{"id":54551,"date":"2025-06-09T03:30:07","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T03:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54551"},"modified":"2025-06-09T03:30:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T03:30:07","slug":"red-sox-provide-scary-update-on-120-million-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54551","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox Provide Scary Update on $120 Million Star"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"has-video wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250608_121817_0000.png?w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250608_121817_0000.png?w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250608_121817_0000.png?w=1100&amp;quality=15&amp;strip=all 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/20250608_121817_0000.png?w=1350&amp;quality=35&amp;strip=all 1350w\" alt=\"Alex Bregman (Boston Red Sox)\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-img-load-time=\"1098\" data-dom-ready-time=\"1361\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">When the\u00a0Boston Red Sox\u00a0inked\u00a0Alex Bregman\u00a0to a\u00a0$120 million deal\u00a0this past offseason, they envisioned a stabilizing force in the heart of their lineup. For the first\u00a050 games of the season, that\u2019s precisely what they got: a .938 OPS, 11 homers, 35 RBI, and the kind of steady presence Boston has lacked since the days of\u00a0Dustin Pedroia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">But those good vibes ended abruptly on May 23 when Bregman pulled up while running to first base against the\u00a0Baltimore Orioles. The official diagnosis is a strained right quadriceps. The unofficial prognosis? It might be a while.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Despite manager Alex Cora insisting the rehab is \u201c<em>progressing well<\/em>,\u201d\u00a0he made it clear over the weekend\u00a0that Bregman is \u201cstill far away from starting the baseball progression.\u201d That\u2019s a problem\u2014not just for Bregman, but for a Red Sox team that has\u00a0gone 5-9 in his absence and is quickly losing ground in the AL East.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">This<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0Isn\u2019t a New Injury\u2014And That\u2019s the Scary Part<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Bregman knows this pain all too well. In 2021, while still with the\u00a0Houston Astros, he missed 58 games due to a similar quad strain on his left side. That injury lingered longer than expected and torpedoed what had been shaping up as another All-Star campaign. The hope in Boston was that this 2025 strain would be more manageable. But three weeks into the recovery, he\u2019s just now starting a\u00a0running progression. Baseball activities haven\u2019t even started.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">It\u2019s not yet in panic mode, but it\u2019s getting close.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The reality is that quad strains\u2014especially for players in their 30s\u2014don\u2019t follow predictable timelines. And with Boston reluctant to rush a multi million investment, there\u2019s every indication that Bregman\u2019s return will stretch\u00a0deep into the summer, if not beyond.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Red Sox Lineup Is Feeling the Void<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Without Bregman anchoring third base and batting in the heart of the order, Boston\u2019s offense has sputtered. The team is averaging under four runs per game since his injury and has dropped multiple winnable contests during that stretch. Cora has rotated bodies at third base, including top prospect\u00a0Marcelo Mayer, but the results have been inconsistent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Mayer, who hit his first big-league homer shortly after Bregman went down, hasn\u2019t seized the everyday job\u2014partly because he\u2019s\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">being sat<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0against left-handed pitchers. It\u2019s a reminder that\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Boston\u2019s<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0depth chart wasn\u2019t built<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> to withstand a prolonged Bregman absence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Cora knows it, too.\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201c<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Obviously, we don\u2019t want to rush, and we have to be very diligent with it,<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201c<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0he told reporters. \u201c<em>But he\u2019s feeling great<\/em>.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201c<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0Translation: Bregman is itching to return, but the medical staff is putting the brakes on.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">What It Means for the Red Sox Going Forward<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Boston signed Bregman not just for his bat but for his leadership. His absence has coincided with a clubhouse that looks lost, both at the plate and in the standings. The Red Sox entered the weekend below .500, falling behind the\u00a0Orioles,\u00a0Yankees, and\u00a0Blue Jays\u00a0in a brutal division.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">With trade season looming and wild-card spots up for grabs, the Red Sox face a tough decision: wait out Bregman and hope he returns in time to spark a second-half surge or consider bolstering the infield through the trade market. Either way, the margin for error is evaporating.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Hope Isn\u2019t a Timeline<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Bregman says he\u2019s progressing\u00a0at \u201cwarp speed.<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201d\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">That\u2019s the competitor in his talking. The Red Sox, though, are speaking more cautiously\u2014and with good reason. They can\u2019t afford a setback.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Until Bregman starts swinging a bat and taking grounders, his return is more theoretical than imminent. And if Boston can\u2019t stop the bleeding soon, they may find themselves staring up from the bottom of the AL East\u2014wondering what might\u2019ve been if their $120 million man had stayed on the field.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty When the\u00a0Boston Red Sox\u00a0inked\u00a0Alex Bregman\u00a0to a\u00a0$120 million deal\u00a0this past offseason, they envisioned a stabilizing force in the heart of their lineup. For the first\u00a050 games of&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Red Sox Provide Scary Update on $120 Million Star - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54551\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Red Sox Provide Scary Update on $120 Million Star - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty When the\u00a0Boston Red Sox\u00a0inked\u00a0Alex Bregman\u00a0to a\u00a0$120 million deal\u00a0this past offseason, they envisioned a stabilizing force in the heart of their lineup. 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