Tag: Alex Bregman

Rutgers baseball: Josh Kuroda-Grauer named semifinalist for the Brooks Wallace Award

Rutgers baseball’s Josh Kuroda-Grauer named semifinalist for the Brooks Wallace Award.

With only three games left in the regular season, Rutgers baseball is turning its attention to the Big Ten tournament. The Scarlet Knights are currently the fourth-best team in the Big Ten, partly due to the play of Josh Kuroda-Grauer. On Thursday, he earned national recognition for his impressive season.

The New Jersey native was named one of the 25 semifinalists for the Brooks Wallace Award, which is given annually to the top shortstop in the country. In just his second year as a Scarlet Knight, Kuroda-Grauer has become one of the best shortstops in college baseball.

In 51 games this year, the Franklin High School product has posted a .301 batting average while driving in 32 runs. He has shown more power than he did as a freshman, as 22 of his 62 hits have gone for extra bases. His ability to add pressure with his speed makes Kuroda-Grauer a matchup nightmare for pitchers.

While the talented sophomore has excelled at the plate, he has been just as good defensively. He has only committed six errors while appearing in every game. Over the last two years, his durability has been crucial to his game.

Although Kuroda-Grauer is focused on helping Rutgers make a deep playoff run, he could soon join unique company. The list of past winners of the Brooks Wallace Award includes Trea Turner, Dansby Swanson, and Alex Bregman. All three have gone on to be very productive players in the majors.

If Kuroda-Grauer were to win the award this year, he would become the second player to do so in their sophomore season in the last 18 years. Regardless of how the next few weeks play out, Kuroda-Grauer is finally receiving national recognition for his skills.

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Every former LSU player set to make a 2023 MLB roster

Here are the eight former LSU players expected to make an impact with a big-league club

Opening Day is fast approaching.

Spring has sprung and professional baseball is upon us. While LSU is having success on the college front, several alumni are enjoying stints in the big leagues. LSU has eight former players expected to earn significant playing time with even more in the minors.

We’re taking a look at the expectations for each as they begin their 2023 season. Eight is a decent number. Baseball isn’t like football where nearly everyone goes to college, but LSU still produces a good amount of talent.

We begin with the biggest name: [autotag]Alex Bregman[/autotag].

Alex Bregman sees parallels in current Astros, young Rockets

“I think everyone in Houston remembers when another team was young and made their rise to the top,” Alex Bregman says. “Hopefully the #Rockets do the same thing.”

It’s easy to forget, but before the Houston Astros were four-time American League champions and two-time World Series winners in the six-season span since 2017, they were among Major League Baseball’s worst teams during the early 2010s.

That all changed, of course, when top prospects such as Alex Bregman started to arrive in Houston in the middle of last decade.

Could that be what’s happening now with the NBA’s Rockets, who entered Thursday with five consecutive home wins and a 6-4 mark over their last 10 games? With young prospects Jalen Green and Jabari Smith Jr. leading the way, the hope is Houston’s basketball franchise will soon be on its own upward trajectory.

Bregman, who often attends Rockets games during MLB’s offseason, was on hand at Thursday’s Rockets-Heat game to take the game’s ceremonial first shot for charity. Though he missed the shot, Bregman made it clear he was happy to be at Toyota Center, and he’s hopeful of what the Rockets are building these days. His comments:

I love being out here, we come to a lot of Rockets games. It’s a blast. I’m thankful they had my wife and I out tonight. Too bad I bricked it. I’ll never question why somebody doesn’t make a free throw ever again.

It’s been awesome. This is an exciting team. I think everyone here in Houston remembers when another team was young and made their rise to the top. Hopefully the Rockets do the same thing.

Bregman, who played his college baseball at Louisiana State University (LSU), was also thrilled to see a former LSU Tiger on the court: Rockets rookie forward Tari Eason.

“It’s awesome,” said Bregman, wearing Green’s Rockets jersey in the same City Blue edition worn by the team that night. “Eason, (Derek) Stingley with the Texans, it’s so cool. I think it’s mandatory each year that one of the Houston franchises has to draft an LSU guy.”

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Top 6 best bets to win 2022 World Series MVP

Top 6 players to bet for World Series MVP.

The World Series begins Friday with the Houston Astros hosting the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1.

Both teams enter the series on impressive runs, increasing the level of intrigue for what might happen. The betting favorite to win, Houston swept its way through the postseason to the World Series. Barely outdone, the Phillies made the playoffs as a Wild Card before sweeping that round, and losing just a single game in the NLDS and NLCS each.

With this unlikely World Series about to commence, it’s time to look at my top six MVP candidates and their odds to win. Astros dominate the list, because Houston is favored to win, but a couple Phillies made the list too.

BREAKING: LSU baseball’s Jacob Berry taken by Miami Marlins with sixth pick in 2022 MLB draft

Berry becomes the highest drafted LSU player since Alex Bregman went second overall in 2015.

After a phenomenal season at LSU, [autotag]Jacob Berry[/autotag] should be heading to the pros as he was picked with the sixth overall pick in the 2022 MLB draft on Sunday night.

He becomes the highest drafted LSU player since [autotag]Alex Bregman[/autotag] went second overall in 2015, and he’s the first Tiger to go in the first round since [autotag]Alex Lange[/autotag] went 30th overall in 2017.

Berry had a .370 batting average with 15 homers and 48 RBI last year as part of a star-filled Tigers lineup. Going into the draft, he was mocked by MLB.com to go to the Minnesota Twins at No. 8 overall, but he ultimately went two picks earlier.

The Marlins were one of the teams I thought would be a good fit for him. Berry was possibly the best hitter in all of college baseball this season, and now they can put his powerful bat in a lineup with Jazz Chisolm, Garrett Cooper, Jorge Soler, and Jesus Aguilar. He has the potential to fit perfectly into that group.

Berry was LSU’s top draft prospect, but there are several other players and a number of signees that could get picked during this week’s festivities, which are being televised on the MLB Network. Stay tuned to LSU Wire for future updates as the Tigers’ draft hopefuls wait to hear their names called.

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Alex Bregman is a two-sport star after his horse Cadillac Candy won at Churchill Downs

Try to top being a baseball star while owning a stud horse. You can’t!

Alex Bregman is one of the best players on one of the best teams in baseball, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have other interests. In addition to mashing dingers while making deep October runs with the Astros every year, Bregman runs Bregman Family Racing LLC, which owns eight horses across Florida and Kentucky.

And as of Thursday, the Astros star is officially on the board with his first victory at the track.

In an afternoon race at Churchill Downs, Cadillac Candy came out on top in a photo finish. Candy was, of course, a 7-2 favorite to win in the lead-up.

It might just be the beginning of something special for Bregman and Candy.

Bregman’s bloodstock agent, Mike Akers, gushed about the third baseman’s evident obsession with horses to the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome:

 ‘The learning curve is pretty big right now,’ [Mike] Akers said. ‘But Alex is a sponge. He really doesn’t have to learn anything twice. We’re getting there.”

Bregman isn’t alone in this horse endeavor, either. Former Astros teammate and current Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Jake Marisnick partnered with Bregman on Cadillac Candy. According to Rome, Jake Odorizzi, Michael Brantley and Lance McCullers Jr. have also shown interest in getting involved.

“Actually being around [the horses] and watching them train and getting to know their personalities,” Bregman said, “I’m addicted.”

We’ll see what other successful hijinks Bregman gets up to this year. His Astros are in first place in the AL West, and Cadillac Candy has another run later this month.

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Ronald Acuña Jr. gave Alex Bregman an injury update in a pregame World Series chat

Acuña said when he expects to return.

Back when Braves star and then-National League MVP favorite Ronald Acuña Jr. went down with a torn ACL in July, things were looking bleak for Atlanta. The Braves were 44-45 at the time and sitting in third place in the NL East standings.

But instead of selling at the deadline and conceding 2021 as a lost season, Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos opted to go with a wholesale outfield makeover. With Acuña lost for the season, the Braves acquired Joc Pederson, Eddie Rosario, Adam Duvall and Jorge Soler. And despite not getting over .500 until August, the Braves are in the World Series.

Still, Acuña made the trip to Houston and even Astros infielder Alex Bregman wanted to know about the Braves star’s status.

In a pregame video ahead of Game 1 of the World Series, we can see as Bregman greeted Acuña. Bregman then made his best effort to ask Acuña in Spanish when he was expected to return.

Acuña said that he was on track to return in May, so good on Bregman for getting the important answers here. If Acuña stays in line with that progress, he should return for the second month of the 2022 season.

And you just know all of baseball will be thrilled have him back. He’s been missed.

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Former LSU Tiger Alex Bregman looking for another championship

Former LSU Tiger Alex Bregman looks for World Series ring No. 2.

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A former LSU Tiger has made it to one of the biggest stages in sports.

Alex Bregman, third baseman for the Houston Astros, will be in the Astros starting lineup in game one of the World Series against the Atlanta Braves.

Bregman was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 MLB draft, being selected behind none other than Dansby Swanson, who currently plays shortstop for the Braves.

Bregman posted two top-five AL Most Valuable Player finishes, has won a Silver Slugger and is a two-time All-Star. He has played 15 fewer career regular-season games than Swanson but has a higher OPS+ (138 to 89) and bWAR (26.1 to 9.1). Bregman was also the youngest Opening Day third baseman in Astros history back in 2017.

Bregman is currently batting .282 in the postseason, with 11 hits, eight runs scored, and five RBIs. He has a .749 OPS and has a .364 OBP. He has started all 10 postseason games for the Houston Astros.

Rockets to assist Astros star Alex Bregman in injury recovery

Astros star Alex Bregman, who has had multiple soft tissue leg injuries in 2021, will use equipment from the Rockets in his recovery.

Houston Astros star Alex Bregman, who has missed significant time in 2021 due to soft tissue injuries involving his left quadriceps muscle and hamstring, will soon be working out at Toyota Center during his recovery.

The Rockets are giving Bregman access to specialized equipment, according to Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston.

“Alex and I spoke a little while ago, and we are going to make whatever he needs available to him to help his recovery,” said Patrick Fertitta, the son of Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta. “We love the Astros. So anything we can ever do for any of the guys, we are happy to.”

A two-time All-Star, Bregman was the starter at third base for the 2017 Astros, who won Major League Baseball’s World Series for the first time in franchise history. Bregman had the walk-off hit in Game 5, the swing game of that World Series.

Bregman finished second in Most Valuable Player (MVP) voting during the 2019 season, when he hit 41 home runs and helped take Houston back to the World Series. To return there in 2021, the Astros will likely need a healthy Bregman in close to peak form, and it seems Fertitta and the Rockets are willing to provide an important assist for that cause.

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Marlins security guard was apparently hitting a trash can during Alex Bregman’s entire at-bat

Amazing.

Though crowds will be at a reduced capacity at most MLB ballparks, the Houston Astros will play regular season games in front of fans for the first time since the cheating scandal took over the 2019 offseason.

Last year, we saw glimpses of how fans went to creative lengths to taunt the Astros for the cheating scandal, which included someone shouting from a San Diego condo balcony with a megaphone during the postseason.

Well, you know it’s going to be bad for Houston when even the opposing stadium staff gets in on the heckling.

According to Astros beat writer Chandler Rome, a security guard at the Marlins’ Roger Dean Stadium was seen banging on a trash can for the entirety of an Alex Bregman at-bat on Sunday.

Bregman stuck out looking on the at-bat too, so I’ll just credit this security guard for the effort.

The Marlins-Astros game was not televised on Sunday, so there’s no video of the at-bat. But we should expect to see plenty more of this as the MLB season gets underway.

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