The Boston Red Sox are riding a seven-game winning streak before the All-Star break, and one of their three players picked for this year’s Midsummer Classic is returning to the lineup Friday against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Red Sox activated Bregman off the IL on Friday, hours before the third-time All-Star will play third base and bat second for the club.
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Bregman has been out since suffering a strained right quad on May 23. He didn’t make an appearance in Thursday’s 4-3, series-opening win over the Rays, but manager Alex Cora said before that outing that the 31-year-old will play two games in the four-game series, per MLB.com.
In other words, between now and Sunday, Bregman will place twice versus the Rays.
“He’s in a great place, and we’re going to trust the player,” Cora told reporters, via ESPN. “… My biggest concern is the defensive part of it: The nine innings out there, going into the dugout, going back and forth, the popup down the line, the bunts and all that, but he has checked almost every box.”
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Bregman didn’t make a minor-league appearance while working his way back to action for the Red Sox.
“You gain, I don’t know, five, six or seven at-bats [in a rehab assignment], so why not get them here?” Cora said.
Before his injury, Bregman was slashing .299/.385/.553 with 11 home runs, 17 doubles and 35 RBI. His .299 batting average is the highest of his career.
Even though he has played only 51 games this season, he still earned a spot on the AL All-Star team, along with Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet and reliever Aroldis Chapman. Bregman will not play in Tuesday’s All-Star game at Atlanta’s Truist Park.
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Bregman made two All-Star teams with the Houston Astros, in 2018 and 2019. He also won two World Series titles in his nine seasons with the Astros. Bregman signed a three-year, $120 million deal with the Red Sox this offseason, though it contains an opt-out after this year.
Boston entered Friday fourth in the AL East standings with a 50-45 record, five games back of the first-place Toronto Blue Jays.
