Houston Astros star Alex Bregman update: Recovery needs a bit more time to get things right

It’ll be a bit longer before star slugger Alex Bregman returns to the Houston Astros’ lineup.

The third baseman has been out since mid-June and has thus far played 59 games this season for an Astros team that currently leads the American League West division with a 67-46 record. In those 59 games, Bregman is batting .275 with seven home runs and 34 RBI.

A day after it was reported by MLB.com that Bregman will be on his way to another rehab stint for his strained quad muscle, Bregman spoke to reporters on Wednesday to update his condition.

“It’s a process that’s going in the right direction,” Bregman said. “It’s just freaking unpredictable and it stinks. I wish I could, like, two months ago and have been like, ‘This is the day I’m going to be back playing,’ but it’s just not the case with these types of injuries.

“There are some things that we’re really focused on in the rehabilitation process that are going to prepare me to not have this happen again, and that’s number one - not only coming back, but coming back stronger and coming back (for) the rest of the season. So it’s been a weird process. It’s been different than any rehab I’ve ever had because (the injury) was a little worse than the ones in the past that I’ve had. So now, we’re moving in the right direction.”

It was clear that Bregman’s champing at the bit for his return to big-league action.

“We’re super close, but (I’ll need) a few more games but hopefully be back shortly,” he said. “I can’t wait to be back. I just want to be back for the long haul. I get a little excited when I want to play and I want to be back and say ‘Hey soon, soon, I’m ready soon, I’m ready soon,’ but realistically, it probably is really smart what we’re doing in taking time and making sure that it doesn’t happen because the more time that I have to heal, the more time that I put in the rehab, the better off the longevity I’ll be, so hoping that is good.”

From this strained quad, Bregman had previously had a rehab stint starting July 26. In seven games with the Triple-A Sugar Land Skeeters from July 26 to August 7, the two-time MLB All-Star had two hits in 21 at-bats for a .095 average, six walks, one RBI, and two runs scored. He was removed from the Skeeters’ game on August 1 as a precaution for hamstring tightness. Bregman clarified on Wednesday the hamstring situation was purely precautionary and not a different injury.

“It was just tight that day,” Bregman said. “I didn’t want to compensate due to tightness and affect my quad. I didn’t want to (be like) ‘Okay, my hamstring’s a little tight, I’ve got to worry about that’ and then, all of a sudden, boom my quad injury comes back, because the biggest thing is to make sure this quad is done and (any) soft tissue (issue), lower-body wise, is done.”