Alex Bregman shared good and not-so-good news after the Red Sox defeated the visiting Colorado Rockies 9-3 on Monday night.
“Everything’s going good,” he said as he stood in the clubhouse at Fenway. “Last week I touched high velocity three days in a row. Running-wise got a lot of volume in, so trending towards a return here really quickly. Whether it’s end of this week or first game after the break, one of those two, but hoping it’ll be the end of this week… I think we still have to have another discussion tomorrow, but I feel like I can go and play, be ready to go.”
When Bregman went down with a quad strain during the 2021 season, it cost him 10 weeks. This Friday will mark seven weeks since Bregman exited the top of an Orioles doubleheader, and was diagnosed with the same injury.
Asked what’s given him the confidence to push for a significantly earlier return, he smiled.
“My leg feels really good, and I swung the bat really well today,” said Bregman, eliciting a few chuckles. “And I just– I don’t know. I feel like I can do it… I’m feeling really good. Rehab has gone amazing.”
The plan for his return is to “kind of take it day by day,” especially in the likely event that he doesn’t go on a rehab assignment. It would be a first, though Bregman hasn’t spent much time on the injured list in his 10-year career; he played at least 145 games in six of his eight 162-game seasons before signing with the Red Sox in February.
“I think there is going to be some sort of buildup,” he said. “I don’t think we’re just going to go, just play every day the rest of the year right away.”
The suboptimal, though not entirely surprising update was that other than perhaps taking his son, Knox, to the Home Run Derby, Bregman probably won’t participate in his third career All-Star Game next week.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “With just the timing of everything, I think what I need to do is hopefully be back playing by the end of this week, and use the All-Star break to continue to build up and work on my leg and make sure that we just continue the progression the right way.
“So, that was a lot of words to say, I don’t think I’m going to play… I’ll be focused on my rehab still, and hopefully it won’t be rehab at that point. Hopefully it’ll be like, just maintaining, continuing to be active at that point.”
Even so, Bregman made it clear how much it means to be named an All-Star this year, calling his third career nod a “tremendous honor.”
“To be selected by my peers, I felt like was a huge honor, and just super appreciative and a lot of hard work has gone into it,” he said. “First selection since 2019, so six years. So super pumped and just honored to be selected by my peers.”
