Bregman bangs first Cubs homer ahead of Classic departure

MESA, Ariz. -- Alex Bregman is on the board.

The third baseman, who inked a five-year, $175 million contract with the Cubs in January, went yard for the first time in Spring Training, blasting a 2-2 fastball 369 feet to center field in Sunday’s 5-1 loss to the White Sox, marking his first home run with his new club.

White Sox pitcher Anthony Kay allowed the homer, serving up the 96.3 mph four-seamer with one out in the bottom of the first. Bregman’s blast tied the game at 1.

“It felt good. I’m working on feeling good with [hitting coach Dustin Kelly] and the guys in the cage, and was fortunate enough to square a few up,” Bregman said. “I feel like that's a big part of my game, is trying to swing at good pitches to hit.”

The three-time All-Star’s blast had an exit velocity of 98.5 mph, per Statcast, and he added a two-out double to deep center field in the third inning.

It also marked one heck of a sendoff for the 31-year-old, who is set to leave camp to represent the United States at the 2026 World Baseball Classic, along with 11 other Cubs.

Bregman has represented the United States in five international tournaments throughout his baseball career, and the Albuquerque, N.M., native won a gold medal with Team USA in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

“It's a really good roster,” Bregman said. “Playing with Team USA builds a really good bond, and we’ve shared that with each team that I’ve been on for the last five times. I’m looking forward to doing it with these guys.”

Crow-Armstrong, others ship off for Classic

The Cubs have 12 players who will appear in the 2026 World Baseball Classic -- three each for the United States and Panama, and one each for Mexico, Great Britain, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Japan and Canada.

Fellow American Pete Crow-Armstrong also leaves camp with an opportunity that’s new to him, though he’s already plenty excited about the opportunity.

“It’s exciting stuff,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I’m obviously going to miss the fellas here for a couple of weeks, but it’s special. This is obviously something new for me, and I just feel very lucky that I get to experience something like this.”

Steele hits milestone in recovery

Left-hander Justin Steele is continuing his recovery following left elbow surgery in April 2025, and he spoke with the media prior to Sunday’s game against the White Sox.

The 30-year-old said there are no restrictions on his rehab program, as “everything is going as planned” after receiving a clean report from Dr. Keith Meister to resume all baseball activities in full.

He said he’s continuing to work on re-implementing all of his pitches into his repertoire, but the recent string of good news has not been lost on him, as shown in his Saturday post on X.

“I think when you're going through a process like this rehab that can be kind of long, you have to celebrate the milestones,” Steele said. “In a process that can kind of be mundane and not very exciting, I feel like you need to celebrate those, so that's kind of why yesterday, I was really excited.”

Cubs manager Craig Counsell said the previously communicated timeline of a May/June return remains the goal, but the coaching staff is encouraged by how the southpaw has progressed throughout his recovery.

“Everything is going just the way we want it to go,” Counsell said. “Just continue taking the next steps and stacking good days, which is, when you're in the rehab process, is easy to say and hard to do.

“Justin's done an amazing job of doing that. That's why he's in a good spot.”