Sports
Bye, bye Bregman? Astros angle to keep cornerstone third baseman
Sep 24, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman (2) celebrates his home run with teammates in the dugout against Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Logan Gilbert (36) (not pictured) in the first inning at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman has the support of his manager and teammates, but the impending free agent doesn’t know if he will be back next season.
“I hope so,” Bregman said Wednesday after the Astros were eliminated by the Detroit Tigers in a two-game sweep in the American League wild-card series in Houston.
“We’ll see what happens. I’m going to let Scott (Boras, his agent) and the team handle that. Obviously, it’s free agency, and I’ve never really experienced that before.”
A career Astro since Houston selected him second overall in the 2015 MLB Draft out of LSU, tBregman earned $30.5 million in each of the past two seasons. He’s expected to be one of the top hitters on the free-agent market, with the Astros having a five-day window to exclusively negotiate with him and any of their other free-agent players following the end of the World Series.
Manager Joe Espada said Thursday at the team’s end-of-season news conference that he hopes Bregman makes a deal to remain an Astro.
“I think what makes this team really good is the character of the people that we have in that clubhouse, and he’s one of the best I’ve ever been around,” Espada said. “So I would love to have Alex Bregman playing third base for us next year.”
Bregman’s fellow All-Star infielder, second baseman Jose Altuve, said Wednesday that he would be “heartbroken” if Bregman left the organization.
“I don’t want to think about my last game with Breggy,” he said. “I’m pretty confident he’s going to be our third baseman next year. We have to. We’re not going to be the same organization without him. In my mind, there’s not a chance this is the last game.”
General manager Dana Brown, who will be part of the negotiations, said the organization will have conversations with Bregman about coming back, but on Thursday he didn’t provide a timeline.
“He’s been a really good player and he’s been outstanding in terms of helping this team play a lot of postseason games and he’s posted each and every year,” Brown said. “So that weighs heavily. We will have some discussions with Boras and also Bregman. We’ve had some small talk, but ultimately, we’ll have some discussions. We know what he means to this organization.”
Bregman, who turns 31 at the start of the 2025 season (March 30), started slowly in 2024. He finished with a .260 batting average, 26 home runs and 75 RBIs in 145 games while dealing with a right elbow ailment late in the season. His .315 on-base percentage was close to a career low. He had a .453 slugging percentage, and his .768 OPS was a career low.
He is a career .272 hitter with 191 homers and 663 RBIs in 1,111 regular-season games (2016-24). He was an All-Star in 2018 and 2019 and the Silver Slugger award winner for American League third basemen in 2019.
Bregman also has hit .238 in the postseason with 19 homers and 54 RBIs in 99 games from 2017-24 as Houston won the World Series in 2017 and 2022.
“Bregman is a special, special human and a special baseball player,” Brown said. “I hope I see him back here, that’s all I’ve got to say.”
After the Astros’ season ended on Wednesday, Bregman talked to his teammates in the clubhouse about how proud he was of them and their improvement over the past six months. He said it was “one of the funnest seasons I’ve had.”
Later, he told reporters that he hadn’t thought about free agency.
“I haven’t really had a chance to process this,” Bregman said. “I was planning on being here tomorrow.”
Later Wednesday, he posted on his X account: “Thank you Houston.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Braves' Ronald Acuna Jr. exits vs. White Sox with hamstring tightness
May 31, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. (13) hits a solo home run against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images Atlanta Braves star outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. exited Tuesday’s game at the Chicago White Sox in the fourth inning after sustaining an apparent left leg injury.
The team later described Acuna’s ailment as hamstring tightness.
While attempting to leg out an infield single, Acuna pulled up and hobbled past first base and then off the field into the locker room after appearing to sustain the injury on his final step before reaching the bag.
He was replaced in right field and atop the lineup by Eli White.
Acuna, the 2018 National League Rookie of the Year and 2023 NL MVP, missed 14 games earlier this season due to a hamstring strain while similarly trying to leg out an infield hit. He saw his 2021 and 2024 seasons end prematurely due to torn ACLs.
The five-time All-Star entered the day hitting .254 with seven homers and 22 RBIs in 52 games. He’s a career .287 hitter with 193 homers and 481 RBIs over 869 games across nine seasons with Atlanta.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Freddie Freeman posts 2,500th hit in 10-run 7th as Dodgers drub Pirates
Jun 9, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) hits an RBI single to record his twenty-five hundred MLB career hit against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the seventh inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Freddie Freeman recorded his 2,500th career hit, Andy Pages drove in three runs and Shohei Ohtani drove in two more during the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 10-run seventh inning, which propelled them to a 12-3 win over the host Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.
In the seventh, Pages hit a two-run home run off Pirates reliever Wilber Dotel (1-1) and a sacrifice fly off Brandan Bidois. Ohtani hit an RBI double against Dotel, then Bidois walked him with the bases loaded to force in another run.
Freeman’s milestone came on an RBI single up the middle off Bidois to score Alex Freeland and cap the scoring in the inning.
Every Dodger in the starting lineup scored in the inning as the visitors sent 15 batters to the plate.
Paul Skenes started for the Pirates, who lost their fourth in a row, and gave up two runs on six hits and two walks and struck out seven over six innings.
Skenes retired Ohtani all three times he faced him, including a strikeout in the third.
Dotel allowed six runs (five earned) on five hits and one walk without recording an out. The Pirates needed 68 pitches and used three relievers until Mookie Betts lined out to left against Dennis Santana to end the seventh.
Dotel had allowed two runs in his first 16 2/3 career innings before Tuesday.
The first nine Dodgers reached safely until Dalton Rushing struck out in his second at-bat of the seventh. Rushing started behind the plate for the third consecutive game with Will Smith still dealing with neck stiffness.
Max Muncy finished with three hits and an RBI while Freeman, Betts, Freeland and Santiago Espinal each had two of Los Angeles’ 15 hits.
In the sixth, Will Klein (2-2) relieved starter Eric Lauer, who gave up two runs on back-to-back home runs by Bryan Reynolds and Ryan O’Hearn with two outs in the first. Lauer struck out five and allowed three hits and no walks before Klein struck out three over 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Pittsburgh infielder Tyler Callihan made his first career pitching appearance and threw a scoreless ninth.
Oneil Cruz was a late scratch for the Pirates as he continues to deal with left hand discomfort.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Freddie Freeman posts 2,500th hit in 10-run 7th; Dodgers drub Pirates
Jun 9, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) hits an RBI single to record his twenty-five hundred MLB career hit against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the seventh inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Freddie Freeman recorded his 2,500th career hit, Andy Pages drove in three runs and Shohei Ohtani drove in two more during the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 10-run seventh inning, which propelled them to a 12-3 win over the host Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.
In the seventh, Pages hit a two-run home run off Pirates reliever Wilber Dotel (1-1) and a sacrifice fly off Brandan Bidois. Ohtani hit an RBI double against Dotel, then Bidois walked him with the bases loaded to force in another run.
Freeman’s milestone came on an RBI single up the middle off Bidois to score Alex Freeland and cap the scoring in the inning.
Every Dodger in the starting lineup scored in the inning as the visitors sent 15 batters to the plate.
Paul Skenes started for the Pirates, who lost their fourth in a row, and gave up two runs on six hits and two walks and struck out seven over six innings.
Skenes retired Ohtani all three times he faced him, including a strikeout in the third.
Dotel allowed six runs (five earned) on five hits and one walk without recording an out. The Pirates needed 68 pitches and used three relievers until Mookie Betts lined out to left against Dennis Santana to end the seventh.
Dotel had allowed two runs in his first 16 2/3 career innings before Tuesday.
The first nine Dodgers reached safely until Dalton Rushing struck out in his second at-bat of the seventh. Rushing started behind the plate for the third consecutive game with Will Smith still dealing with neck stiffness.
Max Muncy finished with three hits and an RBI while Freeman, Betts, Freeland and Santiago Espinal each had two of Los Angeles’ 15 hits.
In the sixth, Will Klein (2-2) relieved starter Eric Lauer, who gave up two runs on back-to-back home runs by Bryan Reynolds and Ryan O’Hearn with two outs in the first. Lauer struck out five and allowed three hits and no walks before Klein struck out three over 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Pittsburgh infielder Tyler Callihan made his first career pitching appearance and threw a scoreless ninth.
Oneil Cruz was a late scratch for the Pirates as he continues to deal with left hand discomfort.
–Field Level Media
Braves' Ronald Acuna Jr. exits vs. White Sox with hamstring tightness
Freddie Freeman posts 2,500th hit in 10-run 7th as Dodgers drub Pirates
