Alex Bregman is making Red Sox fans look foolish for their Caleb Durbin victory laps

When Alex Bregman was going through his struggles during the first-half of the season, the trope that the Chicago Cubs were hoping would come true is that he's been a second-half player throughout most of his career. Still, given how bad Bregman looked during the opening months of the year, it was going to take quite the effort for the veteran third baseman's numbers to return to form.

As it turns out, that is exactly what happened. After his second three-home-run effort of the season on Monday night, Bregman's slash line since the All-Star break is now .296/.365/.615 with a wRC+ of 167. He has 14 home runs over his last 189 plate appearances, and suddenly his numbers for the whole season look similar to his career averages.

Bregman, on the season, is slashing .258/.345/.440 with a wRC+ of 119. He has 23 home runs on the season, and this is the version of Bregman the Cubs sold the fans on when he was introduced to the team last January.

Alex Bregman's Cubs surge is silencing Red Sox fans who couldn't stop talking Caleb Durbin

Bregman is now the one taking a victory lap over Red Sox fans. As Bregman was sifting through his slump, Red Sox fans were quick to point out how the team enacted a stroke of genius by replacing the All-Star third baseman with Caleb Durbin. Admittedly, it was hard to argue with their logic, but the celebration felt premature.

As it turns out, it was. In 131 games with the Red Sox this season, Durbin is slashing .253/.327/.390 with a wRC+ of 100. He already topped his home run total from his rookie season with the Milwaukee Brewers, but Bregman's second-half has ended the debate. The team with Bregman as their third baseman is better off, and the conversation isn't that close anymore.

The Red Sox likely aren't complaining, but the notion that Durbin was suddenly the better player over Bregman was silly to begin with.

For all the talk about how the Cubs should have taken a page out of Boston's playbook by committing to young third baseman under team control, and pouring the available financial resources into pitching, thankfully, Bregman is proving the type of difference maker he can be with the playoffs quickly approaching. If nothing else, Bregman, along with Pete Crow-Armstrong, could be the type of hitters the Cubs lacked last October when they ran out of gas against the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLDS.

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