DETROIT — Before Saturday’s recreation in opposition to the Tigers, supervisor Dusty Baker sat within the guests’ dugout at Comerica Park and bemoaned Alex Bregman’s capacity to maintain himself within the lineup.
The Astros are within the midst of probably the most aggressive division race in baseball, and Bregman needs to be part of each recreation. With a 9-2 win over Detroit on Saturday, the Astros remained one recreation behind Seattle and Texas, who’re tied for first within the American League West. The Mariners have clinched the season sequence in opposition to Houston, that means they personal the tiebreaker between the 2 groups. Houston leads the season sequence in opposition to the Rangers, 6-4, with a three-game sequence in Arlington remaining Sept. 4-6.
As the Astros battle it out down the stretch, Bregman has missed just one recreation all season, and Baker is being cautious. He’s working with Bregman to not simply play laborious, however play good: Play the sport in a approach that’s sustainable and received’t get anybody harm.
But one way or the other, Baker can’t appear to get Bregman off the sphere.
“Every time I’m going to give him a day off, he gets like three hits,” Baker stated. “I don’t tell him; I think he can kind of feel it.”
Baker didn’t have a break day deliberate for Bregman within the close to future — however when Bregman took the sphere a couple of hours later in opposition to the Tigers, he performed like he needed to keep away from one.
Bregman crushed an RBI double to the right-center-field hole within the first, a bolt off his bat at a 100 mph exit velocity. In the fifth, after the Tigers had tied the sport and Detroit starter Eduardo Rodriguez appeared to have settled right into a rhythm, Bregman turned issues up a notch, slugging a two-run homer to left. He got here by means of once more within the sixth, walloping one other RBI double down the right-field line. For good measure, he added a stroll within the second and the eighth.
The Astros broke out for 9 runs after being held to 1 run in consecutive video games and only one hit within the sequence opener. The surge got here up and down the lineup card, as Chas McCormick and José Abreu picked up two RBIs every and Houston pounded out 14 hits, however Bregman led the cost.
Whatever changes Bregman has made because the All-Star break are definitely working: After batting .240/.338/.387 within the first half, he’s hitting .303/.407/.555 within the second. His OPS, which stood at .725 on the All-Star break, has risen to a season-high .799.
It’s not precisely out of character for Bregman, who has a profession .820 OPS within the first half, in comparison with .918 within the second.
“He’s a second-half guy,” Baker stated. “His OPS is always a lot higher in the second half. He’s at .260 — hopefully, next stop [is] .270. He’s driving in runs and scoring. It was a big night for Alex.”
In the hunt for his ultimate swing mechanics, Bregman remembered when all of it felt proper: within the sequence finale in Miami on Aug. 16, when he crushed a solo homer within the first inning of a 12-5 win.
As he slugged three extra-base hits in opposition to Detroit and reached base 5 instances on Saturday, Bregman didn’t really feel that his swing was fairly there — however it was shut.
“When it’s close to that, it’s a good day at the yard,” he stated. “When it’s not close to that swing, mechanically, it’s a grind, and you go up there and battle every time.”
Even as Bregman places collectively a superstar-level second-half surge, Baker has diligently minded his third baseman’s well being and long-term sustainability.
“I’ve got my eyes on him, how he’s running or how he’s moving,” Baker stated. “When he hit into the [groundout in the 9th], I was hoping that he didn’t really bust it, because we’ve got to take care of him.”
The crew has to deal with Bregman, however he’s serving to out by taking good care of himself. Indeed, Bregman doesn’t see taking part in every single day and taking part in sustainably as two conflicting objectives. He sees the previous as a reward for the latter.
“My job is to come here and play every day,” he stated. “I want to put myself in a position — with sleep, nutrition, preparation — to be able to perform every single day at a high level. … I think I owe that to my teammates.”
Content Source: www.mlb.com