Alex Bregman’s first 40 games with the Cubs have not looked like the start he is used to, but Chicago is winning enough that the uneven numbers have not stopped the conversation around him. Through 40 games, the Cubs’ new third baseman is hitting.233/.328/.333/.661 with three home runs, five doubles, a triple and 13 RBI.

That line is a long way from the pace he set last year. Through his first 40 games with Boston in 2025, Bregman hit.319/.392/.581/.974 with nine home runs, 15 doubles, 31 RBI and 29 runs. He did not hit his first home run as a Cub until his 22nd game, and even then the power has come in fits rather than a steady stream.

Saturday night was another quiet night at the plate. Bregman went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, reached on an error and lined out in his other two at-bats. During the Cubs’ latest 10-game winning streak, he hit.222/.349/.278/.627 with two doubles, three RBI and seven walks, a stretch that showed some on-base value but not the impact the club expected when it brought him in.

Craig Counsell did not sound worried. He said Bregman is “probably off to a slower start by his standards,” and added that it makes him “happy in a weird way” because the Cubs are still waiting on the version of Bregman they expect, while he has already “definitely impacted” the team. Bregman offered a similar view of his own game, saying he feels like he has started quick in maybe two years, and that the job now is to keep working, keep grinding and trust that the results will come by the end of the year.

The bigger issue for Chicago may be that Bregman’s bat is not the only one forcing decisions. Michael Conforto was in the starting lineup for the third consecutive game Saturday after moving into the No. 2 spot Friday, when he delivered a bloop double, a walk and a single. He has five hits in seven at-bats over two games, and Counsell acknowledged the club may have to adjust around that run, saying it is tough to ignore what Conforto is doing and that the Cubs have to find a spot for him.

That leaves the Cubs in a position they can live with for now: Bregman’s numbers are still catching up, Conforto is pushing for more at-bats, and the team keeps winning. Moises Ballesteros has cooled off after a torrid start, going 2-for-31 over his last nine games, even though the Cubs are 20-7 when he starts. In a lineup built around production, the next question is not whether Bregman will hit, but how the Cubs fit him once he does.