Astros send stern message to struggling Alex Bregman with latest lineup change

There aren't many third baseman who have been more productive than Alex Bregman since he debuted back in 2016. He ranks eighth in home runs (166), fifth in RBI (599), third in fWAR (35.5) and tied for first in WRC+ (134) in that span among primary third baseman. Not too shabby.

He may never replicate his absurd 2019 season in which he was the AL MVP runner-up, but he's been a stalwart at the hot corner with the Houston Astros for almost a decade now, which makes his early-season struggles just that much more shocking.

Bregman's struggles led the team to drop him down to sixth in the batting order for Wednesday's game against the New York Yankees. It's the lowest he's been in the order since 2021 when he also hit sixth.

Astros hope lineup change will get Alex Bregman going

You know it's going poorly when you have Jeremy Pena and Jon Singleton (despite both of them swinging good bats right now) hitting in front of Alex Bregman, a two-time All-Star.

This is a huge year for Bregman who not only is expected to play a key role for a team trying to win another World Series, but he's also a free agent at the end of the season. This is his platform season. It's safe to say it's not going how he had envisioned.

The 30-year-old is slashing .195/.275/.260 with one home run and 11 RBI in 32 games this season. He's missed some time due to illness which might have played somewhat of a role in these numbers, but there's no excuse for this. His home run in Houston's last game in April gave Astros fans hope that he was turning his season around, but he has just two hits (both singles) in 24 at-bats since going yard.

Houston's pitching has been abysmal both in the rotation and in the bullpen, but their lineup has underperformed too, entering play on Wednesday tied for 16th in runs scored. Not horrible, but not where anyone is accustomed to seeing the Astros in early May. Bregman's struggles are a big reason why.

We've seen the Astros be aggressive of late, promoting the red-hot Joey Loperfido and demoting the struggling Jose Abreu. Now, we see Houston sending a message to Bregman that it's go-time. The Astros are 12-23. It's time to win games.