Alex Bregman Still Searching for His Swing Ahead of Game 6

Houston's third baseman responded to being dropped in the batting order with an RBI double in Game 5, but he still doesn't feel his swing is where it should be. A September wrist injury could be the reason why.

ATLANTA — The Astros’ team flight is scheduled to land at Houston’s George Bush International Airport at 3:30 p.m. on Monday. By 3:31, Alex Bregman plans to be on his way to Minute Maid Park.

Monday is supposed to be a day off for the Astros, who beat Atlanta 9–5 on Sunday to force Game 6 of the World Series. It will not be a day off for their third baseman, who has a date with hitting coach Troy Snitker at the batting cage.

“I have to,” Bregman says. “I have to fix this thing.”

His second-inning RBI double in Game 5 was his second hit of the World Series. Pitcher Zack Greinke has the same number. Bregman finished second in AL MVP voting in 2019. Now his .111 batting average and .167 slugging percentage in the Series are the worst among regulars. He has looked so lost at the plate that manager Dusty Baker, who is loath to shake things up, dropped him from third to seventh in the batting order on Sunday. He assured Bregman that he was not the scapegoat for an offense that, before its Game 5 breakout, had been held to two runs or fewer in three of four World Series games. Second baseman Jose Altuve was hitting .222. Shortstop Carlos Correa was hitting .143. DH Yordan Alvarez was hitting .091. But only Bregman was demoted.

“Hey, man,” Bregman told Baker. “I’ll do whatever you ask.”

Astros third baseman Alex Bregman hits an RBI double against the Braves during the second inning of Game 5 :: John David Mercer/USA Today Sports

The move seemed to pay off immediately. After four straight sliders, Atlanta’s Tucker Davidson left a fastball at Bregman’s thighs. He hammered it to center field.

In the seventh, though, Bregman got a cutter dead in the center of the strike zone. It might have been the most tantalizing pitch he has seen all October. He popped it to third.

So he is not ready to call himself fixed. “I’ll get it right,” he says. “Tomorrow will be key. I’m gonna grind my ass off.”

By all accounts, that has been his approach all series. Rain prevented the teams from taking batting practice on the field before Games 3 and 4, but Bregman estimates he took 300 swings indoors on Saturday. “I saw him hit four times today,” Correa said after Bregman’s 0-for-4 in Game 4. “I was kind of mad at him because he was hogging the cage, but the guy’s putting in the work.”

Bregman laughs. “Everyone gives me s--- about it,” he says. “I like hitting. That’s when I feel my best, is when I'm hitting a ton.”

On Sunday, the sun emerged long enough for him to take two sessions of batting practice on the field. His top hand feels weak, he says. The barrel of the bat keeps drifting behind him. So as he hits, he experiments with different verbal cues until he finds one that gives him the feeling he wants. During Game 5, that was “two hands on the bat.”

That’s easier said than done. Bregman hurt his right wrist in September, Correa says. Bregman says he feels “good enough,” but Correa believes Bregman’s struggles stem from the injury. “That plays a huge factor,” Correa says. The top hand—Bregman’s right hand—generates power. Bregman has a career slugging percentage of .507. Since Sept. 17, that figure is .273. He has lost six miles per hour of average exit velocity since August.

“That’s because the mechanics are not clean yet,” Correa says. “But if he figures it out tomorrow at the right time, he can help us win a championship. It’s all about timing. I believe in him. I believe he can do it, and he’s putting in the work. Once that thing clicks, it’s gonna be scary.”

So Bregman will swing on. He says he plans to “blow up [Snitker’s] phone tomorrow and make sure he gets his butt to Minute Maid Park,” where they will spend hours in the cage. Snitker just laughs and nods at this characterization.

“Hit my ass off until I find it,” says Bregman. And how many swings will that take? “Could be 10,” he says. “Could be 10,000!”

Then Game 6 will begin, and Bregman will take the swings that matter.