Astros send stern message to struggling Alex Bregman with latest roster move

There aren’t many third basemen who have been more productive than Alex Bregman since his debut in 2016. He ranks eighth in home runs (166), fifth in RBIs (599), third in fWAR (35.5) and tied for first in RBIs. WRC+ (134) during that span among primary third basemen. Not too bad.

He may never repeat his absurd 2019 season in which he was AL MVP runner-up, but he’s been a mainstay at the hot corner with the Houston Astros for nearly a decade now, which makes his early season difficulties even more shocking. .

Bregman’s struggles led the team to move him back to sixth in the batting order for Wednesday’s game against the New York Yankees. This is his lowest level in the order since 2021, when he also reached sixth place.

You know it’s going bad when Jeremy Pena and Jon Singleton (although they’re both swinging good bats right now) are hitting in front of two-time All-Star Alex Bregman.

This is a huge year for Bregman, who is not only expected to play a key role on a team trying to win another World Series, but he will also become a free agent at the end of the season. It’s her platform season. It’s safe to say that this isn’t going the way he imagined.

The 30-year-old is hitting .195/.275/.260 with a home run and 11 RBIs in 32 games this season. He missed time due to illness which may have played a role in those numbers, but there’s no excuse for that. His home run in Houston’s final game in April gave Astros fans hope that he was turning his season around, but he only managed two hits (both singles) in 24 games. stick since its passage in the yard.

Houston’s pitchers have been terrible in both the rotation and the bullpen, but their lineup has also underperformed, entering play Wednesday tied for 16th in runs scored. Not horrible, but not where anyone is used to seeing the Astros in early May. Bregman’s difficulties are a main reason for this.

We’ve seen the Astros be aggressive lately, promoting red-hot Joey Loperfido and demoting struggling Jose Abreu. Now we see Houston sending a message to Bregman that it’s time to leave. The Astros are 12-23. It’s time to win games.