Astros Alex Bregman: You Didn’t Give Up, Did You?

Astros top prospect Alex Bregman has been hitting very well over the last seven days. Hopefully you didn’t drop him before this power surge.

The Houston Astros have a lot of pieces to make it to the playoffs, and possibly further. If the starting pitching was better, they could easily be first in the American League West. That is not the case, though the offense is firing on all cylinders recently. One of the catalysts is rookie third baseman/outfielder Alex Bregman.

He was a hot pickup when he first got the call to the majors. However, he struggled in his first week and many owners dropped him. Over the last 10 days, Bregman has been hitting like we all expected. If you owned him, I hope that you didn’t give up on him too quickly. If someone else dropped him, two things. One, they are crazy and two, go pick him up right now.

Bregman made his MLB debut on July 25. He did not record his first hit until July 31. After his first 10 games, he was hitting .053 (2-for-38) with 10 strikeouts and four walks. It was these numbers that caused fantasy owners to freak out. The Astros wouldn’t have called him up if they didn’t think he was ready. Why were fantasy owners not sticking by him?

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Since August 6, Bregman has a .324/.364/.592 line with four home runs, 14 RBI and 14 runs scored. He also has 19 strikeouts and five walks. While the on-base percentage is not what people are looking for, the power is starting to show. His four homers have come in the last seven games.

Not to make light of an injury, but Bregman benefits from Yulieski Gourriel‘s hamstring injury. There were reports that Gurriel was going to take over third base and Bregman transition to left field. That is no longer happening and Bregman will stay put at third for the time being.

Fantasy owners like to jump on the bandwagon when a top prospect gets the call. Yet, when that player struggles, they get fed up and drop said player. That is good news for the other nine, 11 or 15 owners in that league.

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Bregman is owned in just 43.4 percent of ESPN leagues. With his recent surge, he’s been added in 18 percent of leagues over the last week. With the fantasy playoffs less than a month away, I would add Bregman to your team. The Astros have not changed their plans and will play him everyday. He is one of the few rookies that is worth adding in the final weeks.