Houston Astros Superstar Named Player With 'Most to Prove' for Rest of This Year

If the Houston Astros slugger doesn't play better, it could hurt him and the team for multiple reasons.

Jul 13, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman (2) throws a fielded ball to first base for an out against the Texas Rangers during the game at Minute Maid Park. / Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Astros have started to struggle again in this recent stretch, going 5-5 over their past 10 games.

Trailing the American League West lead by one, the Astros need to start playing better if they want to solidify a spot in the postseason.

While they're only one game out in the division, it's important to note that they're five back of the final Wild Card spot. If they don't win the division, there's a very good chance that Houston will miss the playoffs.

After deciding to buy at the trade deadline and doing so aggressively by sending three of their top prospects in the organization for a starting pitcher, it would be disastrous for them to not be playing fall baseball.

Getting Kyle Tucker back at some point should certainly help, but there are also others on the roster who simply need to step up.

Alex Bregman is one of those guys.

The right-handed slugger put together a great stretch when the Astros were playing well over the past two months, but as the team has struggled recently, so has Bregman. 

So much so that Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report named him one of the players with the most to prove for the remainder of the year. 

"In the meantime, what they really need is for Alex Bregman to get warm again. Just as he helped fuel that 36-19 stretch with an .863 OPS and 11 homers, he's helped bring the Astros down as they've lost seven out of their last 17 games. In this span, he has just a .588 OPS with two homers (though, to be fair, one of those was a walk-off) as his overall OPS has dropped to a career-low .714."

Not only is it important for Bregman to play better for Houston, but his pending contract situation could get interesting.

Once viewed as somebody likely to make more than $200 million in free agency, it's now uncertain what his contract will look like in a few months. 

"Then there's Bregman himself, who is notably due to hit free agency this winter. And while he's a strong candidate for a $200 million deal on paper, a Matt Chapman-like purgatory could potentially await him if his slump extends to the end of the year."

The Astros decided not to trade him at the deadline, which was the right decision and seemed probable for the past few months despite the rumors they could deal him if they hadn't turning their season around.

History also suggests they aren't afraid to allow some of their top players to leave in free agency, but with this core still intact and Bregman only being 30 years old, keeping him around on a deal that makes sense for both sides seems likely in the offseason.

For now, though, he needs to figure it out as his team needs him in a big way.