Astros: Alex Bregman Takes Next Step After Surgery

Astros’ Alex Bregman is cleared to swing a bat for the first time since his surgery in November.

After the conclusion of the World Series, Houston Astros‘ third baseman Alex Bregman underwent wrist surgery on his throwing arm. While it wasn’t reported as an issue during the postseason and in September, the 27-year-old is now back to batting practice without fatigue.

Over the last couple weeks, Bregman has been active on social media posting updates of his recovery from wrist surgery. After weeks of conditioning, the right-hander returned to the cages on Jan. 14, as reported by Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston.

During the 2021 postseason, Bregman was moved down in the order come the World Series. After slumping at the plate, the right-hander started to come around late into the series, but wrist issues were likely holding back his offensive contributions, since his return late into the season.

"“It felt really good to be back swinging a bat,” Bregman said. “Normally when you’re coming back from something, you’re a little nervous or you might feel a little sore, but there’s nothing like that.”"

Bregman told Berman that his hitting session went well, describing the experience as his holiday present for the offseason. While dealing with leg fatigue again in 2021, Bregman feels the best he has felt since 2018 and 2019, especially with injuries limiting his play the last two years.

The third baseman hopes to be ready for spring training, which is scheduled to start in late February, but this can change without a current collective bargaining agreement.

There have been no reports on what Major League Baseball will do if an agreement is not agreed upon before the scheduled games are set to begin.