BALTIMORE — Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso, two of baseball’s biggest free agents last offseason, had a quick conversation at first base Tuesday night at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Both players are represented by agent Scott Boras, who finalized Alonso’s five-year, $155 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles in December and then closed Bregman’s five-year, $175 million deal with the Chicago Cubs in January, raising expectations in each market.Although Alonso has done his part with 20 home runs and 62 RBIs, the Orioles are an underachieving team with a sub.-500 record, still waiting for a young core to step forward.While Bregman has not yet lived up to the hype, the Cubs are still a playoff contender planning to buy at the Aug. 3 trade deadline. Beyond Bregman’s baseline as a Gold Glove third baseman with a strong on-base percentage and clubhouse presence, there are signs he’s finally starting to get into a good offensive flow.Which makes you wonder: Is the All-Star break coming at a bad time?“It’s funny, I was talking to Alonso about that,” Bregman said after Tuesday’s 5-2 win over the Orioles. “He’s like, ‘You feeling better?’ I was like, ‘Yeah.’ He goes, ‘Yeah, and in five days, you get the All-Star break.’ Oh, perfect.”Feels don’t matter as much as results, though, and the Cubs will need more from Bregman (seven home runs, 35 RBIs, .678 OPS) to challenge the Milwaukee Brewers in the second half of the season and bring playoff baseball to Wrigley Field.Bregman was supposed to be a finishing piece to last year’s 92-win team. While narrowly missing a sweep with Thursday afternoon’s 3-2 loss to the Orioles, this current group has already shown impressive resiliency amid pitching injuries and lineup inconsistencies.Bregman isn’t looking for a chance to decompress next week. He wants every swing recorded — in the indoor batting cages, during batting practice on the field, on top of all the tracking technology used throughout a 162-game schedule. He has a personal hitting coach and a training facility in Arizona.That reputation for precision and diligence influenced the organization’s evaluation of Bregman, 32, a two-time World Series champion with the Houston Astros whose adjustment period has lasted longer than anticipated.Bregman’s conversations with the club’s hitting group — hitting coach Dustin Kelly, assistant hitting coaches John Mallee and Juan Cabreja, assistant director of major-league development Ben Martin, plus like-minded teammates — are continuous.