On his third swing of his spring training debut Alex Bregman drove a 98 MPH fastball from the right arm of two-time National League Cy Young award winner Jacob deGrom into deep right-centerfield for what could have been a home run, only to be robbed by Mets centerfielder Brandon Nimmo.
"That was a great play by Nimmo," Bregman said. "I was just happy to square the baseball up, stay honest, stay through it, and he made a great play out there."
Bregman made his spring debut on Tuesday in the Astros 8-3 loss to the New York Mets in Port St. Lucie after a hamstring strain suffered in January kept him out of the first 11 games of Grapefruit League play. He finished 0-for-3, hitting the ball in the air all three times, while playing five innings of third base.
"He was surprisingly good," Astros manager Dusty Baker said. "He was on the ball. He blasted one to right-center, and he was on the ball all day."
The first two pitches he saw on Tuesday were 101 MPH fastballs from deGrom which he took for strikes. The third pitch was a 100 MPH fastball that he hit to Nimmo with an exit velocity of 90 MPH. Bregman saw four more fastballs from deGrom in his second at bat culminating in the near homer that traveled through the air at 101 MPH. He did see a couple of breaking balls from Mets reliever Dellin Betances in the sixth inning before flying out for a third time.
"deGrom's fastball is elite," Bregman said. "It explodes out of his hand, so it was great to see some good (velocity), and then Betances has one of the best breaking balls in the game, so it was also good to see that. Got to see a lot of good pitching today and look forward to doing that whenever my next opportunity is."
Baker said it's unlikely Bregman will play in the Astros game on Wednesday against the Cardinals in West Palm Beach, but that's simply a precaution. Bregman did not report any soreness after leaving Tuesday's game and says his swing feels good.
"The biggest thing for my swing, what I think is staying closed, so the better job I do of that the better results I've been getting and hope to continue that and try and do that throughout the year."
