Major Alex Bregman shortcoming is preventing the Cubs from righting the ship

Look, I believe Alex Bregman is going to be fine. At the end of the year, the numbers are going to be there, much the same as they've been throughout his career.

That does nobody - especially the Chicago Cubs - much good right now. Tuesday night's maddening loss to the Athletics dropped them 6 1/2 back of Milwaukee in the division as the offense once again went quiet, wasting Jameson Taillon's best start of the year in the process.

As a team, the Cubs went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position, showing a complete unwillingness to work counts and drive the pitch count up for rookie left-hander Gage Jump who, in his second career start, looked like an All-Star against a team desperate for answers.

Bregman has to be part of the solution if Chicago is going to get this turned around.

If Alex Bregman fixes this, he could spark a Cubs' offensive revival

After Nico Hoerner walked and Pete Crow-Armstrong singled to lead off the bottom of the ninth, it looked like the Cubs were in business. They had the heart of their order due up - yet, somehow, they failed to score and lost the game, 2-1. Bregman, the three-hole hitter, punched out on a breaking pitch well outside the zone, followed by a flyouts by Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ to end the ballgame.

This is just the latest example of the Cubs' prized free agent signing from last winter coming up short in a big spot. On the year, Bregman is slashing just .194/.276/.209 in 67 at-bats with runners in scoring position - a sub-.500 OPS. Of course, the team, as a whole, has really struggled in those spots (.666 OPS, which is fourth-worst in baseball) and they've been even worse with runners in scoring position and two outs (.618 OPS).

Is Bregman the only culprit? Absolutely not. The team numbers make that pretty clear. But when you bring in a guy to be the leader in the clubhouse and one of the faces of your franchise, you also need him to be the guy who steps up and delivers the big hit that snaps a funk.

He usually clicks about this time. But until that happens, frustrations continue to mount with the veteran third baseman.

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