CHICAGO — Alex Bregman wasn’t in the
Red Sox
starting lineup Sunday. Manager Alex Cora and the training staff are trying to ease the All-Star third baseman back after he missed 43 games with a right quad strain.
Sunday was one of Bregman’s two scheduled days off during this current six-game road trip. The plan is for him to sit Wednesday in Philadelphia, too.
But Sunday didn’t end up being a day off. He helped
the Red Sox defeat the Cubs 6-1
at Wrigley Field to salvage the final game of the three-game series.
Bregman worked in the video room and batting cages throughout the day with the hitting coaches. He then came off the bench to belt a pinch-hit three-run homer in the eighth inning.
“We looked at some mechanical things before the game today and kind of used today as like a training day of getting back to feeling good,” Bregman said.
Bregman wanted to break down his swing mechanics and work hard after recording just three hits in his first 16 at-bats
since returning from the IL on July 11
.
“Was in the cage with (assistant hitting coach) Dillon (Lawson) for the majority of the game, just hitting and trying to get back in the right spot mechanically after being away for like two months,” Bregman said.
He said they noticed he was “standing more vertically” and wasn’t starting in the same position as he did pre-injury, when he batted .299 with a .385 on-base percentage, .553 slugging percentage and .938 OPS in 51 games (226 plate appearances).
“So tried to get back into that starting position and then swing from behind the ball,” Bregman said. “Yeah, just big credit to our hitting staff for noticing that and helping me out with it.”
The work he put in produced immediate results. He turned a 2-1 lead into a 5-1 lead when he pinch hit for Masataka Yoshida against lefty Drew Pomeranz, connecting on an 83.4 mph knuckle-curve and sending it 402 feet to left field.
“Just obviously just to try and help this team win a ballgame,” Bregman said. “Playing a really good team out there. I mean, the atmosphere here has been great for three days. It felt like playoff baseball. Feel like two good teams, two playoff teams getting after it. Just really happy that we came out on top today.”
Cora said he and Bregman talked before the game about whether he was OK to pinch hit. Bregman told Cora he felt good. Head athletic trainer Brandon Henry also gave the third baseman the green light in case Cora needed him in the late innings.
“It just played into our advantage in that situation,” Cora said. “Lefty on the mound, Masa coming up. … The kid did what he usually does.”
