The Astros placed star third baseman Alex Bregman on the injured list due to a left quad strain last week, although the timeline for his potential return was undefined. Manager Dusty Baker offered a little more clarity today, telling reporters (including Mark Berman of FOX 26) Bregman would be out for “two to three weeks or more.” With the All-Star break about three weeks away, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Bregman doesn’t return until the season’s unofficial second half begins July 16. The Astros have primarily relied on Abraham Toro in recent days, winning all seven of their games since Bregman went down.
In other health situations around the league:
- Giants first baseman Brandon Belt left this afternoon’s game against the Angels after stumbling while running the bases. He has an undisclosed right knee injury and will go for an MRI, manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area). Belt has quietly been fantastic this season, hitting .253/.365/.518 with 11 home runs across 197 plate appearances. If he winds up requiring an injured list stint, it’d be a tough blow to a Giants club that currently holds a 3.5 game lead in the National League West.
- Dodgers manager Dave Roberts provided updates on a pair of injured players in a session with reporters (including Juan Toribio of MLB.com and Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic). Shortstop Corey Seager, who has been out since May 15 with a fractured right hand, is still feeling some soreness that’s delaying his embarking on a potential rehab assignment. Seager’s injury called for him to miss at least a month, but it seems his progression is going a little slower than the team had initially hoped. Meanwhile, reliever Corey Knebel, who went down with a right lat strain in late April, is targeting a return to the big league club by the end of August.
- Braves manager Brian Sntiker told reporters (including David O’Brien of the Athletic) that catcher Travis d’Arnaud is “right on track” in his recovery from a torn ligament in his right thumb. The team hopes he’ll make his return at some point in August. With d’Arnaud out, Atlanta has primarily turned to rookie William Contreras behind the dish. The 23-year-old has held his own, hitting .227/.306/.437 in 134 plate appearances.
Belt’s slash line is not “fantastic”…
Even after losing Bregman the Astros are still the hottest team in baseball, and now they got Tucker back. 10 in a row and counting……
10 in a row and still can’t keep the A’s away they better keep winning or the low budget A’s gonna take that division again
The low budget A’s better not go on a losing streak, or the Astros will eventually pull away.
A’s have won the division once in the past 6 years and that was a joke season. Nobody in Houston is scared of Oakland
Actually, I’m a hard core Astros fan, and I don’t take the a’s lightly.
Well found one…. I’m much more worried about Chicago than I am Oakland. But, they dominated both teams this season.
I agree. You simply must respect what the A’s continue to accomplish. Year after year.
This year is no different. They continue to outperform their expectations and talent. Thats the sign of a good, well run team.
But the Astros have many of the same attributes and are deeper and more talented.
In a 162 game season, body blow after body blow, eventually the A’s will fall behind
I would think so, and I would hope so – I want another championship or 2 or 3 as much as anybody – but it’s day by day war until that final out in November.
Need to beat Detroit tonight 🙂
If the team plays better when you’re not playing, it should tell you something. Mr. Bregman, meet Mr. Trout.
God, Belt is made of glass!
An exaggeration. This phrase is overused these days
Not as overused as “nature is healing”. I prefer the made of glass because it seems to be true with this fellow.
Nah, he isn’t even close to eliciting that phrase
“Slugging” out of context isn’t a relevant statistic.
What context would you want? (I don’t mean this question snarky.)
AngelsAdvocate:
Why make a post like that? If that’s what you think, then offer something to back it up.
SLG may be flawed, but it does attempt to help separate the value of what a player does when he hits the ball. Say three guys go 1 for 4. Each have a BA of .250. So how do you show the value of what they did when they got their hit if one had a single, one had a double, and the other had a HR?
Oh. I was a bit confused.
Point made but that’s a lot of research.
Maybe over the weekend