Prior to the Red Sox 13-6 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Fenway Park on Monday night, manager Alex Cora said Bregman sounded like someone nearing 100%, with his six-week reassessment coming up at the end of the week.
“He ran today. He feels great. Obviously, we have to be smart about him, but things are trending in the right direction,” said Cora. “I guess they do tests to see where we’re at and then decide what we’re going to do after that. But the way he’s talking about it. He’s close to being 100%.”
Shortly after Cora’s comments, Bregman provided an update of his own. The excitement and optimism were apparent in the two-time All-Star’s voice as he discussed the right quad strain that’s kept him sidelined since May 23.
“I feel really good. Today was the best that I’ve felt during the rehab process, the fastest I ran. I resumed full baseball activity. So this is a lot of weeks ahead of what we predicted,” he said. “So we’re kind of taking it day by day when it comes to that. Obviously, you don’t want to rush it too much, but we’re very far ahead of where we thought we’d be at this point. I ran the fastest I ran today. Resumed full activity -- hitting, defense, throwing, and running straight and curved as well. We’ve got a lot of running on the agenda this week. So hopefully, everything continues to go smoothly.”
Bregman posted a .299 batting average (tied for the team-best with Rafael Devers and 11th in the AL), a .385 on-base percentage (second on the team behind Devers and seventh in the AL), and a .553 slugging percentage (second on the team behind Devers and fifth in the AL), with 11 home runs (second on the team behind Devers and tied for sixth in the AL) and 35 RBI (tied with Devers for the team lead and tied for fifth in the AL) over his 51 games before the injury.
Despite missing the last 35 games, the 31-year-old still ranks sixth on the team in hits (59), tied for second in doubles (17), third in home runs, and fourth in RBI. The Red Sox are 17-18 in his absence.
Cora noted last week that Bregman likely wouldn’t return until after the All-Star break, which takes place from July 14 to July 17. But Bregman isn’t ruling out a return before then.
“Possibly,” he said when asked if he could return before the break. “We’ll see. Today was really good, so we’ll see what the group says. I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself because today was the best it’s been. But got to see how we come out of it tomorrow, everything like that. But [I] could be here soon. We’ll see.”
Masataka Yoshida, who has yet to make his season debut after undergoing right shoulder surgery in October, is expected to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday. Could Bregman be joining him down I-90? Or might he rejoin the team in Washington, D.C., over the weekend — or sometime during the seven-game homestand leading into the break — as the Red Sox look to close the gap in the Wild Card race?
“I’m not sure yet, honestly, if it’s going to entail going on a rehab, or if it’s going to be kind of simulating the volume here and getting back to playing in big league games right away,” Bregman said. “We’re going to discuss that either today or here in the next few days as far as what the next steps look like, but I think all options are on the table, really, whether it’s going on a rehab assignment or not going on one, and just going straight to playing up here and maybe kind of easing the way back in at this level. It’s honestly whatever they want me to do, really.”
As he recovers, Bregman is open to having discussions about his long-term future. Last week, his agent, Scott Boras, told The Boston Globe that the 10-year veteran would be open to discussing an extension. Bregman confirmed that on Monday.
“We’re on the same page, Scott and I,” Bregman said. “Obviously open to listening to whatever the team has to say.”
For now, though, his focus remains on returning to strength and helping a Red Sox team playing well below expectations — sitting at 42-44 — make a push for their first playoff appearance since 2021.
“Honestly, I’m focused on getting back on the field and helping this team win baseball games. Getting back as soon as possible, as healthy as possible, and making a push to get into this race and get into the postseason. When I signed here, the first thing I said was that I believed this was a team that could play playoff baseball. I still believe that. I’m focused on getting back, contributing, and helping this team do that.”
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