Astros third baseman Alex Bregman was cleared to hit today for the first time since undergoing surgery on his right wrist in November, reports Mark Berman of Houston’s Fox26 (Twitter link with video). Though he played through it, Bregman injured his wrist in September, an issue that came to light only when teammate Carlos Correa told Sports Illustrated’s Stephanie Apstein about it during the World Series. The extent to which the injury played a role in Bregman’s postseason struggles isn’t entirely clear, but it’s likely to have had at least some effect given his .217/.304/.300 postseason line across 69 plate appearances, including a meager .095/.200/.143 in 25 trips to the plate during the Astros’ World Series loss to the Braves.
The injury came at the end of what was a forgettable season by Bregman’s high standards. After following a second-place MVP finish in 2019 with a solid but unspectacular 2020, Bregman missed the first two months of the 2021 season with a quadriceps injury and saw a major dip in his power numbers, posting only a .422 slugging percentage against a .507 career mark (and a top-notch .592 in 2019).
Some other baseball tidbits from around the league…
- Yankees pitcher Jameson Taillon discussed his ongoing ankle rehab with former Yankees workhorse David Cone on the latter’s podcast this week. The 30-year-old Taillon once again acknowledged that he remains about a month behind his typical offseason throwing program, jiving with the report he gave last December. More encouragingly however, is the right-hander’s claim that he isn’t feeling any lingering pain from his surgically repaired ankle. While his current regimen consists of throwing 3-4 times a week at much less than full, mid-90’s velocity, this marks another positive step forward in the right-hander’s rehab process. Taillon was a league average arm last year, sporting a 4.30 ERA in 144 plus innings, but has demonstrated the ability to be more than that throughout his career. More positive news as Taillon ramps back up will be welcome for a Yankees club that has a number of solid rotation options but only a few that don’t come with health concerns of their own.
- Per a report from Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, longtime Marlins radio announcer Dave Van Horne announced that he is “essentially retiring” after declining the team’s offer to return to the organization in 2022 in a reduced capacity. The 82-year-old Van Horne retires after 53 years of broadcasting at the major league level. After a 33-year tenure broadcasting for the Montreal Expos, Van Horne pivoted to an upstart Marlins team at the end of 2000. In his lengthy career, the veteran sportscaster called three perfect games, thirteen no-hitters, narrated the 2003 Marlins successful World Series run, and was awarded the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame in recognition of his broadcasting contributions. We at MLBTR extend a hearty congratulations to Van Horne for an illustrious career.
Off in the distance, Bregman heard the gentle and comforting sound of banging drums, and he knew it was the signal, the sign that it was time to hit again.
Was just the trash person picking up their garbage.
Sigh. I can’t believe ppl still think these jokes are funny.
For real. They’re like some psycho ex that doesn’t accept that it’s over for years.
I’m sure all their teams are pure as the driven snow.
It was quite well written and subtle which made it funny. Something that would be said at a “roast”. No matter what team you support I suspect you (and the players concerned) will be hearing about this for many, many years yet.
Not well written at all. It read like something Joe Biden would have said.
Simpletons can’t let it go.
On an unrelated broadcasting note, Karl Ravich, David Cone, and Eduardo Perez have been named the broadcasting team for ESPN Sunday night Baseball. Michael Kay and ARod will get an 8 game simulcast (probably mostly Yankee games) similar to the Manning brothers simulcast on monday night Football.
Good news as now for the first time in years sunday night Baseball might be watchable again
Ravich, Cone and Perez should make for a good broadcast team.
Only bad thing is it is going to take away from Cone’s time in the YES booth.
More John Flaherty… Yay! Nothing against him but he’s rather dry.
@Joe: Kay addressed that on his show – it won’t take away from Cone’s usual YES slate, thankfully.
I hope so. What I’ve heard is he will drop from his approx. 100 games to around 50.
I like Flash as well.
I can’t see the Kay-ARod thing being very good. The whole thing with the Mannings is they’re a couple of brothers just watching football and have natural chemistry.
ARod might be able to do it with the right person but Kay isn’t it. Kay is a polished professional. ARod would need someone like David Ortiz.
Thank God they broke up that train wreck from last season. I thought Fox had made baseball unwatchable, but Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN from 2020-2021 set a new standard in broadcasting failures. I hated when I was forced to watch the Red Sox on ESPN Sunday nights.
Speaking of Boston, Rest In Peace Jerry Remy; Sox broadcasts will never be the same without you. Hopefully Eck takes the job full time; he is hilarious, but he’s no Rem-Dawg.
Agreed. No offense to Ellis Burks and Lenny DiNardo but they are both painfully wooden. At least Eck and O’Brian have chemistry and good banter together
Does A-Fraud get any injections in his off season broadcaster regimen?
@Unclenolanrules. Weren’t you just criticizing some posters about their Astros trashcan jokes being old? Because I think you may have them beat. =))
“Sounds like some psycho ex that doesn’t accept that it’s over for years” – Unclenolanrules
@kiwimlbfan. I’m not sure you get how quotes work
I think he does
Ahhh I see now. I assume it’s from another article?
My B.
Except Perez is horrible listening to
And all those accomplishments of Dave Van Horn are mere participation trophies when compared to Keith Van Horn’s NBA Jam ‘99 cover.
Can someone pass along Taillon’s update to Cashman since… you know… he’s not allowed to know yet?
Grew up listening to Dave Van Horne. Thanks Dave. Legend.
Agree, I listened to Dave Van Horne regularly growing up in Canada, as a big Expos fan. His voice and demeanor were perfect for broadcasting. Would love to see him guest host on the BlueJays broadcasts
Listened to Dave Van Horne thousands of times. I hope he will do some more broadcasting.
Yeah, for me it started with Van Horne and Duke Snider in the booth. Back before Van Horne donned the toupee. Van Horne and Ken Singleton were next level, beginning in 1985.
Fish offered him 20 games for the whole year. Insult offer to get him to go away without the bad PR of letting him go. Pathetic.
Bergman’s wrist injury dates back to March. Huge bounce back candidate for next season.
What happened in March?
Of course, the entire season was a loss for Alex, because of the leg issues but I have only heard of the hand injury happening in September.
I think that 2019 was an outlier season. I don’t see him ever hitting 40HR or +160ops+ again, but he is still young and if he corrected his core/lower body health ( too much bulk too little flexibility) as he claims in Twitter posts, then he can be 40 doubles, 25hr, 100r, 85rbi, +125ops+ player for another 5-7 years.
He should be an all-star candidate and be in line for a big extension ( hopefully) or free agent contract after 2024.