Bregman got it started with the win against the Boston Red Sox.

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