HOUSTON — Alex Bregman’s availability to play third base will “kind of be a fluid situation” for the rest of the season, he said Wednesday. It’s troublesome news for an already inflexible Houston Astros roster and for a pending free agent performing in his platform year.
Bregman returned to Houston’s starting lineup Wednesday following a five-game absence due to swelling in his right elbow. Serving as the team’s designated hitter, Bregman struck a solo home run in his first at-bat before going hitless across the next three.
Asked after the game whether he could return to third base for Thursday’s series opener against the Baltimore Orioles, Bregman intimated the issue inside his elbow will need to be carefully managed for the rest of the season. He reiterated there is no structural damage to his ulnar collateral ligament, but swelling remains a problem.
“Some little gremlins in there are causing some swelling that I’m just going to have to try to mitigate through the rest of the year and keep the swelling out,” Bregman said.
Following the 2018 season, Bregman underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove bone chips in this same elbow, though it is unclear if this problem is related. Bregman resumed throwing before Wednesday’s game and said he “didn’t feel any pain or discomfort or anything.”
“But it’s going to be one of those things to take day by day and see how it feels the rest of the year,” Bregman said.
Bregman said he doesn’t feel pain while swinging or throwing. Putting his arm in awkward positions can exacerbate some of his existing symptoms.
“Honestly, I haven’t really felt it doing either, it’s more so if I put my arm in a weird position or sleep weird or something like that,” Bregman said.
“It just kind of flares up. I’m trying to not have it do that. Just going to do everything we can, come out, compete and grind my ass off.”
Bregman has authored a total turnaround after a brutal beginning to his season. Since sporting a .534 OPS on May 13, Bregman has been one of the sport’s most valuable players, worth 3.4 wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs. Among third basemen, only Matt Chapman, Rafael Devers and José Ramírez have been worth more.
Wednesday’s home run raised Bregman’s OPS to .768 and his slugging percentage to .450. The baseball exited his bat at 109.1 mph — the second-hardest hit ball he’s ever had in his major-league career.
That alone should provide solace that Bregman can combat the elbow problems across Houston’s final 36 games, but if he’s limited to serving as a designated hitter, it complicates constructing the Astros’ lineup.
It would all but force manager Joe Espada to play Yordan Alvarez daily in left field — something he has long advocated against — while trusting prospects Shay Whitcomb or Zach Dezenzo to man third base. The two rookies are a combined 9-for-47 since being summoned from Triple-A Sugar Land. Whitcomb committed an error on a routine ground ball during Houston’s win on Monday, too.
Experimenting with catchers Yainer Diaz and Victor Caratini at first base would allow Espada to get both of their streaking bats in the lineup, but at some point, spots run out for players pigeonholed into one or no positions.
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(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
