Wednesday, November 04

Welcome back to the Cubs Beat newsletter. Jordan Bastian has covered baseball for MLB.com since 2005, including the Cubs since the 2019 season.

CHICAGO – Alex Bregman arrived in Chicago with a stellar reputation as an elite hitter and an impactful leader behind the scenes. His new teammates knew he was solid as a defender at third base, but Bregman quickly started to open eyes with just how good he could be at the hot corner.

“Pretty early on,” Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said, “a lot of us were kind of turning our heads and kind of just being like, ‘Wow.’”

Both Crow-Armstrong and Bregman picked up a National League Gold Glove Award on Sunday. That gives Bregman a pair of Gold Gloves within the past three seasons – both coming after he turned 30 years old. That tidbit offers evidence of Bregman’s drive to keep finding ways to enhance his game, even a decade-plus into his Major League career.

“There’s always room for improvement in every phase of the game,” Bregman said Sunday. “And every year, I’m trying to get a little bit better in every aspect of it. For me, defensively, there were some things that I could tweak that could improve my defense. We had identified those in Spring Training and got to work on them.”

Bregman is quick to credit Cubs Major League coach Jonathan Mota, who works extensively with the infielders, for bringing some ideas to the veteran third baseman during the spring. While Bregman picked up an American League Gold Glove Award in 2024 with the Astros, some of his defensive metrics took a step back in ‘25 with the Red Sox.

Mota had three things he wanted Bregman to focus on for his first year with the Cubs:

• During Bregman’s pre-pitch move, Mota noted that the third baseman was moving down as the baseball was going through the hitting zone. The idea would be to have Bregman slightly adjust his timing to be moving up at that moment to improve first-step reaction.

• Mota also suggested that Bregman “hinge” more in his setup, which means having a little more forward lean in his stance.

• Mota also suggested having Bregman work more long-tossing into his throwing program to build up arm strength.

“One thing I like is being coached,” Bregman said. “Those three things right there made a huge difference. I felt like I was in a rhythm for the most part all year defensively. I felt like I was on time, and I was getting out of the box really good with the first step. I felt like I took a little while to get in rhythm, but then once I started doing it, it felt really good.”

The numbers back it up, too.

Per Statcast, Bregman posted +9 outs above average, which was way up from ‘25 (+3) and topped his career best of +8 (2022 and ‘24). His +7 fielding run value was also an upgrade from the previous year (+3) in Boston. Bregman turned in +15 defensive runs saved, which blew away his previous single-season high (+8 in ‘19).

Further under the hood, Bregman posted +6 outs above average on lateral plays toward first base. He was under water (-4) in that specific area in 2025 and had not been higher than +1 since ‘22 (+5). The third baseman also generated +5 OAA on plays moving in this year.

“The plays on the run are ridiculous,” Crow-Armstrong said. “And just kind of the creativity throwing the ball around the diamond was really fun to watch from him, like these cool open-side throws, and then obviously, we saw him bounce the ball to second base.

“I think he was the most deserving of this award this year by far. Again, it wasn’t so surprising seeing the defensive ability. But I think it was just something I maybe didn’t think about as much until I saw it on the field and in person.”

Before Bregman, who was the last Cubs third baseman to win a Gold Glove Award?

A. Kris Bryant

B. Ron Cey

C. Aramis Ramirez

D. Ron Santo

Not only did Crow-Armstrong collect his second Gold Glove Award, he was named a finalist for the NL MVP Award. The annual honor from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America will be announced on Nov. 12 at 6 p.m. CT in an MLB Network special.

Since the BBWAA began awarding the MVP trophy in 1931, the North Siders have had eight players win nine trophies: Bryant (2016), Sammy Sosa (1998), Andre Dawson (‘87), Ryne Sandberg (‘84), Ernie Banks (1958-59), Hank Sauer (‘52), Phil Cavarretta (‘45) and Gabby Hartnett (‘35).

“The thing that I keep saying,” Crow-Armstrong said Sunday night, “is I was actually able to appreciate the year as it was going on, which was the first time I’ve been able to do that in my life, just because there was a lot of good this year. And more good than bad, when it comes to baseball.”

• Cubs give Seiya Suzuki a one-year qualifying offer ($23.15M). Read more >>

• Cubs, Jacob Webb rework reliever’s contract for ‘27 season. Read more >>

• 15 players hit free agency for Cubs, who are focused on arms. Read more >>

• Joe Maddon, Lou Piniella, Dusty Baker on Contemporary Baseball Era ballot. Read more >>

• Cubs’ top prospect Josiah Hartshorn picks up MiLB Gold Glove. Read more >>

• Jason Kanzler exits Cubs’ front office for Mariners’ manager job. Read more >>

“We’re not that far off. I think the exoskeleton of what the Cubs’ roster could look like next year is really easy to fill in. It depends on health as well, with who we’ll have available, who’s coming off injury and whatnot. But who we have in our colors already, it’s a pretty impressive group. I think there’s just a couple pieces that we can add that will really take us to the next level.” – Crow-Armstrong, on strengthening the roster this offseason

D. Ron Santo

Prior to Bregman’s win this year, Santo was the only third baseman for the Cubs to pick up a Gold Glove Award. The Hall of Famer won five consecutive Gold Gloves at the hot corner across the 1964-68 seasons.

To subscribe to Cubs Beat, visit this page and mark "Cubs Beat" from our newsletter list. Make sure you're following the Cubs or that they're checked as your favorite team.

View Online

© 2026 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

Please review our Privacy Policy.

You (mlb-newsletters@mlb.com) received this message because you registered to receive commercial email messages or purchased a ticket from MLB. 

Please add info@marketing.mlbemail.com to your address book to ensure our messages reach your inbox. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com, please unsubscribe or log in and manage your email subscriptions.

Postal Address: MLB.com, c/o MLB Advanced Media, L.P., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.