Alex Bregman said the very thing Ian Happ refused to admit about Cubs' recent struggles

Before the Chicago Cubs snapped their horrendous 10-game losing streak on Wednesday, third baseman Alex Bregman delivered a refreshing dose of truth. Instead of leaning on the fact that every baseball team experiences ups and downs over the course of the season, Bregman blatantly pointed out that it's on the players to fix the problem.

It was a stark contrast to Ian Happ's take on the losing streak, where the Cubs posted a -28 run differential and suffered back-to-back sweeps at Wrigley Field. The Cubs' left fielder told 670 The Score that it's rare for the majority of the lineup to struggle at the same time and that they would simply move past the 10-game skid.

While I tentatively agree that the Cubs are going to suffer difficult stretches that are unavoidable, it was hard to find a sense of urgency or accountability in Happ's comments.

It was a bit disappointing to hear from the longest tenured player on the team, who is thought of as a leader in the clubhouse. Even though Happ was key in the two wins that ended the losing streak, he went into Wednesday's contest with a .176/.336/.341 slash line over his previous 26 games. For a guy that manager Craig Counsell routinely slots into the top of the lineup, those numbers just aren't consistent enough, and it was painful watching Happ repeatedly fail to deliver in RBI situations.

The last two wins against the Pirates did see Happ deliver seven RBIs, five hits, and two huge home runs. And that happened after Counsell moved Happ down to the fifth spot in the batting order, which proved Bregman's point that something needed to change.

Alex Bregman is emerging as the Cubs' leader

Bregman wasn't afraid to make that statement, and that's exactly why the Cubs gave him a $175 million contract. He's not an MVP-caliber player anymore, but he's not afraid to point out the fact that the hitters in the Cubs lineup simply need to perform better.

And with that attitude comes an obsession with hitting that he passes along to his teammates. During Bregman's time with the Red Sox, he was described as another hitting coach, and he's used that knowledge to help players on the Cubs like Michael Conforto and Pete Crow-Armstrong make adjustments at the plate.

Those leadership qualities seem to extend elsewhere. After Crow-Armstrong's unpleasant exchange with a White Sox fan and his subsequent struggles on the field, Bruce Levine reported a 40-minute mentoring session he had with Bregman in the clubhouse.

Bregman is a guy the Cubs committed five years to, and it's easy to see why. He's not going to smack 40 home runs in a Cubs uniform, but he can elevate the rest of the team in a variety of ways. And that's going to be incredibly valuable for the foreseeable future.

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