Confident Bregman struts into postseason
HOUSTON — Astros third baseman Alex Bregman is baseball’s version of Showtime. In every way.
He loves the glare of the postseason spotlight, his teammates and the big moment.
For the Astros to repeat as world champions, they are going to need a big October from Bregman, and he is ready to bring it after delivering an incredible season at the age of 24.
Bregman hit .286 with a .926 OPS, 31 home runs, 96 walks and 105 runs scored. He led the Astros in runs, hits, doubles, homers, RBIs, walks, on-base percentage and OPS. He led the majors with 51 doubles and joined Lou Gehrig (1927) as the only players in major league history to record a season with at least 50 doubles, 30 homers, 90 walks and 10 stolen bases. That’s big-time production. When asked Thursday at Minute Maid Park if he envisioned such success at such a young age, Bregman answered: “Yeah, I did. But I think there’s a ton of room to improve. I was mad that I didn’t do that last year, to be honest with you. I kind of had a bad year.’’
Got all that? Bregman’s confidence is off the charts, but the AllStar Game MVP delivers his lines in such an entertaining way and with a smile, he doesn’t come off as someone who is full of himself. He knows he is good and he’s not afraid to say it and expects to be at his best in the biggest moments.
“It was definitely, definitely something I envisioned doing, and I think there’s so much room to improve on both sides of the ball, and I look forward to working on it,’’ Bregman added, just to be clear.
The postseason journey begins anew for the champs Friday as they host the Indians in a Cy Young battle that features Justin Verlander against Corey Kluber.
The Astros want to become the first team to win consecutive titles since the Yankees won three in a row from 1998-2000.
“I’ll say that we’re a very confident team,’’ Bregman said. “I think that we can use the experience last year from the postseason, winning the World Series, to our advantage. But the one thing that us winning the World Series last year did is drive us to win another one. That’s been the only thing on our mind to win that World Series. It’s to win another one.’’