(SportsRadio 610) -- Alex Bregman thought he was running well to first base in Wednesday's game against the Texas Rangers at Minute Maid Park.
When he watched the video, Bregman thought the sprint looked like his best running form.
Then at the top Bregman's leg lift, when his knee got to its highest point, he felt his left quad tighten up. He knew right away it wasn't good.
Now, the Astros' star third baseman is on the injured list with a quad strain and no timetable for his return.
When asked about the play, Bregman's only regret was not sending a hanging slider to the Crawford Boxes at Minute Maid Park.
"My emotions at the time were extremely frustrating because I know how much work I've put in -- the offseason, spring training and in the season," Bregman said Saturday. "It's disappointing. I felt like I was about a centimeter away from turning the corner and getting hot. It was just super frustrating. It was the best my swing had felt in the cage probably all year before the game.
"I got a little excited and if I didn't roll over a slider up in the zone, and did what I should've done with it, hit it out of the park, I would've been jogging instead of hurting myself. So, I was pretty frustrated."
Bregman said he's felt his best since the injury Wednesday night. He woke up days ago feeling sore, but he's doing better and trusting the rehab process.
The hope is to have him back sooner rather than later, but he acknowledged it's hard to know how long this recovery could take.
When asked, Bregman said he was not sure of how the strain was graded by medical staff, but "it sucks, it's not good."
"Honestly, there's no timetable, really," Bregman said. "It sucks. It's unfortunate. But I'm just going to trust the rehab process. I don't really know. It's going to be based on how I progress and how I feel. But there's no real timetable yet. I'll know more later on the process, but as of today and even the last few days, I really have no clue. It's just going to be a matter of how I progress."
Bregman's never dealt with a quad injury, but the hamstrings have given him problems over the past couple of years.
The Astros were careful with him in spring training for that exact reason and built him up slowly before the season.
Bregman missed four games earlier this year on the injured list due to contact tracing after Jose Altuve tested positive for COVID-19. Bregman said his legs have felt "all right" this year, but was reluctant to make excuses for down numbers this year.
Through 59 games played, Bregman's slugging (.428) is well below his 2019 season (.592), when he finished second to Mike Trout in American League MVP voting. His OPS is down from a career-high 1.015 in 2019 to so far a career-low .787.
"Whether I feel great, or I feel not at 100 percent, I still expect highly of myself on a day-to-day basis," Bregman said. "So it's just super disappointing to be injured and to be away and not being able to help this team win games.
"It's definitely frustrating to not feel as good as I've felt in years past and two straight years of having to deal with soft tissue injuries is unfortunate."
